The five Garners: The psychological contributions of Professor Wendell R. Garner

In the domain of perception and cognition, few scientists have contributed more broadly and profoundly than W. R. Garner. Today, Garner is best known for the eponymous Garner interference, but several equally epoch-making developments are less widely recognized or associated with his name. In this article, we provide an in-depth examination of five areas developed by Garner’s pioneering ideas, all precursors of contemporary research. They include hearing psychophysics, methodology (with implications for resolving the replication/credibility crisis), information theory, perceptual independence, and attention. All have been instrumental in shaping and molding current perceptual and cognitive science. This article can also serve the student of cognition and perception as a reference for the origins of contemporary work and findings in psychological science.