ARTHUR STAATS

STAATS--Arthur, PhD. Inventor of "Time-Out" Professor Arthur Staats passed away peacefully at home recently at the age of 97. Born in New York, his father died when he was an infant. At age 17, he dropped out of high school to serve in WWII. Under the GI bill, he went back to school, and ultimately earned his PhD in Psychology at UCLA. Staats is probably most famous for inventing the childhood disciplinary tool of "time-out", a technique now used around the world to discipline children and discourage unwanted behaviors. In recognition of the importance of time-out, Staats was recognized by Child Magazine in 2006 as one of the "20 People who Changed Childhood." Staats worked as Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, UC-Berkley and the University of Wisconsin. In 1966, he moved to Honolulu and began his long career as Professor of Psychology at University of Hawaii at Manoa. He developed the unified theory of Psychology, Psychological Behaviorism, invented "Token Reinforcement" systems, and was the first to show IQ could significantly improve with training. He is considered by many to be the father of Cognitive Behavioral Psychology. All his adult life Staats was staunchly against war, economic injustice and human rights abuses. His genuine concern for those in need came through in all he did. Those wishing to contribute to his legacy may direct contributions to the University of Hawaii Foundation (www.uhfoundation.org/ ArthurStaats) or the American Psychological Foundation's Arthur W Staats Award for Unification in Psychology (https://www.apa.org/apf/ funding/staats?tab=1).