Abigail M.

Villa

Contributions
In partnership with one of his students, Alfredo Lagmay came up with Filipino
Psychology or Sikolohiyang Filipino. Back then, their main focus for their
psychological studies was that of the westerners. However, during their
studies, Lagmay realized that Filipinos came from a different background and
comparing it with the western ones would be problematic. With this, he
spearheaded a campaign on developing new methods in approaching the
study about Filipino psychology that would be more appropriate with its
diverse cultures.
He also built two projective psychological tests, namely the Philippine
Childrens Apperception Test and the Philippine Thematic Apperception
Test that are fit for the Philippine culture. The later one, which is commonly
calls as TAT, aims to reveals ones motives, concerns and perception of the
world thorugh the stories one makes up about vague pictures of people
shown. Nowadays, these two tests are prominently used in the fields of
anthropology, sociology, psychology and education. These tests are deemed
by the scientific community to be one of the greatest contributions in the said
fields.
In his time, Labay also made different researches on the Differential
Reinforcement of Rates with Pacing, Experimental Desensitization to AngerProducing Stimuli, The Pacing of Behavior and even the interpretation of the
concept of "Bahala Na".

Recognition and awards received:

Valedictorian, Burgos Elementary School

Cum Laude, Bachelor of Science in Philosophy, University of the
Philippines Diliman 1947

Abigail M. Villa

Became a member of the Honor Society of Sigma Xi, 1952

Award of Recognition, Pambansang Samahan ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino,
1982
Gawad Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Pambansang Samahan ng Sikolohiyang
Pilipino, 1996
Distinguished
Service
Award,
International
Association
of
Anthropological Diplomacy and Association of Third World Studies,
1984.
Award of Distinction in Psychology, University of the Philippines
College of Arts and Science Alumni Association and College of Social
Sciences and Philosophy.
National Scientist Award, 1988.
Honor of Recognition, National Association for the History of
Psychology, 1985.