29 Logan Wright

General Biography

Logan Wright, Jr., Ph.D. was born in Wellington, Kansas on December 6, 1933, to Logan Wright, Sr. and Rosine B. Miller. Wright attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While in high school he participated in track and became an All-State miler. After graduating from high school in 1952, Wright attended Oklahoma Baptist University on a track scholarship. During his senior year, Wright was named captain of the track team. During this time, Wright set many state records for the mile run, and he also held a world record in the Master’s Division 200-meter men’s hurdles (“Logan Wright, Jr.”, 1999). After graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University, Wright participated in mission work and attended Golden Gate Seminary in Berkeley, California. Wright graduated from Golden Gate Seminary with a master’s degree in Religious Education in 1958.

After graduating from Golden Gate Seminary, Wright became an instructor at Bethel College in Hopkinsville, Kentucky from 1958 to 1961. In 1962, Wright graduated with his Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from George Peabody College, and then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Vanderbilt University. Wright completed his Ph.D. in 1964, followed by an internship in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina (“Logan Wright, Jr.”, 1999).

After graduating with his Ph.D. and completing his internship, Wright returned to teaching. He became a Professor of Child Psychology in 1964 at Purdue University. He taught at Purdue University for two years before becoming an Associate Professor of Pediatric Psychology at the University of Oklahoma Medical School. Wright taught at the University of Oklahoma Medical School until 1979, when he left to pursue other business ventures. One of these business ventures was building 66 Sonic Drive-Ins that spanned from Arizona to North Carolina (“Logan Wright, Jr.”, 1999).

In 1984, Wright returned to teaching and became a Professor of Psychology at the University of Oklahoma, where he taught until 1993 before becoming a Psychology Professor at the University of Central Oklahoma. In 1995, Wright left the University of Central Oklahoma to become a Professor Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma, where he remained until his sudden and unexpected death on December 18, 1999 (“Logan Wright Jr.”, 1999). Wright passed while chopping wood on his ranch at age 66 (Perloff & Strickland, 2001).

Important Achievements

Logan Wright received many awards and honors during his lifetime, and even after his death as the field of psychology continued to grow. Most famously, Wright is known as the first American Indian president of the American Psychological Association and the father of pediatric psychology, as he developed and used behavioral interventions in pediatric care (“Logan Wright, PhD Featured Psychologist”, 2016). Wright published four books and contributed to over 100 journal articles on medical and child psychology throughout his career (Perloff & Strickland, 2001). His most notable book is The Encyclopedia of Pediatric Psychology (Wright et al., 1979), in which Wright covers the problems and treatment of 114 clinical ailments seen in the pediatric population. Parent Power (Wright, 1978), another of his books that was written more for the average person than an expert in the field, was a part of Wright’s commitment to making psychology accessible to everybody (Kazak & Roberts, 2022). Wright went on to receive an APA Media Award for this book (“Logan Wright, Jr.”, 1999).

Wright’s knowledge of medicine and use of clinical skills in the application of psychology contributed to the foundations of Pediatric Psychology and the subspecialty of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (Willis, 2000). Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics is a subspecialty of Pediatric Psychology and medicine focused on assessing and treating childhood developmental and behavioral problems. During Wright’s career he started the North American Association of Master Psychologists, an organization still active today. He also co-founded the Society of Pediatric Psychology and became its first president in 1969. The Society of Pediatric Psychology is still prominent in the field today. Throughout his lifetime, and even after his death, Wright received many awards for his contributions and work in the field (Perloff & Strickland, 2001). Wright won the Society for Pediatric Psychology Distinguished Service Award in 1978, and the Logan Wright Distinguished Research Award was renamed in his honor after his death (“Logan Wright, Jr.”, 1999).

Historical Context

Before the 1960s, behaviorism dominated the field of psychology as the method to explain human behavior. During the 1950s and 1960s, new ideas in Cognitive Psychology and neuroscience were quickly developing in the United States. Also, during this time, other Experimental and Clinical Psychology researchers were studying behavior in children (Baker & Sperry, 2023). This suggests that Wright’s research pioneering Child Psychology in relationship to health fits the context of concurring developments in the field. Wright’s book The Encyclopedia of Pediatric Psychology (Wright et al., 1979) would be used through the 1980s and early 1990s as a trusted source for pediatric psychology for those studying to enter the field. Along with scientific methodologies of thinking, experimental design was changing during this time period. Before the various social movements during the 1960s, it was common for psychologists to experiment on disadvantaged groups, despite possible ethical recourse. In the 1960s this was changing, as the majority of studies used college student participant populations rather than poor, Black, or mentally ill populations. In addition, methods of research were beginning to move in a more scientific direction. This is evident in Wright’s work on the treatment of encopresis in children, including Outcome of a Standardized Program for Treating Psychogenic Encopresis, which used empirical methods to test the effectiveness of a standardized bed-wetting treatment (Wright, 1975).

The Civil Rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s may have increased Wright’s ability to hold positions of power on psychology boards and have influence in pioneering fields as an Indigenous person. There was also a movement in the 1960s to expand the treatment of people with mental illnesses to settings outside of mental institutions. For instance, Wright focused some of his research on how to treat children in a community setting, thereby widening the scope of clinical psychology.

Throughout his years of teaching, Wright would go on to inspire many practitioners in the field. Wright had a large impact on one of his students in particular, Diane J. Willis, Ph.D., who studied under Wright as a fellow and then worked alongside him for years, publishing many of her papers on subjects pioneered by Wright. Willis even wrote a paper about how Wright pioneered pediatric psychology and influenced her own work (Willis, 2015). Willis also continued the work Wright began, as an Indigenous woman changing policies at the local, national, and international levels surrounding child healthcare and child maltreatment. Willis further developed programs on prevention and early intervention for Native American children (Willis, 2015). Further attesting to Wright’s influence on the field, his books and papers were used to teach those entering the field for decades after their publishing.

Historical Impact

Logan Wright’s impact on the field of psychology is profound. Wright’s various contributions are well documented. He was the founder of numerous charities and associations, including The Logan Wright Foundation, which is a private charity that funds educational and medical organizations. Wright was also invested in the future of psychology students and understood that financial barriers could be detrimental for underprivileged students. The Logan Wright Endorsement was established to assist these college students in covering university expenses.

Wright was also one of the founders of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP). The SPP still exists with a mission to improve the lives of children and families. Wright contributed to the American Association of Applied and Prevention Psychology, which focused on positive academic and medical improvements for patients and students. Though Wright had numerous accolades and awards attributed to his name, one of Wright’s ultimate achievements was overcoming barriers as a person of color. Wright belonged to the Osage nation, becoming the first known American Indian to serve as President of the American Psychology Association (APA) in 1986. Additionally, Wright advocated for Indigenous individuals, predominantly children. According to Genik et al., (2014), Wright was a psychological pioneer who acknowledged the schism between medicine and psychology and the need for partnership, specifically when treating children. Pediatric Psychology directly responded to the need for cooperation between the two fields of study. Wright has had a lasting positive impact on Pediatric Psychology. Wright concentrated on behavior modification and education in adults to remedy behavior issues in children (Maddux et al., 1985). Additionally, Wright’s contributions to parental education and awareness have been credited as a contributor to reductions in childhood mortality rates.

Wright’s philosophies on Pediatric Psychology and strengthening the field are still in practice (Genik et al., 2014). Wright acknowledged that the future progression of the field of psychology was contingent on evolution, research, and quality education (Wright, 1975). Throughout his career, Wright advocated for the competent psychological treatment of children. Overall, Wright’s ability to apply his psychological viewpoint to medical research provided a different perspective and interpretation to research.

References

American Psychological Association (2016). Logan Wright, PhD featured psychologist. https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/psychologists/logan-wright.

Baker, D. B. & Sperry, H. (2023). History of psychology. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/j8xkgcz5

Genik, L. M., Yen, J., & McMurtry, C. M. (2015). Historical analysis in pediatric psychology: The influence of societal and professional conditions on two early pediatric psychology articles and the field’s subsequent development. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 40(2), 167–174. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsu084

Kazak, A. E., & Roberts, PHD, M. C. (2022). A Biography of Logan Wright Jr. Society of Pediatric Psychology. https://pedpsych.org/a-biography-of-logan-wright-jr/

Maddux, J. E., Roberts, M. S., Sledden, E. A., & Wright, L. G. (1985). Developmental issues in child health psychology. American Psychologist, 41(1), 25–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.41.1.25

Perloff, R., & Strickland, B. (2001). Obituary: Logan Wright, Jr (1933-1999). American Psychologist, 56(11), 1046–1047. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.und.edu/10.1037/0003-066X.56.11.1046

The Oklahoman. (1999, December 21). Logan Wright Jr. https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1999/12/21/logan-wright-jr/62216885007/

Willis, D. J. (2000). In memoriam: Logan Wright, Jr., PhD (1933-1999). Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 25(5), 359–361. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/25.5.359

Willis, D. J. (2015). Pioneers in pediatric psychology: Helping shape a new field. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 41(2), 210–219. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsv110

Wright, L. G. (1975b). Outcome of a standardized program for treating psychogenic encopresis. Professional Psychology, 6(4), 453–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.6.4.453

Wright, L. G. (1975). Pediatric psychology and problems of physical health. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374417509532660

Wright, L. G., Murcer, S., Adams, K. M., Welch, S., & Paris, D. (1994). The factor analytic structure of seven physical CHD risk factors: A replication study. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 50(2), 216–219.