He promoted and researched concepts related to the malleable nature of child intelligence (also promulgated by Benjamin Bloom).
That work eventually led to the theory of learning centered on the concept of the information processing system.
He became president of the League of Industrial Democracy and Student Christian Association as well as participating in football and wrestling.
[1] Hunt had difficulty deciding on an undergraduate major, so he started with biology, and then moved to philosophy, economics, and sociology.
Hunt took advice from one of his sociology professors and enrolled in a course taught by Guilford who eventually asked him to complete graduate work in psychology.
For his master's thesis, Hunt wanted to discuss the personality traits of extraversion and introversion, which were described by William McDougal, but after reading the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Hunt became convinced of the importance of early life experiences in shaping one's personality.
[2] Hunt then completed his doctoral degree at Cornell University under the supervision of Madison Bentley, who was a student of Edward Bradford Titchener.
Hunt was a professor at Brown for 10 years and during this time researched experimental psychopathology and Freudian concepts in animals.
A notable collaboration at Brown was with Harold Schlosberg, in which they attempted to induce neuroses in hoarding rats.
[2] Grants from both the Russell Sage Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund allowed him to research the development of intelligence and motivation through child-rearing practices and experience.
[5] Hunt contributed to the two-volume landmark publication entitled Personality and the Behavior Disorders, which was published in 1944 during his time at Brown.
Hunt also served as the leader of the White House Task Force on Early Childhood Development under President Lyndon B. Johnson, which is known for their report entitled "A Bill of Rights for Children.