Robert Chin Chen Yuli

1
Robert Chin (Chen Yuli)

• March 1918 August 1990
• Patty Byrd
• Devra McManus
• Jen Russell
• Terry Wood
• July 28, 2005

2
Zeitgeist and Influences

• Terry Wood

3
Influence of Historical Antecedents

• Chinese-American Heritage
• Imperial China
• China Divided
• GuoMinDang (Taiwan)
• Beijing
• Communist Party Doctrine
• Cultural Revolution

4
Zeitgeist that Influenced Ideas

• Early teens--Psychology introduced in Chinese
  Universities
• 1930Chinese Association of Psychological Testing
• 1937Chinese Psychological Society
• 30s in GeneralNational attention focused on
  education and language reform to modernize China

5
Zeitgeist continued

• Psychology used in learning how people learn the
  Chinese language
• Most Chinese education and experimental
  psychologists studied at Colombia or University
  of Chicago.

6
Zeitgeist Continued

• Psychology in China before 1949 was western
• 1949National Government moved to Taiwan and many
  psychologists came to U.S.
• After 1949Chinese government in Beijing modeled
  itself after Marxist-Leninist psychology with a
  philosophical base in dialectical
  materialismPavlovianism.

7
Influential Events

• WWII
• Office of Strategic Services, Counterintelligence
• Social psychology ideas used to combat fascism
• Many psychologist used in this way during the
  war.
• 1st Lieutenant Army
• Stationed in China and U.S.

8
Influential Events

• Racial Discrimination
• Segregation
• Prejudice
• Holocaust in Germany
• Cold War with Russia

9
Achievements and Influences on Psychology

• Devra McManus

10
Academic Achievements

• Academic Achievements
• Columbia University
• - BA in Psychology 1939
• - MA in Social Psychology 1940
• - PhD in Social Psychology 1943
• Harvard University
• - Postdoc 1947 after WWII

11
Academic Employment

• Boston University Professor 32 yrs
• Director Social Research Center
• Chinese University Hong Kong 1971
• General Editor of The Journal of Social Issues
  1959-1967

12
Affiliations

• Society for the Psychological Study of
• Social Issues (SPSSI)
• American Psychological Association (APA)
• Asian-American Psychological Association (AAPA)

13
Author

• Co-Authored The Planning of Change with Kenneth
  Benne and Warren Bennis (except 1st edition)
• Book - Psychological Research in Communist
  China 1949-1966 with his wife, Ai-Li
• Wrote prefaces and articles for The Journal of
  Social Issues

14
Awards Received

• Fulbright Scholar at National Taiwan University
  1963
• 1st to receive Distinguished Contribution Award
  AAPA 1985

15
Influence in Psychology

• Professor at Boston University
• Research
• 1-ethnic minority relationships
• 2-society culture
• 3-attitudes and political behavior
• 4-public opinion in China
• 5-personality
• Nicknamed himself Swirler
• Chin Charts

16
Experiential Learning Spring 2003 Boston
University Prof. and "President/CEO" Hilda D.
Perlitsh, Ph.D.

• Perlitsh/PS367  syllabus  
• Written reports on your learnings "burned into
  your consciousness "called
•  LearnBurns (LB) are intended for reflecting on
  your observations and for drawing implications
  for behavioral choices in organizations for
  yourself and others.  The concept of LearnBurns
  (LB) is credited to the late Professor Robert
  Chin, the designer of this course. 

17
Organizational Theory

• Influenced inquiry practice
• Application of social psychology to
• 1-organizational settings
• 2-intergroup behavior
• Founder Human Relations Center Boston University
• 5th Edition The Planning of Change
• Lecturer and Consultant
• Peoples Republic of China
• Introduced organizational theory

18
Civil Rights Legislation

• Journal of Social Issue (SPSSI)
• Research on Intelligence Testing
• -Otto Klineberg, at Columbia University
• 1950 SPSSI organized social scientist
• -1951 Committee of Intergroup
  Relations Statement aided in appellate process
  with Supreme Court
• 1954 Footnote 11 Brown v.Board of Education of
  Topeka
• Workshops Lectures on anti-Semitism and racism

19
Brown v. Board of Ed. Of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483

• U.S. Supreme Court Decided May 17, 1954

• Whatever may have been the extent of
  psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v.
  Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by
  modern authority. 11 Any language 347 U.S. 483,
  495   in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this
  finding is rejected.

• Segregation of white and Negro children in the
  public schools of a State solely on the basis of
  raceTo separate them from others of similar age
  and qualifications solely because of their race
  generates a feeling of inferiority as to their
  status in the community that may affect their
  hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be
  undone.

20
Value of Work Today

• Robert Chin Memorial Award (SPSSI)
• - Research/Scholarship in area of child abuse
• -2006 APA President Dr Koocher, recipient,
  credits Chin for guidance
• Asian-American Psychology Award
• Reference on University Syllabus
• -Ohio State Conflict Management in Community
• - Vanguard University Managing Organizational
  Conflict

21
Theory and Research
Jen Russell
22
Experimentation, Research, and Clinical Data

• Dissertation
• Allports J-Curve Hypothesis
• Arrival times of college students to class
• Looked at shape of distributions of arrival times
• Conformity existed in total group and in
  distribution of individual averages
• Prohibitive conformity

23
Experimentation, Research, and Clinical Data

• Characteristics of a good theory of change as
  outlined by Chin
• Variables that are alterable
• Defines the roles of a change-agent and a client
  system
• Takes into account the cost of usage
• Reliable basis of diagnosing the strength and
  weakness of the conditions facing the client
  system
• Self-Takeoff Points
• Can be communicated with a minimum of distortion
• Able to assess its own appropriateness for
  different client systems

24
Experimentation, Research, and Clinical Data

• The Planning of Change
• Section 1.1
• Outlines the history of the study of change
• Section 1.2
• 3 strategies for changing
• Rational-empirical
• Re-educative and normative, or collaborative
• Coercive-power
• Section 3.1
• Interaction of environment and individual
• Texture of an environment
• Aspects of the environment that are important for
  change
• Means
• Patterns
• Nutriments
• Information
• Feedback loops

25
Experimentation, Research, and Clinical Data

• Applied Behavioral Science and Innovation,
  Diffusion, and Adoption
• 5 approaches to applied behavioral science
• Merely basic science communicated simply and
  with a minimum of jargon
• Application of research
• Two levels of practitioners
• Link science and practice
• How knowledge is applied

26
Strengths and Weaknesses of Chins Theory

• Weaknesses
• Way ahead of his time
• Not a good writer
• Criticisms of his book on research in China
• Applicability of theory
• Theory was not innovative
• Theory not clearly defined
• Did not meet his own criteria

• Strengths
• Way ahead of his time
• Excellent motivator
• Complexity of his writings and his theory

27
Personal Obstacles and Integrated Summary

• Patty Byrd

28
His Childhood

• Born to an immigrant father from Toishan, China
• Lacked Chinese-American influence
• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

29
Lack of Acknowledgement

• Worked closely with Otto Klineberg
• Professor Len Saxe reported he was not a writer
• Primary method for conveying his ideas was
  teaching

30
Where did he fit in?

• American name Robert Chin
• Chinese name Chen Yuli
• Attempted to share his organizational theory with
  China
• His theory went against the Communist Party
  Doctrine of the time

31
Accomplishments

• President of SPSSI
• Assisted in founding the AAPA
• Co-founded the Human Relations Center at Boston
  University
• Co-Authored the book The Planning of Change

32
In Conclusion His Goals

• Resolve problems between racial, religious, and
  national groups
• Inspire students and society to rethink cultural
  problems
• Encourage people to evaluate themselves and
  possibly make changes