Jump to content

Norman F. Dixon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Norman Frank Dixon MBE, Fellow of the British Psychological Society[1] (1922–2013)[2] was a British psychologist most noted for his 1976 book On the Psychology of Military Incompetence.[3]

Career

[edit]

During World War II, Dixon served as a lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers in North West Europe and received the MBE.[1][3]

After ten years' service, he began university studies in 1950 and earned a first-class degree in psychology, followed by Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science degrees.[3] His research into subliminal perception and preconscious processing was influential.[4][5] He taught psychology at University College London, where he became professor emeritus on his retirement.[6]

Honours

[edit]

In 1974, Dixon was awarded the Carpenter Medal by the University of London for his doctoral thesis. The University of Lund awarded him an honorary doctorate.[3]

Selected publications

[edit]
  • Dixon, Norman F. (1971). Subliminal perception; the nature of a controversy. London: McGraw-Hill.
  • Dixon, Norman F. (1976). On the psychology of military incompetence. New York: Basic Books.[7][8][9]
  • Dixon, Norman F. (1981). Preconscious processing. Chichester: Wiley
  • Dixon, Norman F. (1987). Our Own Worst Enemy. Jonathan Cape.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Search results: Norman Dixon". The National Archives. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Norman F. Dixon". Great Thoughts Treasury. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Norman F. Dixon". Random House. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014.
  4. ^ Tallis, Frank (2011) [2002]. Hidden Minds: A History of the Unconscious. New York: Arcade. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-61145-505-2.
  5. ^ Speziale-Bagliacca, Roberto (2004) [1997]. Guilt: Revenge, Remorse and Responsibility After Freud. Hove / New York: Brunner-Routledge. p. 215. ISBN 1-58391-963-5.
  6. ^ Charles, Ron (29 January 2015). "'Military Incompetence' trumps Madonna's 'Sex'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  7. ^ Penner, Donald D. (1981). "Book Review: on the Psychology of Military Incompetence". Administrative Science Quarterly. 26 (2): 307–10. doi:10.2307/2392483. JSTOR 2392483.
  8. ^ "Book Reviews". British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 16 (3): 289–93. September 1977. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8260.1977.tb00233.x.
  9. ^ Mileham, Patrick (2002). "On the Psychology of Military Incompetence". Defense and Security Analysis' (review). 18 (2): 185–87. doi:10.1080/14751790220132583. S2CID 153876066.