Richard Lester Solomon (October 2, 1918 – October 12, 1995) was a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

well known for his work with in

comparative psychology Comparative psychology refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. Research in this area addr ...

, as well as his opponent-process theory of emotion. Solomon attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree (A.B.) in 1940, a master's degree (A.M.) in 1942, and a doctorate (Ph.D.) in 1947. Solomon won several awards for his scientific achievements, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution award of the American Psychological Association and the Howard Crosby WARREN Medal of the

Society of Experimental Psychologists The Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP), originally called the Society of Experimentalists, is an academic society for experimental psychologists. It was founded by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1904 to be an ongoing workshop in which memb ...

. Additionally, he was elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. He also held several honorary posts, and edited the ''

Psychological Review ''Psychological Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers psychological theory. It was established by James Mark Baldwin (Princeton University) and James McKeen Cattell (Columbia University) in 1894 as a publication vehi ...

''. During his time at Harvard University, Solomon conducted research into

avoidance learning An avoidance response is a natural adaptive behavior performed in response to danger. Excessive avoidance has been suggested to contribute to anxiety disorders, leading psychologists and neuroscientists to study how avoidance behaviors are learned u ...

. In his experiments, he placed dogs into shuttle boxes with two chambers. The lights would then come on in the side where the dog was. A few seconds later, one half of the chamber would become electrified. To avoid shock, the dog would run to the other chamber. Eventually, the dogs learned to avoid shock entirely by running to the other side in the interval between lighting and electrification.

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"Biographical memoirs"
from the

20th-century American psychologists 1918 births 1995 deaths Brown University alumni Harvard University staff Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American physicians Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Academic journal editors {{US-psychologist-stub

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