Contributions to the History of Psychology: IX. Roy Melvin Dorcus: 1901–1968

Abstract

Youngest of four children, R. M. Dorcus received undergraduate and graduate education at The Johns Hopkins University. In 1925 he was awarded the Ph.D. and joined the staff at Hopkins immediately thereafter. While there he wrote the well-known Text-book of Abnormal Psychology and published research papers in experimental and industrial psychology. In 1937 he moved to UCLA, where his interests veered toward clinical psychology and hypnosis in particular. He became an internationally known authority in the latter area. He was very influential in formulating the state legislation for practicing psychologists in California. There are three books among his 81 publications, and for many years he was editor of The Journal of Comparative Psychology and the Comparative Psychology Monographs.