For distinguished contributions to psychophysiology: D on C . F owles

The Senior Awards Committee of the Society for Psychophysiological Research selected Don C. Fowles as recipient of SPR’s highest honor, the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychophysiology, for the year 2012. The award is reserved for the most eminent scholars in the discipline and is granted only in certain years. Don’s receipt of this award reflects his outstanding contributions to psychophysiology as a researcher and active member of SPR over a distinguished career spanning five decades. Don emerged as an important and visible figure in psychophysiology in the early stages of his career and has remained so ever since. As highlighted below, his scientific work has contributed fundamentally to our knowledge of the mechanisms and clinical correlates of electrodermal activity, motivational effects on cardiac activity, affective-physiological processes in major psychological disorders including psychopathy and schizophrenia, and early temperament as a vulnerability factor for the development of clinical problems. Don has also held all major offices in SPR and contributed in essential ways to basic practice in psychophysiology. He served as President of the Society (1986–87), SecretaryTreasurer (1981–84), member of SPR’s Board of Directors (1977– 80), Associate Editor for Psychophysiology (1976–82), and chaired the first SPR Guidelines Committee on Electrodermal Activity (EDA), appearing as lead author on the 1981 recommendations report (Fowles et al., 1981; > 600 citations to date). Don also contributed substantially to the recent updating of these EDA guidelines (Boucsein et al., 2012). Don stands as a preeminent figure in the study of electrodermal activity (EDA). He contributed a series of key published works on EDA mechanisms and methods during the 1970s. These included a foundational Psychological Bulletin review on hydration and sodium reabsorption processes in EDA (Fowles & Venables, 1970b) and several papers focusing on effects of manipulations of epidermal hydration on skin potential and/or conductance: Fowles & Johnson, 1973; Fowles & Rosenberry, 1973; Fowles & Schneider, 1974, 1978; Fowles & Venables, 1970a; Schneider & Fowles, 1978, 1979). Additionally, Don contributed a review chapter on mechanisms of EDA (Fowles, 1975) to the influential psychophysiology sourcebook, Bioelectric recording techniques. During the decade of the 1970s, Don also contributed other important papers on EDA as an index of sympathetic arousal differences in patients with schizophrenia (Fowles, Watt, Maher, & Grinspoon, 1970; Depue & Fowles, 1973, 1974, 1976), edited the book Clinical applications of psychophysiology, and published chapters on the biological basis of intersections between anxiety and depression (Fowles & Gersh, 1979; Gersh & Fowles, 1979). These efforts established Don as visible figure in the emerging area of experimental psychopathology. Given his work on EDA and its application to clinical conditions, Don’s interest was naturally drawn to the topic of psychopathy. David Lykken and Robert Hare had showcased this condition as an important topic of study for psychophysiologists with influential studies showing reduced EDA in “primary” (low anxious) psychopathic individuals during exposure to cues signaling a *Corresponding author: Christopher J. Patrick, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 323064301 USA. Email: cpatrick@psy.fsu.edu