Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Kenneth W. Spence

1907-1967
American neobehavioral psychologist known for both theoretical and experimental research on learning.

Kenneth Wartinbee Spence was known for his theoretical and experimental studies of conditioning and learning. His analyses and interpretations of the theories of other psychologists also were very influential. Spence was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1954 and was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychological Association (APA).

The son of Mary E. Wartinbee and William James Spence, an electrical engineer, Spence was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1907, but he...