USC.edu

Gerald Davison

Professor of Psychology and Gerontology
Gerald Davison
Email gdaviso@usc.edu Office SGM 902 Office Phone (213) 740-2235

Education

  • Ph.D. Psychology, Stanford University, 7/1965
  • Other Degree Psychology, University of Freiburg, Germany, 1962
  • A.B. Social Relations, Harvard University, 6/1961

  • Tenure Track Appointments

    • Professor, University of Southern California, 09/01/1979 – 09/01/2012
    • Professor, State University of New York, Stony Brook, 09/01/1966 – 09/01/1979

    Visiting and Temporary Appointments

    • Interim Dean, School of Architecture, University of Southern California, 10/01/2005 – 01/01/2007
    • Interim Dean, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, 01/01/1994 – 01/01/1996
    • National Institute of Mental Health Special Fellow, Harvard University, 09/01/1975 – 09/01/1976
    • Visiting Associate Professor, Stanford University, 09/01/1969 – 09/01/1970

  • Research Keywords

    cognitive assessment and cognitive behavior therapy of anxiety, depression, and other problems; political, philosophical, and ethical issues in clinical psychology

    Detailed Statement of Research Interests

    GERALD C. DAVISON (B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard, 1961; Fulbright Scholar, University of Freiburg, West Germany, 1961-1962; Ph.D., Stanford, 1965) is Professor of Psychology and Gerontology at the University of Southern California. Previously he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at USC (1984-1990 and 2001-2006), where he was also Director of the Ph. D. program in clinical psychology (1979-1984). From 1994 to 1996 he served as Interim Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and from 2005 to 2006 was Interim Dean of the USC School of Architecture. From 2007 to 2012 he was William and Sylvia Kugel Dean’s Chair, Professor of Gerontology and Psychology, Dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology and Executive Director of the Andrus Gerontology Center. Previously he was on the psychology faculty at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1966 to 1979). In 1969-70 he was visiting associate professor at Stanford University and in 1975-76, a National Institute of Mental Health Special Fellow at Harvard. Dr. Davison is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and has served on the Executive Committee of the Division of Clinical Psychology, on the Board of Scientific Affairs, on the Committee on Scientific Awards, and on the Council of Representatives. He is also a member of the Gerontological Society of America, Charter Fellow of the American Psychological Society, a past president of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and past Publications Coordinator of that organization. He is also a Distinguished Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He served two terms on the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance and on APA’s Continuing Professional Education Committee. From 2004 to 2007 he served on the Executive Board of the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology, and in that capacity was liaison to APA’s Board of Educational Affairs and, in 2006, Chairman of the COGDOP Board. During 2006 he served as President of the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of the American Psychological Association). From 2008 to 2012 he was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on the Aging Society. In 1988 Davison received an outstanding achievement award from APA’s Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility; in 1989 was the recipient of the Albert S. Raubenheimer Distinguished Faculty Award from USC’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; in 1993 won the USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching, a university-wide prize; in 1995 received the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Los Angeles County Psychological Association; in 1997 was given the Outstanding Educator Award of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies; in 2003 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ABCT; and in 2005 was the recipient of the USC Mellon Award for Excellence in Mentoring. At USC he was a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Excellence in Teaching from 2001 to 2003. Among his more than 150 publications, his book Clinical Behavior Therapy, co-authored in 1976 with Marvin Goldfried and reissued in expanded form in 1994, is one of his two publications that have been recognized as Citation Classics by the Social Sciences Citation Index; it appears in German and Spanish translation. His textbook Abnormal Psychology, co-authored with Ann Kring, John Neale and Sheri Johnson, is in its twelfth edition (2012) and is a widely used abnormal text in North America and around the world. It is translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Korean. Other books are Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology, Ninth Edition (2012) with Oltmanns, Neale, and Martin; and Exploring Abnormal Psychology (1996) with Neale and Haaga. Davison has served on the editorial board of several professional journals, including Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Research, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Journal of Clinical Psychology, In Session: Psychotherapy in Practice, and Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. His publications emphasize experimental and philosophical analyses of psychopathology, assessment, and therapeutic change. His current research program focuses on the relationships between cognition and a variety of behavioral and emotional problems via his articulated thoughts in simulated situations paradigm.

  • Book Chapters

    • Davison, G. C., Hagedorn, A. (2012). Technology and Design. Population Aging: Peril or Promise Geneva: World Economic Forum.
    • Davison, G. C. (2008). Behavior Therapy. Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health& Medicine Cambridge: Cambridge University.
    • Linehan, M., Davison, G. C., Lynch, T., Sanderson, C. (2005). Principles of therapeutic change in the treatment of personality disorders. (Vol. 239 – 252) New York: Principles of therapeutic change that work/Oxfor University Press.
    • Davison, G. C., Lazarus, A. A. (2007). Clinical case studies are important in the science and practice of psychotherapy. The great ideas of clinical science: The 18 concepts that every mental health researcher and practitioner should understand.

    Encyclopedia Article

    • Babeva, K. N., Davison, G. C. (2015). Walter Mischel. (In R. Cautin and S. Lilienfeld, Ed.). New York: Wiley-Blackwell: Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology.
    • Hsu, K. J., Davison, G. C. (2015). American Psychological Association. (In R. Cautin and S. Lilienfeld, Ed.). New York:Wiley-Blackwell: Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology.
    • Babeva, K. N., Hummer, J., Davison, G. C. (2015). Arnold Lazarus. (In R. Cautin and S. Lilienfeld, Ed.). New York: Wiley-Blackwell: Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology.
    • Hummer, J., Davison, G. C. (2015). Pierre Janet. (In R. Cautin and S. Lilienfeld, Ed.). New York: Wiley-Blackwell: Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology.
    • Babeva, K. N., Davison, G. C. (2015). Continuing Education. (In R. Cautin and S. Lilienfeld, Ed.). New York: Wiley-Blackwell: Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology.
    • Feng, M. C., Davison, G. C. (2015). Clinical Geropsychology. (In R. Cautin and S. Lilienfeld, Ed.). New York: Wiley-Blackwell: Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology.

    Journal Article

    • Hsu, K. J., Babeva, K. N., Feng, M. C., Hummer, J. F., Davison, G. C. (2014). Experimentally induced distraction impacts cognitive but not emotional processes in think-aloud cognitive assessment. Frontiers in Psycholology. Vol. 5, pp. 474.
    • Feng, M. C., Courtney, C. G., Mather, M., Dawson, M. E., Davison, G. C. (2011). Age-related affective modulation of the startle eyeblink response: Older adults startle most when viewing positive pictures. Psychology and Aging. Vol. 26, pp. 752-760.
    • Olshansky, S. J., Biggs, S., Achenbaum, W. A., Davison, G. C., Fried, L., Gutman, G., Khaw, K., Fernandez, A., Rattan, S., Guimaraes, R. M., Butler, R. N. (2011). The Global Agenda Council on the Ageing Society: Policy Principles. Global Policy. Vol. 2, pp. 97 – 105.
    • Zanov, M. V., Davison, G. C. (2010). A conceptual and empirical review of 25 years of cognitive assessment using the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) think-aloud paradigm. Cognitive Therapy and Research. Vol. 34, pp. 282-291.
    • Bronswijk, E. M., Bouma, H., Fozard, J. L., Kearns, W. D., Davison, G. C., Tuan, P. (2009). Defining Gerontechnology for R&D purposes. Gerontechnology. Vol. 8
    • Bronswijk, E. M., Bouma, H., Fozard, J. L., Kearns, W. D., Davison, G. C., Tuan, P. C. (2008). Implementing Gerontechnology. Gerontechnology. Vol. 7, pp. 325-327.
    • Davison, G. C., Best, J., Zanov, M. (2008). Cognitive behavior therapy: Applying empirically supported techniques in your practice. New York: Wiley. (Second Edition)
    • Davison, G. C. (2007). Speculation and theory-building in the development of psychology as a science. Applied and Preventive Psychology. Vol. 12, pp. 19-20.
    • Davison, G. C. (2006). Graduate education in clinical psychology and the Empirically Based Practices in Psychology report. The Clinical Psychologist/American Psychological Association. Vol. 60, pp. 1 – 5.
    • Davison, G. C. (2006). An invitation to auseindersetzen about the Evidence-Based Practices in psychology task force report. The Clinical Psychologist/American Psychological Association. Vol. 59, pp. 1 – 4.
    • Davison, G. C. (2006). Politics, ethics, and goal setting in psychological interventions: Limitations in the Evidence-Based practices in Psychology report. The Clinical Psychologist/American Psychological Association. Vol. 59, pp. 1 – 6.
    • Davison, G. C. (2006). Politics, ethics, and goal-setting in psychological interventions: Limitations in the Evidence-Based Practices in Psychology report. The Clinical Psychologist. Vol. 59 (Winter), pp. 1-6.
    • Davison, G. C. (2006). Graduate education in clinical psychology and the Empirically Based Practices in Psychology report. The Clinical Psychology. Vol. 59 (Summer), pp. 1-5.
    • Davison, G. C. (2006). An invitation to auseindersetzen about the Evidence-Based Practices in Psychology task force report. The Clinical Psychologist. Vol. 59 (Spring), pp. 1-4.
    • Davison, G. C. (2005). Issues and non-issues in the gay-affirmative treatment of patients who are gay, lesbian , or bisexual. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice/Blackwell Publishing. Vol. 12, pp. 25 – 28.
    • Chernoff, R. A., Davison, G. C. (2005). An evaluation of a brief HIV/AIDS prevention intervention for college students using normative feedback and goal setting. AIDS Education and Prevention. Vol. 17, pp. pp. 91-104.
    • Davison, G. C. (2005). Some critical observations on 21st century graduate education in clinical psychology. Journal of Clinical Psychology. Vol. 61, pp. 1061-1066.

    Other

    • Davison, G. C. (2013). Abnormal Psychology. John Wiley.
    • Davison, G. C.Clinical Behavior Therapy, 1976.
    • Davison, G. C.Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology, 1999.
    • California Psychological Association Distinguished Contributions to Research, 2015-2016
    • Mellon Award for Excellence in USC Mentoring, 2005
    • Lifetime Achievement Award, Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, 2003
    • Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Distinguished Contributions by an Individual for Education/Training Activities Award, 1997-1998
    • Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, 1995
    • USC Associates Award For Excellence In Teaching, 1993
    • USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, For excellence in teaching, research, and service, 1989

  • Editorships and Editorial Boards

    • Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2001 –
    • In Session, 2000 –
    • Behavior Therapy, 1992 –
    • The Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly, 1986 –
    • Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1977 –
    • Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 1990 – 1994

    Professional Memberships

    • American Association of Applied and Professional Psychology, 1992 –
    • Health Service Providers in Psychology, 1975 –
    • American Psychological Association, 1965 –
    • Licensed Psychologist – California, 1965 –
    • President, Society of Clinical Psychology,, 2005 – 2007
    • Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology, Executive Board, 2004 – 2007
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