Clark Leonard Hull was an influential American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 psychologist

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 who sought to explain learning

Learning

Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...

 and motivation

Motivation

Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...

 by scientific laws of behavior. Born in Akron

Akron, New York

Akron, New York is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was listed as 3,085 in the 2000 census. The name means a high place. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Hull obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, and in 1918 a PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

, where he also taught from 1916 to 1929. His doctoral research on "Quantitative Aspects of the Evolution of Concepts" was published in Psychological Monographs.

Hull conducted research demonstrating that his theories could predict and control behavior.