George Mandler (1924-2016)

Presents an obituary for George Mandler, who died in London on May 6, 2016 at the age of 91. Mandler was one of the pioneers of the cognitive revolution in psychology. He was instrumental in moving the study of human learning from notions based largely on associations to a view of memory as an organized, nested hierarchical structure. Mandler was also a major proponent of the dual-process theory of recognition memory, in which general feelings of familiarity are distinguished from the context-rich experience of recollection. He brought the study of emotion into prominence, suggesting how emotion and cognition are related. Finally, he repatriated the concept of consciousness from its intellectual exile under behaviorism, stating boldly in 1975 that the construct was respectable, useful, and probably necessary. Mandler edited the Psychological Review from 1970 to 1976, chaired the Governing Board of the Psychonomic Society, and was president of APA Divisions 1 (General Psychology) and 3 (Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science). (PsycINFO Database Record