Guide to the Papers of Cecil Gibb

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MS 9231

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator
Cecil Gibb
Title
Papers of Cecil Gibb
Date Range
1936-1983
Collection Number
MS 9231
Extent
3.5 metres (25 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Contents

The papers comprise working notes, computer punch cards, matrices and other data, correspondence, reports and publications relating to Gibb's work in Australia and the United States as a research psychologist, and his subsequent career in Australian educational administration and research. A quantity of material relating to Gibb's work on tertiary admission procedures is included. Notes and reports arising from Gibb's chairing of the 1971 committee, which reported to the Gorton Government on the condition of Aborigines on pastoral properties in the Northern Territory, are also held.

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn236767).

Conditions Governing Use

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred Citation

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Cecil Gibb, National Library of Australia, MS 9231, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Provenance

Gibb's wife Margaret donated the papers to the Library in 1994.

Arrangement

Overall, the papers are arranged in chronological order, covering facets of Gibb's research, teaching and administrative careers. However, in some cases material that has been reused for later purposes is held with the later material, reflecting the order of papers as they were received.

Biographical Note

Cecil Gibb was foundation professor of Psychology at the Australian National University and eminent internationally for his research into personality factors and leadership. Gibb was born in Marrickville in 1913, and educated at Fort Street Boys High School and Sydney University, where he graduated with honours in both arts and economics. After a brief period as lecturer in Psychology at Sydney University, he joined the Australian Army Psychology Service in 1942 and by 1946 was assistant to the Director of Psychological Services with the rank of major.

Gibb's work for the Army and its personnel services provided a basis for later exploration of personality factors, leadership and education selection procedures. The United States was the world leader in Gibb's initial field, factor analysis, and in 1947 Gibb completed his doctorate at the University of Illinois. In Chicago he worked with the leading international figure Raymond Cattell, who pioneered the application of factor analysis in personality measurement. At Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, between 1951 and 1955 Gibb co-ordinated an interdisciplinary course in human relations, and contributed research papers in areas of industrial and social psychology. Gibb edited the Penguin series publication, Leadership, in 1969.

On his return to Australia in 1955 Gibb took up the new chair of Psychology at the then Canberra University College. As a foundation member of the College Council, he was involved in the negotiations preceding amalgamation of the College with the Australian National University in 1960. Gibb filled the position of deputy chairman of the School of General Studies at the Australian National University between 1966 and 1971, a period of considerable change. Student quotas were widespread and the cause of debate as to their effectiveness and fairness.

Gibb was awarded an O.B.E. in 1970 for his services to education. In 1971 he chaired the committee that reported to the Gorton Government on the conditions of Aborigines on pastoral properties in the Northern Territory.

Guided by his earlier leadership and personality research, and experience as a university teacher and administrator, Gibb was at the forefront of new policy developments in tertiary admissions. His work for the Tertiary Education Commission during the 1970s established a blueprint for tertiary admission procedures in Australia, and led to an improved understanding of selection methods and quotas.

Having retired from the Australian National University, in 1981-1983 Gibb conducted a study of entry scores, admission procedures and selection in Universities for the Tertiary Education Commission. He died in Canberra, 1 May 1994, aged 80.

References: Canberra Times, 14 May 1994; The Australian, 12 May 1994.

Item Descriptions

Series 1. Education and early career - Box 1, 2

There is little to be found in the collection regarding Gibb's early years or education. The series contains undated drafts and a copy of his 1940 Sydney University MA thesis, 'Personality traits. Their empirical measurement and statistical isolation'.

Also included in this brief series are remnants of Gibb's work for the Australian Army Psychology Service, 1942-46. These include notes for guidance of Personnel Selection Officers, data, and tests created and compiled for the Psychology Service.

Series 2. Sydney University and University of Illinois, 1947-51 - Box 3, 4

During the late 1940s Gibb was a senior lecturer in psychology at Sydney University. On sabbatical at the University of Illinois he attained a PhD, focusing on the emergence of leadership. Both at Sydney and Illinois Gibb refined techniques of testing personality traits, particularly with respect to small group behaviour.

The series comprises: Gibb's 1949 PhD psychology thesis, 'The emergence of leadership in small, temporary groups of men', and related material; a number of drafts and reprints of articles, including correspondence with publishers and colleagues relating to the subject of leadership; articles and related matter on the subject of Rorschach Group testing (leadership). This period marked the beginning of a long and productive relationship with Professor Raymond Cattell, a leading authority in Gibb's chosen field. Unfortunately, little remains of Gibb's research or work with Cattell, with the exception of correspondence and draft chapters for a proposed collaboration, 'Advanced Social Psychology' (unpublished). A miscellaneous cutting on leadership completes the series.

Series 3. Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, 1951-55 - Box 5, 6, 7, 8

As visiting lecturer, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Gibb further developed methods of leadership assessment, based in part on his work with Cattell. He further refined the view of leadership that emphasised 'syntality' and context, by application and evaluation of 'p-technique' and other analytical methods. This view proposed leadership as a function of personality and the social system in interaction.

The series contains extensive research notes and correspondence, publications, questionnaire and associated material, correlation data and punch-cards relating to research projects: 'Australian Cultural Pattern by p-technique', 'Teacher Behaviour Description', further leadership and group behaviour research. Minutes of the Social Science Research Council to which Gibb reported his work on leadership in July 1952, and related correspondence for an American Psychology Association symposium on 'Theories of Leadership' in 1954 are also included.

Research matter from this period is followed by details of Gibb's innovative Human Relations course, spanning psychology and sociology disciplines. The course information held here includes background notes, syllabi, lectures, examination and laboratory material. This is followed by correspondence, notes and test material connecting industrial psychology and personnel development, culminating in a Ford Foundation-sponsored summer school conducted by Gibb for Du Pont in 1955.

Miscellaneous draft papers and reprints complete the series.

Series 4. Canberra University College/Australian National University: research and teaching, 1955-78 - Box 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Material reflecting Gibb's research at the Department of Psychology, Canberra University College, in the late 1950s commences with an additional 'teacher behaviour' project work, utilising some of the earlier Dartmouth data and findings, and comparing the responses of Dartmouth and Canberra University College student populations. Project material comprises questionnaire data and scales, some correspondence relating to data processing, notes, drafts and copies of Gibb's summary paper, 'Teacher Behaviour - Here and There', published in the December 1957 number of the Australian Journal of Psychology.

Gibb's large (200 families were used) Family Description Project focused on the family as a small group for analysis. Data, analyses, reports and research notes are extant.

The series also includes correspondence and related notes contributed by Gibb in relation to articles written for a number of journals and organisations on 'group dynamics', human relations in public administration, industrial social psychology. Included here is a technical report 'Game Interactions with "Humans" and "Machines" and Their Relations to Tactical Behaviour and Success' Gibb priuced for the U.S. government in 1963. This is followed by a number of items relating to the 'International Conference on Social-Psychological Research in Developing Countries', held in Imbada, Nigeria, December 1966 to January 1967, which Gibb attended.

Following the research sequence, the series includes lecture notes, readings, collected publications, handbooks and projects associated with Gibb's Psychology and extension courses, c. 1956-77. Miscellaneous notes on I.Q. measurement and other topics, a number of article drafts and reprints and correspondence associated with Gibb's appointment and conditions complete this series

Series 5. Canberra University College/Australian National University: administration, 1955-78 - Box 15, 16

This organisational series is lacking in any significant quantity of minutes or other matter related to the early years of the Canberra University College and Australian National University. It commences with some minutes, annual and other reports of the Psychology Department from 1955-75, followed by notes dating from 1959 on 'teaching methodology' and copies of Canberra University College minutes from 1960 pertaining to academic salaries.

The series largely comprises Gibb's later work for the University, from the mid-1970s until 1984. It includes questionnaires and various reports centring on University 'goals', the structure of the University, reports on administrative management positions and miscellaneous notes relating to the organisation and role of the university, and student attitudes to psychology. Some correspondence is held, including a series between Gibb and Fred E. Fiedler, Professor of Psychology and of Management and Organisation at University of Washington, Seattle.

Series 6. Aborigines on Pastoral Properties - Box 17, 18, 19

This series covers the work of the Department of Interior review of the working conditions, health, welfare and social conditions of Aborigines on pastoral properties in the Northern Territory. The committee consisted of Gibb as Chairman, H. C. Coombs, Chairman, Council for Aboriginal Affairs, W. E. L. de Vos, Secretary Northern Territory Cattle Producers Council, J. Taylor, anthropologist, Queensland Institute Medical Research, C. Roberts, 'Aboriginal with experience as an employee in the pastoral industry', and E. Milliken, Director of Research, Welfare Division, Northern Territory Administration. The review in part stemmed from the 1968 Commonwealth Arbitration Commission decision that 'the time has come when Aborigines are entitled to award protection'. Geographically, the work of Gibb's Committee covered four districts, Alice Springs, Barkly Tablelands, Victoria River and Darwin/Gulf districts.

The series includes legislation and reports relevant to Aboriginal education, employment, health and housing; copies of the Department of the Interior Northern Territory Newsletter and other publications, reports issued by Abschol (National Union of Australian Students Aboriginal Scholarship Scheme during 1969 and 1970 concerning 'the conflict between the Government-Vestey side and the Gurindji tribe over Wattie Creek land rights'), and a copy of an address delivered by Coombs to the Anthropological Society of Western Australia, April 1971); census material, submissions and transcripts of interviews with pastoralists, cattle industry and other representatives. There are reports, research and correspondence concerning employment, training, health and welfare options, together with copies of the Committee's findings. Copies of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs subsequent report, 'Community Development in Pastoral Areas' forwarded to Gibb by Coombs in 1975, and a 1973 article in the anthropological journal Mankind regarding the work of the Committee are also held.

Papers relating to Abschol, 1965-70, are held by the National Library at MS 2592.

Series 7. Tertiary Admissions: research, data and reports 1967-83 - Box 20, 21, 22, 23

Gibb's research into selection methodology and practice in education spanned the 1960s to the 1980s, and includes his work in establishing courses in psychology at Canberra University College and the Australian National University, and work for the Tertiary Education Commission.

The series comprises correspondence and research matter related to the University of Illinois 'High School Personality Questionnaire', and other notes and studies in 'academic success' collected by Gibb; correspondence, travel arrangements and collected reports emanating from Gibb's 1969 research tour and review of admissions procedures for the Australian National University; notes, research and report of the University's Tertiary Education Entrance Project, 1969; Australian National University, General Studies Board meetings, 1970-71, and notes concerning 1st year and early admission processes, 1971. There follows Gibb's 1978-79 report into entry scores to universities and colleges of advanced education, and related matter; a progress report for an evaluation project at the University of Melbourne conducted by Gibb, 1981-83, and miscellaneous tertiary education reports.

Series 8. Miscellaneous - Box 24, 25

Contained in this series are general and personal correspondence, including a number of letters congratulating Gibb on receipt of his O.B.E. (1970) for 'services to education'. Of particular interest are notes and correspondence supporting the nomination of Raymond Cattell for the Psychological Science Gold Medal Award, 1985. Also included are photographs, certificates, curriculum vitae and a small number of newspaper cuttings. Several miscellaneous publications are also held.


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