This article was adapted from the E. L. Thorndike Address that I delivered at the August, 2019 meeting of the American Psychological Association in Chicago. I trace my career as an educational psychologist in the context of the enormous changes, both theoretical and societal, that occurred during my years as an active researcher. Reading, the focus of my research (both beginning reading and reading comprehension), was very much affected by these changes, and so, of course, was I. I end with a discussion of one of today's prime paradigms for evaluating instructional research and offer suggestions for future investigations.