Merlin Carl Wittrock (January 3, 1931 – November 28, 2007) was an American educational psychologist. [1] He received the E. L. Thorndike Award in 1987.
He was born in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1931. He received a bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri and his PhD from the University of Illinois. [2]
Wittrock is best known for his generative theory of learning. [1] He first published this theory in 1974. [3] It is the parent of many current theories of academic motivation. [4]
Wittrock had three children with his wife, Nancy. [5] He died of heart failure in November 2007 at the age of 76. [6]