Agricultural psychology: review

From: Shanteau, J. (2001), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science (3rd ed). Craig-
head, W. E., & Nemeroff, C. B. (Eds). NY: Wiley.
AGRICULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

In contrast to other social sciences that have developed specialized subdisciplines and/or applica-
tion interests in agriculture, psychology historically has not been known for its concern with rural
issues. For instance, there has not been any psychological counterpart to such social science spe-
cialties as agricultural economics, rural sociology, agricultural marketing, or rural geography.
Nonetheless, psychological perspectives have interacted with agricultural issues in several do-
mains: (1) assessment of the therapeutic needs of rural populations, (2) investigation of farming
tasks and skills, (3) analysis of expert agricultural judges, (4) evaluation of farm management deci-
sions, and (5) statistics and experimental design.

THERAPEUTIC NEEDS
Rural life is often portrayed in an idyllic “down to earth” fashion. Rural communities are assumed
to be less stressful and more humane than urban life. However, epidemiological studies have
shown serious mental health problems exist in rural communities (Henggeler, 1983). In fact,
Husaini, Neff, and Stone (1979) found that many interpersonal problems have higher rates of inci-
dence in rural areas. Despite the need, rural communities often lack many of the mental health ser-
vices taken for granted in cities. Hoagland (1978) reported that only 17.5% of rural poverty areas
had adequate mental health services (compared to 49% of 49% of urban poverty areas).

One major reason for this lack of mental health services is that most clinicians and counselors are
trained in large urban universities. Faculty (and students) are thus unfamiliar with the values, con-
cerns, and even the language of rural living. Consequently, specialized programs have evolved to
prepare mental health-care providers with the skills and abilities to cope with problems encoun-
tered in rural communities. For example, Heyman (1983) described a model for preparing commu-
nity psychologists to work in rural regions of the country. Similarly, Edgerton (1983) considers
some ingenious methods that mental health professionals have used to cope with the limitations of
providing services in rural contexts, e.g., traveling clinics and in-school centers.

One issue that has received much attention in studies of rural communities has been child abuse.
Such abuse involves a pathological interaction between the child, the caregiver, and the situation.
Rural environments are different in many respects from the more widely understood urban envi-
ronment. It should not be surprising, therefore, to find that rural child abuse is perceived in a dif-
ferent light and frequently goes unreported. Nonetheless, home-based early intervention programs
are successful in helping “at risk” children in rural areas (Rosenberg & Reppucci, 1983).

FARMING TASKS AND SKILLS
Traditionally, farmers and ranchers were expected to be proficient in many manual and physical
tasks. Work psychologists have been involved in examining these skills, e.g., Tomlinson (1970)
found that dairy workers must be proficient in nine separate tasks, ranging from operating milking
machines to evaluating the health of cows. Thus, a traditional farmer or rancher needed to be a
jack-of-all-trades, with general skills in many areas.
However, with the increased mechanization and computerization in agriculture, there has been a
shift in the skills needed. Instead of many general abilities, more specialized skills are necessary
now. Moreover, instead of emphasizing manual skills, modern agribusiness places greater demand
on cognitive abilities. For example, Matthews (1978) reported that handling a modern combine
harvester involves simultaneous monitoring and control of at least seven tasks. Given the complex-
ity of the cognitive demands, there has been considerable concern over the human factors compo-
nent in increasingly high rate of farm accidents (Mainzer, 1966).

With the trend away from small family farms to large corporate farming, there is a greater need for
farmers with problem solving and management skills (Stevens, 1970). This has produced changes
in both the education and the practice of today’s farmers. As a result, behavioral investigators have
turned their interests toward analysis of higher thought processes (Shanteau, 1992).

AGRICULTURAL EXPERTISE
Many early insights into the psychology of expertise arose from studies of agricultural workers.
For instance, one of the earliest known studies of experts in any domain was conducted in 1917 by
Hughes. His data revealed that corn rated highest by expert corn judges did not produce the highest
yield. In 1923, Wallace (later vice-president under Franklin Roosevelt) reanalyzed Hughes’ data
using path analysis. He showed (1) corn judges largely agreed with each other, but (2) their ratings
correlated only slightly with crop yields.

Trumbo, Adams, Milner, and Schipper (1962) asked licensed grain inspectors to judge samples of
wheat. Nearly one-third of the samples were misgraded and, when graded a second time, over one-
third were given a different grade. Also, increased experienced made judges more confident, but
not necessarily more accurate. Finally, more experienced judges tended to overgrade the wheat
samples (perhaps the original form of “grade inflation”).

One source of errors in agricultural judgment is the presence of irrelevant factors. Gaeth and
Shanteau (1984) noted that nondiagnostic material (e.g., excessive moisture) significantly im-
pacted the decisions of soil judges. They also found that cognitive training was successful in com-
pensating for the presence of these irrelevant materials. Another approach to improving expert
judgment was observed in weather forecasting. Murphy and Winkler (1977) found that precipita-
tion forecasts could be improved using a feedback system based on Brier scores (a quadratic scor-
ing system). Since then, accuracy of weather forecasts has increased dramatically (Stewart, et al.,
1997).

FARM MANAGEMENT DECISIONS
There have been frequent analyses of the choices needed to manage a farm. Most of this work has
been concerned with how economic decisions should be made. There has been concern recently in
helping farmers cope with cognitive limitations when they make choices. Rajala and Sage (1979)
considered various methods intended to help farmers think more effectively about their decisions.
For instance, farmers consistently make suboptimal allocations when buying crop or drought in-
surance (Anderson, 1974). However, Kunreuther (1979) found that farmers could be persuaded to
think more effectively about buying insurance, e.g., by taking a longer time perspective.

Insights into marketing and consumer behavior have come from studies in agriculture. For in-
stance, the pioneering analysis of new-product diffusion by Rogers (1962) was based on farmers’
willingness to adopt new agricultural equipment. His classification of individuals into “innovators,
early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards” is now widely accepted.

STATISTICS AND EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
One area where there has been a long-standing interface between psychology and agriculture has
been in the development of statistical analysis and research design. A century ago, psychologists
such as Galton were instrumental in building the basis of modern statistical thinking (Gigerenzer,
et al, 1989). Through such seminal efforts, later psychologists (e.g., Cattell and Thurstone) built
the foundation for application of statistics to behavioral research.

Parallel to this effort, statisticians working in agricultural settings (such as Fisher) developed much
of what is now considered standard experimental design and analysis. According to Brown (1972),
concepts of random assignment and factorial designs initially were proposed to advance agricul-
tural science. Indeed, many terms commonly used today in statistics, e.g., “split plot designs,” r e-
flect an agricultural background.

In summary, although “agricultural psychology” is not normally recognized as a subfield of ps y-
chology, there have been many applications of behavioral ideas in agricultural settings. Moreover,
agricultural issues have impacted psychology in a variety of often unappreciated ways.

REFERENCES

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Edgerton, J. W. (1983). Models of service delivery. In A. W. Childs & G. B. Melton (Eds.), Rural
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Gaeth, G. J., & Shanteau, J. (1984). Reducing the influence of irrelevant information on experi-
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Henggeler, S. W. (1983). Needs assessments in rural areas: Issues and problems. In A. W. Childs
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Heyman, S. R. (1983). Problems in program development and the development of alternatives. In
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Hughes, H. D. (1917). An interesting corn seed experiment. The Iowa Agriculturalist, 17, 424-425.

Husaini, B. A., Neff, J. A., & Stone, R. H. (1979). Psychiatric impairment in rural communities.
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Kunreuther, H. (1979). Why aren’t they insured ? The Journal of Insurance, XL, No. 5.

Mainzer, W. (1966). Accident prevention in the cowshed. British Journal of Industrial Medicine,
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Matthews, J. (1978). The farm worker. In W. T. Singleton (Ed.), The analysis of practical skills.
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Stewart, T. R., Roebber, P. J., & Bosart, L. F. (1997). The importance of the task in analyzing ex-
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SUGGESTED READING

Childs, A. W., & Melton, G. B. (1983). Rural psychology. New York: Plenum Press.

Dillon, J. L., & Scandizzo, P. L. (1978). Risk attitudes of subsistence farmers in northeast Brazil:
A sampling approach. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 60, 425-435.

Kohler, W. (1929). Simple structural functions in the chimpanzee and the chicken. In W. D. Ellis
(Ed.), A source book of Gestalt psychology. NY: Harcourt Brace.

Lorenz, K. (1937). The companion in the bird’s world. Auk, 54, 245-273.

Meadows, A. W., Lovibond, S. H., & John, R. D. (1959). The establishment of psychophysical
standards in the sorting of fruit. Occupational psychology, 33, 217.

Phelps, R. H., & Shanteau, J. (1978). Livestock judges: How much information can an expert use?
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 21, 209-219.

Seabrook, M. F. (1972). A study of the influence of cowman’s personality and job satisfaction on
yield of dairy cows. Journal of Agricultural Laboratory Science, 1.


J. SHANTEAU
Kansas State University