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The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things to Rats

James Tiptree, Jr.

First published May 1976
Type Short Fiction
Length Novelette

Notes

The main character is a psychologist who is trying to study "genetic influences on tolerance of perceptual novelty". This was essentially the work of the author, as Alice Sheldon, for her Ph.D. thesis in Experimental Psychology, as described in her paper Preference for Familiar vs. Novel Stimuli as a Function of the Familiarity of the Environment, J. of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 67(4), April, 1969, pp. 516-521.

Awards

YearAwardCategoryStatus
1977 Locus Poll Award Best Novelette Nominee/Finalist

Publications (23)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
May 1976 New Dimensions Science Fiction Number 6 Harper & Row Anthology 33
August 1976 New Dimensions Science Fiction Number 6 Gollancz Anthology 33
July 1977 The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 Holt, Rinehart and Winston Anthology 115
July 1977 The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 Del Rey / Ballantine Anthology 115
July 1977 The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 Del Rey / Ballantine Anthology 115
July 1977 The Best Science Fiction of the Year 6 Victor Gollancz Anthology 115
January 1978 Star Songs of an Old Primate Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 227
January 1978 Star Songs of an Old Primate Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 227
February 1979 Star Songs of an Old Primate Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 227
February 1979 Star Songs of an Old Primate Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 227
November 1979 The Best of New Dimensions Pocket Books Anthology 235
November 1979 The Best of New Dimensions Pocket Books Anthology 235
July 1994 The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF Tor Anthology 672
October 1994 The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF Orbit Anthology 672
October 1994 The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF Tor / SFBC Anthology 672
September 1997 The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF Orb Anthology 672
October 2011 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Corvus Anthology
May 2012 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Tor Anthology 474
May 2012 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Tor / SFBC Anthology 474
May 2012 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Tor Anthology 474
December 2015 Star Songs of an Old Primate Gateway / Orion Collection |227
June 2023 The Voice That Murmurs in the Darkness Subterranean Press Collection |73
October 2023 The Voice That Murmurs in the Darkness Subterranean Press Collection 73