In psychology, Fred A. Moss (1893-1966) was an American psychologist noted for his theory of “drives” and “resistances” in the dynamics of animal behavior as outline, in terms of eight-principles, in his 1923 PhD dissertation “A Study of Animal Drives”. [1] Moss’ PhD, was the first PhD ever awarded at the department of psychology at George Washington University. [2]
Moss later went on to receive an MD from George Washington University and is famously known as the creator of the MCAT, the medical school admissions test that served as a forerunner of numerous aptitude tests such as the SAT. [3]
References
1. (a) Moss, Fred A. (1924). “Study of Animal Drives”, J. Exp. Psychol. 7, 165–185.
(b) Young, Paul T. (1936). Motivation of Behavior – the Fundamental Determinants of Human and Animal Activity, (ch. 2: “The Energetics of Activity”, pg. 70-73). New York: Wiley.
(c) Comparative Psychology – Moss, Fred A. (1893-1996), AntiQBook.com
2. About Us (see: History) – Department of Psychology, George Washington University.
3. MCAT history: in 1928, to curb the issue of the near to 50% dropout rates at medical schools, Moss and his colleagues developed the "Scholastic Aptitude Test for Medical Students" consisting of true-false and multiple choice questions divided into 6-8 subtests. Topics tested included visual memory, memory for content, scientific vocabulary, scientific definitions, understanding of printed material, premedical information, and logical reasoning. The score scale varied from different test forms.
