Biography:Amy Tanner

Short description: American psychologist

Amy Eliza Tanner
Born	March 21, 1870 Owatonna, Minnesota
Died	February 1, 1956
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Occupation	Psychologist

Amy Eliza Tanner (March 21, 1870 – February 1, 1956) was an American psychologist who became well known for discrediting the then-famous medium Leonora Piper after Tanner was allowed to attend six séances with a fellow researcher.

Biography

Tanner was born in Owatonna, Minnesota. She earned a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1898, finishing magna cum laude. Following her graduation from the University of Chicago, and unable to find employment elsewhere, she worked as an associate at the university's philosophy department. Four years later, she became a professor of philosophy at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

Although she had earned her Ph.D. in philosophy, her interests and her work led her to psychology and social psychology. Her unpublished dissertation was titled Association of Ideas: A Preliminary Study, and she published her subsequent research in psychology journals.

In 1907, Tanner became an "Honorary University Fellow" at Clark University, a position she held until 1916. While at Clark University, she investigated mediumship with the psychologist G. Stanley Hall. She published her findings as sole author in the book Studies in Spiritism (1910) which documented the tests she and Hall had carried out in the séance sittings held with the medium Leonora Piper. Hall and Tanner had proven by tests that the "personalities" of Piper were fictitious creations and not discarnate spirits.

She left Clark (and academic work) in 1919, and remained in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was the director of the Worcester Girls Club for many years and represented the local Woman's Club on the Worcester Censorship Board. She purchased the Majestic Theater in Worcester in 1919 and operated it for a few years. She died February 1, 1956.

Selected publications

• Studies in Spiritism. New York/London: D. Appleton & Company. 1910. OCLC 504458472. https://archive.org/details/studiesinspirit02tanngoog. 
• "The Philosophy of Loyalty by Josiah Royce". The American Journal of Psychology 19 (3): 409–412. July 1908. doi:10.2307/1413202. 
• "Etudes d'Histoire et de Psychologie du Mysticisme, Les grands mystiques chrétiens by Henri Delacroix". The American Journal of Psychology 19 (3): 412–413. July 1908. doi:10.2307/1413203. 
• "The Inward Light by H. Fielding Hall". The American Journal of Psychology 19 (3): 413–414. July 1908. doi:10.2307/1413204. 
• Tanner, Amy E. (1907). "An Illustration of the Psychology of Belief". Psychological Bulletin 4 (2): 33–36. doi:10.1037/h0073712. https://zenodo.org/record/2012589. 
• Tanner, Amy E. (July 1907). "Glimpses at the Mind of a Waitress". American Journal of Sociology 13 (1): 48–55. doi:10.1086/211561. 
• The Child: His Thinking, Feeling, and Doing. Chicago: Rand McNally. 1904. OCLC 1031797494. https://books.google.com/books?id=BqFLAAAAMAAJ. 
• "Association of Ideas: A Preliminary Study." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, Chicago. (1900)

Further reading

• Diehl, Lesley A. (1991). "Theodate Smith and Amy Tanner: Child Savers of Clark University". Journal of Genetic Psychology 152 (3): 273–287. doi:10.1080/00221325.1991.9914685. PMID 1797978. 
• Pettit, Michael (2008). "The New Woman as "tied-up dog": Amy E. Tanner's Situated Knowledges". History of Psychology 11 (3): 145–163. doi:10.1037/1093-4510.11.3.145. PMID 19048974. 
• Psychological Bulletin: An Illustration of the Psychology of Belief by Amy E. Tanner, February 15, 1907.