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A Guide to her Papers at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Tyler Davis

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Thelen, Esther.

Collection No.
C687

Extent
14 cubic feet (16 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
Esther Thelen (1941-2004) was a professor of psychology at Indiana University Bloomington and a well-known researcher in the field of developmental psychology. She is known for applying the dynamic systems theory to the study of infant motor development; this has since become the dominant theoretical viewpoint in the field. Much of Thelen’s research was done at Indiana University Bloomington’s Infant Motor Development Laboratory, which she established and directed. This collection contains personal files and correspondence; documents related to public speaking appearances, publications, and roles in professional organizations and committees; educational materials from psychology courses taught by Thelen; and materials related to Thelen’s research, including handwritten notes, drafts of studies, and videotapes of research subjects.

Access Restrictions

Select files closed to researchers; these are indicated in the folder list. Advance notice required for access to collection.

Biographical Note

Esther Stillman Thelen was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 20, 1941 to Alden and Sarah Stillman. She attended Antioch College in Ohio, and was a 1964 graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a degree in zoology. She then received a master’s degree in zoology and a doctorate in biology, both from the University of Missouri. She began her career as an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Missouri in 1977 before moving to Indiana University in 1985.

During her time at Indiana University, Thelen was a professor of psychology and the founder/director of the Infant Motor Development Laboratory. She and her colleagues studied infant movement, perception, and cognition, and how perceptual motor skills in infancy can predict development and adaption later in life. In the late 1990s, Thelen worked with longtime colleague Linda Smith as well as Gregor Schöner to begin a series of experiments studying the “A-not-B” reaching error in infants.

Thelen is well-known for applying the dynamic systems theory – popularized under the name “chaos theory” – to the study of child development. Through watching and recording babies’ behavior, Thelen’s 19 years of research demonstrated that infant movement develops through a complex interplay of factors, including changing bodies, growing brains and nervous systems, and interactions with the external environment during a dynamic period of brain development. She disproved the original theory that the stepping reflex in babies appeared only at birth and then disappeared; her research proved that the reflex was still present after birth. Her work also had a major impact on the field of pediatric physical therapy, prompting therapists to design individual exercises tailored to a child’s body, rather than using standard exercises for all children within a certain age bracket.

Thelen was president of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) from 2003 to 2004 and served as president of the International Society for Infant Studies (ISIS) from 1996 to 1998. She was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychological Association. She received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as continuous funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.

She was widely published in the fields of psychology, child development, and motor neuroscience. Her research output included three books and over 120 scientific articles and chapters. Her theories have been incorporated into the work of scholars in neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, robotics, and kinesiology. Thelen was a frequent lecturer all over the world, giving talks and presentations at many different schools, conferences, and workshops. Her work was often featured in national media sources.

In 1962, Esther married David Thelen, a historian who also went on to work at Indiana University as a professor of American history. They had two children together. Thelen passed away from cancer on December 29, 2004.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into ten series: Conferences, Workshops, and Presentations; Correspondence; Courses and Instruction Materials; Grants and Funding Materials; International Society for Infant Studies (ISIS); National Research Council; Personal Files; Publications; Research; and Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).

Scope and Content Note

The Esther Thelen papers span the years 1977-2005 and mainly document Thelen’s time as a researcher and professor of psychology at Indiana University Bloomington (1985-2004). The collection documents Thelen’s professional activities, including research and instruction, publication, public speaking events, and leadership roles in organizations including the International Society for Infant Studies (ISIS), the National Research Council, and the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD). Additionally, the collection contains correspondence files that document Thelen’s interactions with her friends, peers, and students; personal files including a document of Thelen’s family history and notebooks filled with handwritten notes; as well as documents related to a gender-based salary inequity grievance co-filed by Thelen (and subsequently resolved) at Indiana University Bloomington. Types of materials present in the collection include correspondence, articles, research and instruction materials, photographs, and video data.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Thelen, Esther --Archives.
  • Thelen, Esther--Correspondence.
  • Indiana University, Bloomington. Department of Psychology --Faculty --Archives.
• • Topics
  • Movement, Psychology of --Study and teaching (Higher) --Indiana --Bloomington --History --Sources.
  • Developmental psychobiology --Study and teaching --Indiana --Bloomington --History --Sources.
  • Psychologists --Indiana --Bloomington --History --Sources.

Separated Material

27 photos, 2 contact sheets, and a number of negatives were removed and are housed with the Archives Photograph Collection. These include professional headshots of Thelen; photos of Thelen and her colleagues interacting with their infant research subjects; photos of the subjects themselves for documentation purposes; as well as a photo of the Indiana University Department of Psychology’s “Mobile Research Laboratory” bus, which enabled Thelen and her colleagues to travel to the homes of their research subjects to perform their studies. For more information, please contact the University Archives staff.

Related Material

Additional publications and research materials may be accessed in IUScholarworks.

Related photographs may be available in the University Archives Photographs Database .

Administrative Information

Container List