Dr. Lester F. Beck

History

Wrote the groundbreaking film, “Human Growth”, first released in 1947. The man behind this movie Lester F. Beck, was an Associate Professor of Psychology as well as a Secretary Treasurer at the University of Oregon. Brown University awarded its first ever Ph.D. degree in psychology to Beck in 1933, whose thesis topic was “Manual Skills and the Measurement of Handedness.”

Movies

Squeak the Squirrel
Squeak the Squirrel
Director
This short shows how a gold-mantled ground squirrel at Crater Lake National Park has learned to solve problems connected with getting food
Unconscious Motivation
Unconscious Motivation
Director
Produced by Dr. Lester F. Beck of the University of Oregon, this astonishing 40-minute motion picture is an unrehearsed, authentic clinical record, showing the inducement of an artificial neurosis by hypnotic suggestion in a young man and a young woman. Upon reawakening, the subjects, by means of dream analysis, ink blot and word association tests, gradually realize first the existence of a traumatic experience and then its content by slowly reconstructing the bogus events which caused it. Their reactions, discussion and self-analysis were spontaneous, unrehearsed and unpredictable: the result is a most unusual motion picture.
Photographic Studies in Hypnosis: Abnormal Psychology
Photographic Studies in Hypnosis: Abnormal Psychology
Director
Silent film showcasing hypnosis and its effects.