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Roland Clark Davis

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Roland Clark Davis (December 20, 1902– February 23, 1961) was an American psychologist recognized for his innovation in instrumentation and measurement of electrophysiological phenomena.[1] Davis contributed to the measurement of electrodermal activity, gastric reflexes, and muscle action potentials.[2] Davis published over 70 articles on psychophysiology and related topics across a 30-year career[3][2] and mentored many graduate students at Indiana University Bloomington from 1931 through 1961.[4]

Roland Clark Davis
Born(1902-12-20)December 20, 1902
Cambridge, Massachusetts
DiedFebruary 23, 1961(1961-02-23) (aged 58)
Yellow Springs, Ohio
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColumbia University
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
InstitutionsUniversity of Virginia
Indiana University
Doctoral advisorRobert S. Woodworth
Albert Poffenberger
Doctoral studentsOran Wendle Eagleson

Personal history

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Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 30, 1902,[5] Roland Clark Davis was the eldest child of William Chalmers Davis and Effie Estelle Clark.[6] Davis earned his A.B. in English from Harvard in 1924 and his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1930.[7] Upon leaving Columbia, Davis briefly worked as a research associate for the University of Virginia.[7] Davis married Francis Oliver Meacham on September 12, 1927, in Petersburg, Virginia.[8] They had two children, Susan Oliver and Christopher Meacham.[7] In 1931, Davis was hired as an Acting Associate Professor at Indiana University[4] where he established his psychophysiology laboratory in Science Hall.[1] Davis died on February 23, 1961, at the age of 58 in Yellow Springs, Ohio.[9] He was returning home from a meeting at the Fels Research Institute when he suffered a heart attack.[1][2]

Professional contributions

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At Columbia, Davis was mentored by Robert Sessions Woodworth and Albert Poffenberger.[1] In his 1930 dissertation, “Factors Affecting the Galvanic Reflex,” Davis reviewed hundreds of published articles on the galvanic skin response (GSR), producing an extensive and systematic review of GSR.[10]

Davis was the first to use a vacuum tube as a way to control the electrical current during measurement of the GSR.[11] Davis also developed a device that provided an uninterrupted measurement of arterial blood pressure that would not interfere with the subject’s true blood pressure,[12] and he is credited with introducing the cathode-ray oscilloscope technique for measuring muscle action potentials.[1] In collaboration with Douglas Ellson, Irving Saltzman, and Cletus Burke, Davis also developed a lie-detection device.[13][2]

Using gastric balloons and a landmine detector to track the progress of steel balls through the gastrointestinal tracts of volunteers, Davis produced evidence that stomach contractions were largely absent when the stomach was empty, a finding that directly refuted the popular hypothesis of the time that hunger produced the most intense stomach contractions.[2] Davis also used the electrogastrogram (EGG) to study the effects of particular drugs on gastric activity.[1]

Davis also challenged the theory of homeostasis,[14] arguing that the relevant terms needed to be more precisely defined and that responses could be adaptive even if they were not homeostatic:“Homeostasis can be maintained for one variable only at the expense of heterostasis in at least one other”.[1]

Teaching and Leadership

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Davis was recognized as a leader in the Department of Psychology, and he was one of the few members of the senior faculty to remain in his position through World War II.[4] Davis was also one of the founding members of the Society for Psychophysiological Research.[2] At Indiana University, Davis directed the master's and doctoral theses of 29 graduate students, including Oran Wendle Eagleson.[4]

Notable publications

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Electrodermal Activity

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A Vacuum Tube for Stabilizing the Current During Measurements of the Galvanic Reflex (1929) [11]
Factors Affecting the Galvanic Reflex (1930) [10]
Electrical Skin Resistance Before, During, and After a Period of Noise Stimulation (1932) [15]
Modification of the Galvanic Reflex by Daily Repetition of a Stimulus (1934) [16]

Homeostasis and Response Patterning

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Apparatus for Recording Autonomic States and Changes (1954) [17]
Response Patterns (1957) [18]
An Exploration of Somatic Response Patterns: Stimulus and Sex Differences (1957) [12] The Pattern of Somatic Response During a Repetitive Motor Task and its Modification by Visual Stimuli (1957) [19]
The Domain of Homeostasis (1958) [14]

Action Potentials

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A Cathode-Ray Oscilloscope Apparatus for the Psychological Laboratory (1931) [20]
Properties of Electrodes Used in Recording Action Potentials from the Intact Organism (1936) [21]
Methods of Measuring Muscle Tension (1942) [22]
An Integrator and Accessory Apparatus for Recording Action Potentials (1948) [23]
Adaptation of the Muscular Tension Response to Gunfire (1949) [24]
Autonomic and Muscular Response and Their Relationship to Simple Stimuli (1955) [25]

History of Psychology

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American Psychology 1800-1885 (1936) [26]
Physiological Psychology: A View of Fifty Years (1958) [27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gabbay, F.H..; Stern, R. M. (2012). "A quiet voice: Roland Clark Davis and the emergence of psychophysiology". Psychophysiology. 49 (4): 443–453. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01339.x. PMID 22292730.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bernal, M.; Abraham, F. (1970). "For distinguished contribution to psychophysiology: Chester Darrow and R. C. Davis". Psychophysiology: 611–616.
  3. ^ Holguin, S. R.; Cadaveira, F. (2002). "Consolidation of psychophysiology as a scientific discipline: 1930—1964: A historical note". Psychophysiology. 39 (5): 619–624. doi:10.1111/1469-8986.3950619. hdl:10347/22257. PMID 12236328.
  4. ^ a b c d Capshew, J. H. (1988). "The legacy of the laboratory 1888-1988: A history of the department of psychology at Indiana University". Psychology at Indiana University: A Centennial Review and Compendium (Bloomington: Indiana University Department of Psychology: 1–83.
  5. ^ "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXHJ-3BT : 10 March 2018), Robert Clark Davis, 30 Dec 1902, Cambridge, Massachusetts; citing reference ID #p345 ln1376, Massachusetts Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,057,388.
  6. ^ Ancestry.com. "1920 Federal Census [database on-line]". Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images Reproduced by FamilySearch.
  7. ^ a b c Thompson, D.E. (1981). Indiana authors and their books 1967-1980. Crawfordsville, IN: Wabash College.
  8. ^ Ancestry.com. "Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]". Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
  9. ^ Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health. "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007 [database on-line]". Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
  10. ^ a b Davis, R.C. (1930). "Factors affecting the galvanic reflex". Archives of Psychology: 5–64.
  11. ^ a b Davis, R.C. (1929). "A vacuum tube for stabilizing the current during measurements of the galvanic reflex". American Journal of Psychology. 41 (3): 474–475. doi:10.2307/1414689. JSTOR 1414689.
  12. ^ a b Davis, R.C. (1957). "Continuous recording of arterial pressure: An analysis of the problem". Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 50 (5): 524–529. doi:10.1037/h0044381. PMID 13481196.
  13. ^ McRobbie, M.A. (2009). "Incubating excellence at Indiana University". Speech Presented at Indiana University Innovation Center Dedication in University Gym.
  14. ^ a b Davis, R.C. (1958). "The domain of homeostasis". Psychological Review. 65 (1): 8–13. doi:10.1037/h0045358. PMID 13505977.
  15. ^ Davis, R.C. (1932). "Electrical skin resistance before, during, and after a period of noise stimulation". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 15: 108–117. doi:10.1037/h0072828.
  16. ^ Davis, R.C. (1934). "Modification of the galvanic reflex by daily repetition of a stimulus". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 17 (4): 504–535. doi:10.1037/h0074305.
  17. ^ Davis, R.C.; Siddons, G.F.; Stout, G. (1954). "Apparatus for recording autonomic states and changes". American Journal of Psychology. 67 (2): 343–352. doi:10.2307/1418639. JSTOR 1418639. PMID 13158653.
  18. ^ Davis, R.C. (1957). "Response patterns". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 19: 731–739. doi:10.1111/j.2164-0947.1957.tb00564.x.
  19. ^ Davis, R.C.; Lundervold, A.; Miller, J.D. (1957). "The pattern of somatic response during a repetitive motor task and its modification by visual stimuli". Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 50 (1): 53–60. doi:10.1037/h0045021. PMID 13406139.
  20. ^ Davis, R.C. (1931). "A cathode-ray oscilloscope apparatus for the psychological laboratory". Journal of General Psychology: 107–115. doi:10.1080/00221309.1931.9918382.
  21. ^ Davis, R.C. (1936). "Properties of electrodes used in recording action potentials from the intact organism". American Journal of Psychology: 693–695.
  22. ^ Davis, R.C. (1942). "Methods of measuring muscle tension". Psychological Bulletin. 39 (6): 329–346. doi:10.1037/h0056298.
  23. ^ Davis, R.C. (1948). "An integrator and accessory apparatus for recording action potentials". American Journal of Psychology. 61 (1): 100–104. doi:10.2307/1417298. JSTOR 1417298. PMID 18908896.
  24. ^ Davis, R.C.; Van Liere, D.W. (1949). "Adaptation of the muscular tension response to gunfire". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 39 (1): 114–117. doi:10.1037/h0061223. PMID 18111565.
  25. ^ Davis, R.C.; Buchwald, A.M.; Frankmann, R.W. (1955). "Autonomic and muscular responses, and their relation to simple stimuli". Psychological Monographs: General and Applied. 69 (20): 1–71. doi:10.1037/h0093734.
  26. ^ Davis, R.C. (1936). "American Psychology 1800–1885". Psychological Review. 43 (6): 471–493. doi:10.1037/h0056118.
  27. ^ Davis, R.C. (1958). "Physiological psychology: A view of fifty years". In G. H. Seward & J. P. Seward (Eds.),Current Psychological Issues: Essaysin Honor of Robert S. Woodworth: 249–277.
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