Tom Ostrom

Vocation

American psychologist who helped further the study of social psychology. Prior to Ostrom, the field explored and identified the cognitive foundations of social activity. Ostrom pushed the field to studying the social foundations of cognitive activity. Ostrom was noted for his work advancing attitude theory and methodology. His work helped further the "ABC" tripartite model of attitudes (affect, behavior, cognition). He also furthered the field of attitude measurement with more valid and reliable rating scales. His research program on impression formation demonstrated the role of memory in social judgment. In addition to his own work in the field, Ostrom was a talented administrator. In his thirty years at Ohio State, Ostrom helped developed the program into one of the premier graduate training programs in social psychology. From 1980 to 1987 he served as editor of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, developing it into one of the most innovative journals in the field. Ostrom died on 16 May 1994, aged 58. Link to Wikipedia biography