Hispanic Heritage month psychologists

3. George I. Sanchez
• 1931 Master of Science degree in
Education with a specialization in
Educational Psychology and Spanish
• 1934 Doctorate in Education
Contribution and Accomplishments:
• His contributions extended far beyond
the fields of Psychology and Education.
He was one of the first to challenge
biased research on Intelligence.
• He was also one of the first to question
the legitimacy of and speak out against
the use of I.Q. tests.
• Founder of Chicano Psychology
• In 1941 he became the national
president of the League of United Latin
American Citizens (LULAC)

4. Martha Bernal
• She was the first woman of Mexican
descent to obtain her PhD in clinical
psychology in the United States.
• In 1966- built a laboratory to study
classical conditioning and orienting
responses in children with autism
Contributions and Accomplishments:
• She was a pioneer in implementing the
rigorous theories of learning and its
methods to assessing and treating
children with behavior problems.
• She was one of the most effective early
advocates for a multicultural
psychology.
• 1979 Helped to create the National
Hispanic Psychological Association and
later became the president of the
organization.

5. John Garcia
• Born a farm worker to Spanish immigrants.
• Used his G.I. Bill money to pay for college.
• 1965 received his Master’s degree and his PhD
from UC Berkeley
• Conducted research on radiation and brain
research, and finds that rats could detect and
avoid low doses of radiation.
Contributions and Accomplishments:
• After the mass deaths of sheep living downwind
from nuclear test sites, he and his lab find the
cause to be radiation poisoning.
• He accompanies JFK and MLK to Vienna to meet
with the Russians, and he testifies against nuclear
testing.
• His research with rats also lead him to one of his
most notable contributions: The Garcia Effect (a
conditioned taste aversion effect named after
him)
• His taste aversion research changed the way of
thinking about associative learning. Instead of all
senses being equal, he showed that taste is highly
powerful.

6. Melba Vasquez
• In 1978, she completed her doctoral
studies in counseling psychology at the
University of Texas in Austin.
• She taught in the counseling psychology
doctoral program at Colorado State
University.
• Contributions and Accomplishments:
• She was one of the first recipients of the
APA’s minority fellowship.
• She co-founded the APA Division 45 (the
society for the psychological study of
ethnic minorities)
• In 2011 she was elected as president of
the APA, making her the first Latina APA
president.
• She currently serves on the APA board of
Directors.