Feist, Gregory J.

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Feist, Gregory J.

PERSONAL:

Education: University of Massachusetts, B.A., 1985; University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., 1991.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Oakland, CA. Office—Department of Psychology, San Jose State University of California, 1 Washington Sq., San Jose, CA 95192. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, assistant professor, 1991-95, associate professor of psychology, 2006—; College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, assistant professor, 1995-99, associate professor of psychology, 1999-2003; University of California, Davis, lecturer in psychology, 2002-06; University of California, Berkeley, lecturer in psychology, 2005. Visiting scholar at University of California, Davis, and University of California, Berkeley, 2001-02; visiting associate professor of psychology at University of California, Berkeley, 2002-03.

MEMBER:

American Psychological Association, Association for Research in Personality, Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Society for Applied Psychological Research in the Performing Arts (vice-president and founding executive board member), Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts (president, 2005-06), International Society for the Psychology of Science & Technology (founding president, 2006-08).

AWARDS, HONORS:

MacArthur Foundation fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 1987-88; doctoral dissertation Award, University of California, Berkeley, 1989; outstanding graduate student instructor award, University of California, Berkeley, 1990; grants from San Jose State University, 1991 and 1993, College of William & Mary, 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2001, and National Science Foundation, 2001-02; Reves Center for International Studies Travel Award, College of William & Mary, 1999; Early Career Achievement Award, American Psychological Association, 2000; Excellence in Teaching Award, University of California, Davis, 2004; Article of the Year selection (with Frank Barron), Journal of Research in Personality, for "Predicting Creativity from Early to Late Adulthood: Intellect, Potential, and Personality," 2004.

WRITINGS:

(With Jess Feist) Theories of Personality, 6th edition, McGraw-Hill (Boston, MA), 2006.

The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Affect, Creative Experience, and Psychological Adjustment, edited by S.W. Russ, Taylor & Francis (Washington, DC), 1999; and Creativity: From Potential to Realization, edited by R.J. Sternberg, E.L. Grigorenko, and J.L. Singer, American Psychological Association (Washington, DC), 2004. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Psychological Review, Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Creativity Research Journal, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Psychological Inquiry, and Journal of Creative Behavior. Guest editor for Review of General Psychology and Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts. Member of editorial board, Review of General Psychology, Journal of Research in Personality, and Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gregory J. Feist, a professor who publishes widely on the psychology of creativity and the development of scientific talent, is the author of The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind, a "rich and diverse book," observed Ryan D. Tweney in the American Scientist. In the work, Feist examines the history of scientific thinking, and he argues for the creation of a new discipline devoted to the psychology of science. "Feist reviews studies from neuroscience, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, personality psychology and social psychology to support his assertion," Tweney noted. "The author's proposal is ambitious and, for the most part, convincing," wrote Magda Osman in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Historically, during much of the 20th century many philosophers of science … believed that the nature of science should only be analyzed by logical, not psychological, criteria," the author told an interviewer for the American Scientist Online. "Who did science, what personalities they had, how they thought—these were irrelevant to whether the science was any good or not or even whether it was science or not." Feist continued, "I simply argue that psychology has something important and interesting to say about the process of how and why these particular individuals came up with these particular findings and how their thinking styles, personalities and family influences had something to do with this." According to Science contributor David Lagnado, "The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind succeeds on many levels. Feist pulls together a vast range of psychological research with clarity and insight, and he advances a framework for the cognitive origins of scientific thinking."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, November-December, 2006, Ryan D. Tweney, "The Skeptical Inquirer," review of The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind, p. 566.

Journal of the American Medical Association, July 5, 2006, Magda Osman, "Scientific Thinking," review of The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind, p. 102.

Science, September 8, 2006, David Lagnado, "How Do Scientists Think?," review of The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind, p. 1390.