Benton Underwood (1915-1994)

Professional Life
Benton Underwood was born in Iowa in 1915. He lived in a small farming town and attended school in Albion. After graduating high school, Underwood enrolled in Cornell at Mount Vernon, iowa and received a degree in psychology and education in 1936. He took a teaching position in Clarion, Iowa, and then joined the faculty of a local Junior College as a teacher and coach. In 1939, Underwood left Iowa to enroll in the University of Oregon, where he studied under John Dashiell. He was soon invited to assist in the research department at the University of Missouri’s Department of Psychology under Arthur W. Melton. It was during this time that Underwood began studying verbal learning and memory. He graduated with a master’s degree in 1940 and returned to the University of Iowa as a research assistant. He worked with John A. McGeoch, continuing to focus primarily on memory and verbal learning.

Soon after receiving his Ph.D. Underwood entered the Naval Reserve. He began serving at the naval Aviation Psychology Branch of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and upon his discharge in 1946, Underwood took a teaching position at Northwestern University. He remained with the university for several years, and in 1976 was recognized for his contributions to psychology by being named the Stanley G. Harris Professor of Social Science. Underwood formally retired from teaching in 1983, but stayed on in residence at Northwestern University until his death in 1994.

Contribution to Psychology
Underwood spent most of his career studying and researching the field of verbal learning and memory. He focused on examining the mechanisms involved in forgetting and recalling particular subject material, verbal and written. He discovered which materials directly influenced learning and retention and which hindered them. He manipulated variables in order to develop the most effective means to acquire and absorb material. Underwood explored the speed at which people learn and spent years identifying how and if that influenced the rate at which a person forgot material.

Underwood authored several books, papers, and articles on the field of learning and memory. Among his many published research books and texts are Meaningfulness and Verbal Learning, Temporal Codes for Memories: Issues and Problems, and Attributes of Memory. Underwood is equally well known for the exhaustive research he performed throughout his career. He influenced the method by which students conduct research in the field with Psychological Research. Underwood served on the boards of several organizations and presided over many institutions throughout the years, including the American Psychological Association. He received numerous awards for his achievements, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association.