Allan Wicker

Allan W. Wicker studied with the founders of ecological psychology, Roger G. Barker and Herbert Wright, in the social psychology program at the University of Kansas, where he earned the Ph.D. in 1967. He taught at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana before taking a position at Claremont Graduate School in 1971, where he was a professor of psychology until early retirement in 1999. He is currently an emeritus professor.

Best-known contributions

Wicker is recognized for significant contributions to ecological psychology and for a widely cited paper on the attitude-behavior relationship.

Ecological Psychology

His Introduction to Ecological Psychology was praised by reviewers for providing a readable and personal account of the empirical and theoretical works of ecological psychologists. One reviewer noted these contributions of the text: connection of ecological psychology with other specialties in psychology and with related disciplines, revision of traditional positions that Wicker viewed as unnecessarily restrictive, and "development of original, constructive advances within the framework".
In subsequent publications, Wicker sought to refine and elaborate the basic environmental unit of ecological psychology, the behavior setting. According to Scott, "Wicker emerged as the individual in this group of researchers who has taken the theoretical conceptualizations the farthest. Wicker proposed four extensions of behavior setting theory, now adding considerations of the life cycles of behavior settings, the larger contextual environments of the molar level setting environments, the individuals within the settings, and more practical applications of settings".

Social Psychology

In 1969, Wicker published a review paper on the relationship between verbal expressions of attitudes and overt behaviors that stimulated much debate and research in social psychology. The paper was designated a "citation classic" in 1980.

Honors and recognition

Wicker was elected a Fellow of the following divisions of the American Psychological Association: Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Society for Community Research and Action, and Division of Population and Environmental Psychology. He was president of the last-mentioned division in 1985–1986. He is a Charter Member Emeritus and Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Wicker has held Fulbright appointments in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Malaysia, and Japan. His Working in Ghana project, which documents the work lives of more than 50 Ghanaian and expatriate workers, grew out of the Ghana appointment.

Selected publications

Book

Wicker, A. W.. An introduction to ecological psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chapters and articles in Ecological Psychology

Wicker, A. W.. Behavior settings reconsidered: Temporal stages, resources, internal dynamics, context. In D. Stokols & I. Altman, Handbook of environmental psychology. New York: Wiley.
Wicker, A. W. . Making sense of environments. In W. B. Walsh, K. H. Craik, & R. H. Price, Person-environment psychology: Models and perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wicker, A. W. . Ecological psychology: Historical contexts, current conception, prospective directions. In R. B. Bechtel & A. Churchman, Handbook of environmental psychology . New York: Wiley.
Wicker, A. W. Toward a pragmatic ecological psychology. "MERA Journal, 14," 11–17.
Wicker, A. W. . Perspectives on behavior settings: With illustrations from Allison's ethnography of a Japanese hostess club. Environment and Behavior, 44, 474–492.
Wicker, A. W., & August, R. A.. Working lives in context: Engaging the views of participants and analysts. In W. B. Walsh, K. H. Craik, & R. H. Price. Person-environment psychology: New directions and perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wicker, A. W., & King, J. C.. Life cycles of behavior settings. In J. E. E.McGrath, The social psychology of time.. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Articles in Social Psychology

Wicker, A. W.. Attitudes versus actions: The relationship of verbal and overt behavioral responses to attitude objects. Journal of Social Issues, 25, 41–78. Available online at http://www.thecre.com/tpsac/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Appendix1_AttitudevsAction_ByWicker1969.pdf
Wicker, A. W.. An examination of the "other variables" explanation of attitude behavior inconsistency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 19, 18–30.