Lefton Learning Community

My own career in psychology began with a survey of sexual attitudes that I conducted in high school. I passed out questionnaires to the juniors and seniors, who were to respond anonymously. Then I spent days poring over, collating, and summarizing the data—which I, of course, found fascinating.

At Northeastern University in Boston, I majored in psychology and was particularly interested in clinical psychology. I took courses in traditional experimental psychology—learning, physiology, perception—but especially enjoyed abnormal psychology, child development, and personality. While in college, I worked in a treatment center for emotionally disturbed children. The work was hard, emotionally grueling, and stressful, and the pay wasn’t particularly good—thus, the direct delivery of mental health services began to lose some of its appeal for me. Later, as a laboratory assistant, I collected and analyzed data for a psychologist doing research in vision. In contrast to my counseling experience, hunting for answers to scientific questions and collecting data were activities that held my interest.

My graduate studies at the University of Rochester included research in perception, and I studied visual information processing. In graduate school, my intellectual skills were sharpened and my interests were focused and refined. After earning my PhD, I became a faculty member at The University of South Carolina. My research in cognitive psychology involved studying perceptual phenomena such as eye movements. Now at The George Washington University, I teach, do research in cognitive psychology, and write psychology textbooks. My goal is to share my excitement about psychology in the classroom, in my textbooks, and in professional journals.

Over time, my interests have changed, as I’m sure yours will. At first, I was interested in the delivery of mental health services to children. Later, I focused on applied research issues, such as eye movements among learning disabled readers. But my primary focus remains in basic research issues. My evolving interests have spanned the three major areas in which psychologists work: applied research, human services, and experimental psychology—topics I present throughout the text.

I am married to a wonderful woman and have two daughters. I have applied in my family life much of what I have learned in my profession. My family hasn’t been angry about it, although from time to time my “psychologizing” about issues can be annoying, I’m sure. I’m an avid bicyclist and computer hacker and occasional photographer. My life has generally revolved around my work and my family—not necessarily in that order. You’ll probably gather that from many of the stories and examples I relate in this text.

I invite you to share in my excitement and my enthusiasm for psychology. Stay focused, read closely, and think critically. As you read, think about how the text relates to your own experiences—drawing personal connections to what you read will make it more meaningful. And please feel free to write me: lefton@gwu.edu . Good luck!

Lester Lefton