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Biographical Memoirs Volume 88 (2006) / Chapter Skim
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John I. Lacey
Pages 228-245

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From page 229...
... His pioneering work relating physiological measures in humans to their psychological function subsequently influenced the fields of behavioral medicine and neuroscience. He died on June 27, 2004, at age 89.
From page 230...
... Investigators who wished to study sweating palms due to stress typically built their own electrodes and bridge circuits to derive the galvanic skin response measures. John fit the field well with interests in all four members of the alliance.
From page 231...
... Conceptually many investigators at the time thought it likely that individuals would differ in peripheral physiological levels and responses; these differences, if consistent over time, would then define a psychophysiological personality type. Later commentators noted that this seemed to harken back to medieval classifications based on different bodily humors, such as the sangwyn franklin and the colerik reve in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
From page 232...
... For example, if a person was characterized by strong blood pressure responses to a psychological challenge, would that person be more likely to develop hypertension than a person responding primarily with sweaty palms? The contemporary field of behavioral medicine is finding support for this last conjecture in that cardiovascular reactivity now appears to be a risk factor for hypertension and coronary heart disease (e.g., Schneiderman et al., 2005; Jennings et al., 2004)
From page 233...
... Using ambulatory physiological and behavioral recordings, investigators now attempt to determine whether individuals reactive to laboratory stressors do or do not encounter stressful situations that alter their physiology during their normal work day. Presumably, risk for cardiovascular disease will be greatest for those with the combination of an environment with situations that elicit cardiovascular reactivity and an individual tendency to show large cardiovascular responses.
From page 234...
... Their research questioning general arousal theory coincided with a number of related developments that enhanced the value of their empirical critique and the development of their alternative view. Questions about the necessity of the reticular activating system for cortical function were being raised in the physiological psychology and neuroscience communities.
From page 235...
... On the positive side it engendered a hypothesis by others (e.g., Dworkin et al., 1979) that suggested that high blood pressure might be learned and maintained by the pain reduction reinforcement initiated by blood pressure increases (and consequent baroreceptor stimulation)
From page 236...
... At a meeting in Denver in 1967 a former postdoctoral student of John Lacey, Paul Obrist, proposed what he considered an alternative formulation to explain why heart rate slowed during attention to environmental events. Based on animal conditioning experiments Obrist (1976)
From page 237...
... Over the course of his career John became increasingly involved in a number of scientific societies. He was active in the American Psychological Association, and equally active in societies related to psychophysiology, such as the American Psychosomatic Society and, of course, the Society for Psychophysiological Research.
From page 238...
... . Beatrice and John also received the Psychological Science Gold Medal Award from the American Psychological Foundation in 1985.
From page 239...
... John (and Beatrice) established instruments, statistical techniques, integrative alliances, and basic concepts that can be identified today in the fields of psychophysiology, behavioral medicine, neuroscience, and psychology.
From page 240...
... 240 B I O G R A P H I C A L M E M O I R S seemingly discrepant as immunological theories of the cause of heart disease and the experience of different emotional qualities. We have lost one of our key integrative scientists, but his legacy continues to enrich us.
From page 241...
... 1962. The law of initial value in the longitudinal study of autonomic constitution: Reproducibility of autonomic responses and response patterns over a four-year in terval.
From page 242...
... 242 B I O G R A P H I C A L M E M O I R S Sokolov, E
From page 243...
... Van Lehn. Autonomic response specific ity: An experimental study.
From page 244...
... The law of initial value in the longitudinal study of autonomic constitution: Reproducibility of autonomic responses and response patterns over a four-year interval.
From page 245...
... Cognitive modulation of time-dependent primary bradycardia. Psychophysiology 317:209-221.


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