Ann and Alan Clarke are Emeritus Professors at the University of Hull, where Alan was also Pro-vice-chancellor between 1968 and 1971. Ann was the first woman to be given a Chair in 1985. They earned their PhDs from the Institute of Psychiatry in London where they worked under the supervision of Hans Eysenck. 

In their early work during the 1950s, they showed that with stimulating environment and appropriate training, people having IQs as low as 30 can perform fairly complex industrial tasks. They added that even the unstimulating but orderly life in the hospital was an improvement on their previous environment, which allowed substantial gains in terms of IQ and social functioning. They were among the first researchers to focus on resiliency and vulnerability in the face of “misfortune” in this group of individuals.

After working primarily with mental deficiency, they investigated the role of the early years in child development; their second significant contribution to developmental research. On the contrary to many psychologists at that time (in 70s), they believed that the whole of the life path provides potential for change. When they had sufficient evidence for this idea, they published the book “Early Experience: Myth and Evidence” in 1976. In 2000, they wrote “Early Experience and the Life Path” with updated evidence. At that time Alan was 78 and Ann was 71.

They are widely published. Their careful research and analysis became recognized and they received the 1977 Research Award from the American Association on Mental Deficiency and the 1982 Distinguished Achievement Award for Scientific Literature from the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency. They are both Fellows of the British Psychological Society and Alan is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Barbara Tizard wrote a personal profile of Ann and Alan Clarke in Child Psychology and Psychiatry Review in 2001.

Most cited publication (227 citations):

Clarke, A.M, & Clarke, A.D.B. (1976). Early Experience: Myth and Evidence. London: Open Books and New York: Free Press.