John Dewey philosopher than a bona fide psychologist, the authors noted that Dewey was a founding member of the A.P.A., served as the A.P.A.'s eighth president in 1899, and was the author of an 1896 article on the reflex arc which is now considered a basis of American functional psychology. Dewey also expressed interest in work in the psychology of visual perception performed by Dartmouth research professor Adelbert Ames Jr. He had great trouble with listening, however, because it is known Dewey could not distinguish musical pitches—in other words was tone deaf. Dewey sometimes referred to his philosophy as instrumentalism rather than
John Dewey City in 1926, she died from cerebral thrombosis on July 13, 1927. Dewey married Estelle Roberta Lowitz Grant, "a longtime friend and companion for several years before their marriage" on December 11, 1946. At Roberta's behest, the couple adopted two siblings, Lewis (changed to John, Jr.) and Shirley. John Dewey died of pneumonia on June 1, 1952 at his home in New York City after years of ill-health. and was cremated the next day. The United States Postal Service honored Dewey with a Prominent Americans series 30¢ postage stamp in 1968. In 1919, Dewey and his wife traveled to Japan