What do cornflakes, Wonder Woman and the telephone keypad have in common? All of them have ties to psychology.
Cornflakes were created by brothers John Harvey and W.K. Kellogg in the late 19th century. At the time, they worked at a sanitarium, and John Harvey wanted a healthier breakfast option for the patients.
Wonder Woman was the brainchild of psychologist William Moulton Marston. The idea was William’s, but it was his wife, Elizabeth, a fellow psychologist, who told him to make her a woman.
Then there’s the telephone keypad, which Jennifer Bazar said is her favorite example of psychology’s effect on everyday life. The numerical layout that’s still in use today was the result of research from psychologist Alphonse Chapanis. He created an experiment to test which arrangement of numbers was the most efficient and accurate, Bazar explained.
“It’s little things like that that are just around us at all times, and we don’t necessarily have an awareness of it,” Bazar said. “So the museum’s trying to introduce some of that.”
The museum is the National Museum of Psychology at the University of Akron. It’s part of the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology. The center also houses the Archives of the History of American Psychology and the Institute for Human Science and Culture. As assistant director of the center, Bazar oversees the museum, along with Education and Outreach Coordinator Tony Pankuch.
The museum is the only one of its kind in North America. The archives contain the largest collection of materials related to the history of psychology. But while researchers utilize the archives, the museum is fairly new to those outside of psychology.
“It surprises a lot of people still,” Bazar said of the museum, which opened in 2018. “So in the grand scheme of things, it’s still kind of the new kid on the block.”
The Archives of the History of American Psychology go on display
Although the National Museum of Psychology only opened five years ago, the archives date back to 1965. Faculty members John Popplestone and Marion White McPherson started working with the American Psychological Association, Bazar said. When they learned the organization wasn’t collecting archival materials, the two decided to create one at the University of Akron.
The decision to create a museum from the archives came from David Baker, the former director of the archives. At the time, the archives were in the Polsky Building, and people often asked for tours of the collection. Baker decided it made sense to put some of the items on view for the public.
The goal of the National Museum of Psychology, Bazar explained, is to show people how psychology is connected to their lives.
Walking through the museum, Bazar and Pankuch point out the more popular items, including an inflatable clown doll named Bobo. Psychologist Albert Bandura used Bobo in his experiments on the impact of televised violence on children.
“So he would show children videos of adults playing with this room full of toys, and some of the kids would watch a video of the adult beating up this clown doll,” Pankuch said. “And what he found is that when the kids watched the video of the adult behaving violently with the clown doll, the kids were more likely to mimic that same violent action or come up with a new violent way of attacking the clown doll on their own.”
Pankuch said Bandura’s research influenced the modern television rating system.
Some of the museum’s exhibits are more light-hearted. One display allows guests to test whether their fingers tap as fast as Babe Ruth’s.
“In the 1920s, they brought Babe Ruth into the psychology laboratory at Columbia University, and actually tested him using all this equipment and these specific tests,” Bazar said. “And so his score is available, so people can test themselves against Babe, which is a lot of fun, and it tends to be a really popular stop in the museum.”
‘Psychology touches all of our lives in innumerable ways’
A machine called the “Educated Hen” is part of an exhibit about Marian Breland Bailey and Keller Breland’s I.Q. Zoo. The two trained animals to play the drums, run (tiny) baseball bases and, in the case of the Educated Hen, pull a lever to release a prize.
“It was all using the ideas of operant conditioning and how you can train an animal by using the reinforcements of, initially, food and later, other reinforcements,” Bazar said. “That helps us learn about how humans learn, where addiction comes from, in terms of gambling addiction, that kind of thing.”
Other exhibits shine a light on the profession’s darker moments. In the first room sits a Utica crib. It looks like an adult-sized crib with a lid that locks. It was originally used as a more humane way to prevent patients from sleepwalking. Eventually, though, it was used as a form of restraint, Bazar said.
As difficult as some exhibits can be, Bazar said they play a role in the evolution of mental health care.
“Everyone has an idea of what mental health history looks like, particularly when you see the word asylum,” she said. “The horror stories you’ve heard are partially true. There’s other things that happened. Both of those existed at the same time, and it led us to the direction that we’re in now. It led us into the successes. It led us into the challenges.”
As guests move throughout the museum, they’ll see exhibits about psychologists’ role in Brown v. Board of Education; the history of IQ testing in immigrants; and Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments of obedience, complete with the original simulated shock generator.
All of it is designed to present a relatable view of a field that can often seem abstract.
“I think people don’t necessarily think about psychology as something that has this historical foundation to it,” Pankuch said. “I think the challenge is communicating what someone can expect to see when they walk into this space, and what the Museum of Psychology has to provide or share for a person who is not a psychologist and not a psychology student. It’s about “trying to communicate that the history of psychology touches all of our lives in innumerable ways,” they added.
In 2025, the Archives of the History of American Psychology will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The National Museum of Psychology will celebrate the milestone throughout the year, Bazar said, including with an exhibit about the history of the archives.
“It’s a really unique collection and unique facility right here in Akron,” she said. “It’s yet one more cultural element that makes our city really cool.”
How to go
The National Museum of Psychology (uakron.edu/chp/museum)
73 S. College St.
Hours
Tuesday through Saturday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Wednesday: 1 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Admission
$10 – Adults
$5 – College ID & Children (under 18)
$20 – Family
$5/person – Groups of 10+
$3/person – Museums for All program
Free – University of Akron students, staff and faculty (with valid ID)
Free – with a military ID card or veteran ID card
Parking
Paid parking is available in the lot directly adjacent to the building. This lot contains a dedicated accessible parking spot near the museum entrance. Parking can be paid via QR code or text message. Additional paid parking is available in Lot 30 on the corner of College and Market Streets, and 2 hour metered parking is available along College Street.