Pronunciation: [ɹˈɒbət mˈi͡ənz jˈɜːks] (IPA) 
The correct spelling of "Robert Mearns Yerkes" is /ˈjɜːrkiz/. The "Y" is pronounced as "yuh," the "e" in "Mearns" is silent, and the "r" is pronounced as a soft and short vowel sound. The "s" at the end of "Yerkes" is pronounced as a z sound. Using the International Phonetic Alphabet helps to provide a precise pronunciation guide, ensuring that the name is correctly pronounced as intended.
Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876-1956) was an American psychologist and ethologist who made significant contributions to the fields of comparative psychology, intelligence testing, and primate behavior.
Yerkes is best known for his pioneering work in intelligence testing. He developed the Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale, which was widely used in the early 20th century to measure intelligence in humans. Yerkes believed that intelligence could be quantitatively measured and used his scale to classify individuals into different levels of mental ability.
In addition to his work on human intelligence, Yerkes also conducted extensive research on non-human primates. He established the first primate research laboratory in the United States and conducted experiments to study primate behavior, cognition, and social organization. His studies on chimpanzees and other primates helped shed light on the evolutionary origins of human behavior and intelligence.
Yerkes was a prominent figure in the field of comparative psychology, which explores the similarities and differences between human and animal behavior. He believed that studying animal behavior was crucial for understanding human psychology and contributed to our understanding of various psychological processes such as learning, memory, and social behavior.
Overall, Robert Mearns Yerkes was a pioneering psychologist who made significant contributions to intelligence testing and the study of primate behavior. His work continues to have a lasting impact on these fields, and he is recognized as a key figure in the history of psychology.
