Draft:Fred A. Moss

Fred A. Moss was born in 1893 in a remote rural community called Tusquittee in the western mountains of North Carolina. Moss earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mercer University in 1913^[1] and began his academic career as a teacher in Alma, Georgia.

He then pursued training in Psychology with Edward Thorndike at Columbia University and earned a Master of Arts in 1921.^[2] He moved on to George Washington University and received a Ph.D. (1922) for his work there on animal drives.^[3] In 1927, he was awarded a M.D., from George Washington University.

From 1921 to 1939 he served on the faculty of the Department of Psychology at George Washington University, and as Chairman of the Psychology Department from 1927 to 1934.^[4] He was succeeded as chair by his student, protégé and collaborator Thelma Hunt.

Fred Moss's research career primarily involved human psychology, especially applied psychology but primarily focused on testing techniques. He studied the effects of sleeplessness on mental and physical performance.^[5][6] Moss also studied human reaction time while driving an automobile for the Society of Automobile Engineers and found no difference between the sexes. ^[7] He served as Secretary for the Committee on the Causes of Accidents for the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety in 1926.^[8] Moss lead the initiative to apply true/false and short answer testing throughout George Washington University in 1925.^[9] He developed similar tests to evaluate aptitudes for teaching intelligence and social intelligence.^[10][11]

Moss was the Director of Study of the Aptitude Test Committee, Association of American Medical Colleges.^[12]. Moss and his colleagues Thelma Hunt and Katharine T. Omwake developed the "Scholastic Aptitude Test for Medical Students" - the first Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).^[13] The test had true-false and multiple-choice questions. Dropout rates in US medical schools after World War I had increased from 5% to 20%.^[14] Use of this new aptitude test may have been a factor in ensuring adequate aptitude and reducing the national dropout rate among freshman medical students from 20% in 1925–1930 to 7% in 1946. ^[15] The MCAT continues to be in use with significant modifications.

In his published books, he demonstrated his conclusions regarding psychology; that humans (and animals) were affected by definable external as well as internal influences. Also that human behavior is the result of forces acting on the person, the innate nature of the person as developed by their past experiences.^[16]

Moss published many scientific articles and objective tests for medical education and psychological assessment. With his collaborators, he published several types of aptitude tests. He authored psychology texts and other books, including:

• Applications of Psychology (1929) Houghton Mifflin Co
• Psychology for Nurses (1931) Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Foundations of Abnormal Psychology (1932, with Thelma Hunt) Prentice Hall
• Comparative Psychology (1934) Prentice Hall
• Two Dozen Clues for the Doctor’s Successful Investments (1961) Prentice Hall
• The Quest of Happiness (1965) Poetry by F.A. Moss (Poetry and Philosophy)

Moss saw the application of psychological principals in deciding when to make stock market transactions and was quite successful in investing.^[17] In 1964, Moss established the Fred A. Moss Charity Trust, aimed at supporting religious, charitable, scientific, and educational purposes, especially for education of future scientists and physicians.^[18] The trust is currently managed by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. Moss was a major donor to the rebuilding of Moss Memorial Church near his childhood home in Tusquittee, North Carolina. ^[19] His generosity also led to the construction in 1964 of the Moss Memorial Public Library in Hayesville, North Carolina, named in his honor.^[20]

Fred A. Moss died at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, on July 27, 1966.^[21] His legacy lives on through his development of aptitude testing and the ongoing work of the Fred A. Moss Charity Trust.