Social Psychology Program records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 22-3-919

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains typed and handwritten meeting announcements, meeting minutes, training grant applications and renewals, interdepartmental correspondence, program evaluations and site visit evaluations spanning from 1962-1990. Individual student evaluations from general meetings have been discarded for privacy reasons.

Dates

1962-1990

Creator

State University of New York at Buffalo. Department of Sociology (Organization)
Pruitt, Dean G. (Person)

Terms of Access and Use

The Social Psychology Program records, 1962-1990 are open to researchers.

Copyright

Copyright is held by The State University of New York at Buffalo. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the University Archives before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Historical Note

The Graduate Training Program in Social Psychology was founded in 1963 by Professors Edwin P. Hollander and Raymond G. Hunt. The chair of the Psychology Department at that time was Professor Olive Lester, soon to be succeeded by Professor Richard Bugelski. The program has two main educational goals: 1) to train graduate students in the methods and theories of social psychology and 2) to provide facilities for students to develop their own research and teaching interests and competences within this broad field. In the late 1960’s the Program became part of (in most years the only part of) the Social Personality Area of the Department, whose name was later changed to the Social-Organizational Area, and then changed back to the Social-Personality Area. In 1991, nine faculty were associated with the Program: Barbara Benedict Bunker; organizational change, applied group dynamics, conflict, Victor A. Harris; person perception, attitude change, psycholinguistics, Edwin P. Hollander; leadership, social influence, communication, Raymond G. Hunt; organizational theory, personality, James W. Julian; competition, leadership, conformity, Olive P. Lester; socialization, personality, attitudes, Joel O. Raynor; social motivation, individual decision making, W. Edgar Vinacke; personality, social motivation, cognitive processes, and Dean G. Pruitt; social conflict and negotiation. The Program persists to this day but only has five members. I (Pruitt) will retire at the end of this school year and Shira Gilbert will join our group. Next year, the Program faculty will be Professors Barbara Bunker, Frank Fincham, Shira Gilbert, Sandra Murray, and Brett Pelham.

Written by Dean G. Pruitt, March 30, 1971, March 21 2001. Head, Social Personality Area.

Extent

3 Linear Feet (6 manuscript boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Collection of the Social Psychology program of the State University of New York at Buffalo; contains typed and handwritten meeting announcements, meeting minutes, training grant application and renewals, interdepartmental correspondence, program evaluations and site visit evaluations spanning from 1962-1990.

Arrangement

The collection is organized chronologically into six series: Informal Research Discussions, Speakers in Social Psychology and Speakers Correspondence, Meetings and Minutes, NIMH Training Grant and Grant Renewal, Memoranda and Memos, and Program Evaluation and Site Visits. Dean Pruitt’s original organization of the materials was not substantially changed in processing.

Acquisition Information

The Social Psychology Program records, 1962-1990 were transferred to University Archives by Dean G. Pruitt in March 2001 as accession 01-002. The collection was first organized and arranged by Pruitt who disposed of most duplicates, kept by long-term Program Secretary, Linda Hereth.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected.

Processing Information

Processed by Jen Goul; finding aid encoded by Grace Trimper, September 2020.

Subjects

Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Minutes (administrative records) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Social psychology Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Universities and colleges -- Departments -- Evaluation Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings