At age 24, he contracted polio and became permanently paralyzed in his left leg, leaving him reliant on an iron brace and cane to walk. He had originally planned to study engineering, but his health struggles led him to turn his interests toward psychology. While his poor health and financial struggles led to several interruptions in his education, he eventually earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. In 1918, he was awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.