Magda B. Arnold

Arnold died in Tucson, Arizona, on October 5, 2002.

She organized the Toronto Psychology Club to open the lines of discussion among professional colleagues. The club became the Ontario Psychological Association in 1947. She developed workshops to train psychologists in personality testing, which was uncommon due to the popularity of intelligence testing. The workshops focused on improving the quality of life of military veterans following World War II. In 1948, Arnold represented female researchers at the Mooseheart Symposium on Feelings and Emotion.

In 1942, Arnold was employed at the University of Toronto following her doctorate studies. She was invited to be the Director of Research and Training at the Psychological Services for Canadian Veteran Affairs in 1946. The next year, Arnold accepted a teaching position at Wellesley College. In 1948, she filled in as an associate professor and department chair at Bryn Mawr College. During this time she reunited with her daughter. Two years later, she became the department chair at Barat College to help improve the academic environment. Then, in 1952, Arnold accepted a position at Loyola University (Chicago) to focus on research. She was promoted to director of the Behavior Laboratory. During a twenty-year period, Arnold traveled internationally to teach at universities in eastern Europe while remaining connected with Loyola. In 1972, she faced a minor setback in her research while teaching at Spring Hill College due to a lack of support from the academic community. She quickly moved on to the University of South Alabama Medical School to return to serious studies of the brain. Finally, in 1975, Arnold decided to retire from teaching. She used her time to finish writing her book, Memory and the Brain.

Arnold studied psychology at the University of Toronto where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1939. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Toronto, studying the relationship between emotion and muscle tension; she earned her master's degree in 1940, followed by her doctorate in 1942.

Arnold was born in Mährisch Trübau (until 1918 the town was part of the Austrian monarchy; now Moravská Třebová in the Czech Republic) to Rudolph Barta and Rosa Marie Blondiau. She married Robert Arnold and moved to Prague. She sat-in on psychology classes at Charles University where she was employed as a secretary. In 1928, the Arnold's left Czechoslovakia and immigrated to Canada. Arnold had three children: Joan, Margaret, and Katherine. Robert and Magda separated in 1939.

Magda Blondiau Arnold (born Magda Barta-Blondau; December 22, 1903 – October 5, 2002) was a psychologist. The first contemporary theorist to develop appraisal theory of emotions, which moved away from "feeling" theories (e.g. James-Lange theory) and "behaviorist" theories (e.g. Cannon-Bard theory) toward the cognitive approach. She also created a new method of scoring the Thematic Apperception Test called Story Sequence Analysis.