David Krech (March 27, 1909 – July 14, 1977) was an American Jewish experimental and social psychologist who lectured predominately at the University of California, Berkeley.
Throughout his education and career endeavors, Krech was with many psychologists including Edward Tolman, Karl Lashley, and Rensis Likert.
[1] Krech extensively researched rats in several university laboratories and found evidence that supported the localization theory of the brain.
Because of his involvement in Social Psychology, Krech was appointed by Thurgood Marshall to give expert testimony in the Briggs vs. Elliot court case regarding the "Separate but equal" law.
[4][5] After elementary and secondary schooling, Krech enrolled at Washington Square College of New York University to pursue a degree in pre-law with hopes of becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
As an undergrad, Krech was guided by Frances Holden in his first experiments with laboratory rats completing discriminatory problems.
To gain his PhD, Krech enrolled at the University of California Berkeley where he continued to study rats with Robert Tryon and was influenced by Edward C. Tolman.
[1] After graduating with his PhD, Krech accepted a National Research Council Fellowship with Karl Lashley in Chicago studying brain lesions in rats.
[1][6] After his removal from the University of Colorado Boulder, Krech worked in Rensis Likert's Division of Program Surveys where he learned about attitude research.
[6] While in this position, he conducted social psychology experiments regarding spies that the United States Army utilized during World War II.
After Krech's time at Harvard, he worked with Kenneth Clark and Thurgood Marshall in the South Carolina case Briggs v. Elliott that addressed the issue of Separate but Equal.
[1][2] After the political loyalty oath requirement was removed, Krech returned to Berkeley where he focused mainly on experimental psychology.
[1] Krech's ideas for research pertaining to his master's thesis came to him after he read Brain Mechanisms and Intelligence by Karl Lashley.
[1] While Krech was a sergeant in the United States Army he was focused on measuring attitudes and evaluating candidates for spy positions to go into enemy territory.
[4] After Krech returned to University of California, Berkeley, alongside Melvin Calvin, he began to study the analysis of chemical changes located in the brain that could possibly underlie learning.
These interactions led to Krech studying brain chemistry and its relationship to behavior with Mark Rosenzweig and Edward Bennett.
[6] With the addition to the team of Marian Diamond, neuroanatomist, in 1960, Krech and associates were able to pursue the anatomical effects of deliberate enrichment and impoverishment on rat brains at any age.