S(idney) D(urward) Shirley Spragg was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan
on June 18, 1909, the oldest of four children of Emest and Eva Spragg. Newcomers
were sometimes taken aback to hear this 6'4" man called by his family
name, i.e., Shirley. Younger colleagues referred to him affectionately as
SDSS.
When Shirley was age 8, the family moved to Seattle where he grew up. He
completed his BA (1931) and MS (1932) in psychology at the University of
Washington, working with Stevenson Smith, E. R. Guthrie and Ralph Gundlach.
With their support, he entered the Ph.D. program in experimental psychology
at Yale in 1933. His thesis. Anticipatory Responses in Serial Learning by
Chimpanzees," was conducted in Yale's Laboratories of Comparative Psychobiology.
After completing the Ph.D., Shirley did post-doctoral research at Yale's
Orange Park (FL) Anthropoid Experiment Station under Robert M. Yerkes There
(1935-37), he conducted an ingenious study: ``Morphine Addiction in Chimpanzees,"
published in 1940 as a Comparative Psychology Monograph. By demonstrating
that addiction (i.e., active striving for a drug beyond physiological dependence)
could be induced in an infrahuman species, Shirley disproved the then-prevalent
assumption that only those to whom drug effects could be explained (i.e.,
humans) could become addicted. His remarkable demonstration that addicted
chimps, like humans, learn specific behaviors (i.e., "work" intentionally)
to get a morphine shot, was an important precursor of the drug self-administration
technique, one of the mainstays of modern research on addiction.
Following Orange Park, Shirley spent 10 years at Barnard College (1937-40)
and Queens College (1940-46) in New York City, with a brief leave (1944)
to work on a classified project to develop a gunfire tracking system. He
spent the rest of his distinguished career (except for a sabbatical year
in 1955-56 as Fulbright Lecturer at the Technical University in Berlin)
at the University of Rochester, where he functioned admirably in several
roles. He was an effective, much admired graduate and undergraduate teacher.
He led an active research team (Burt Andreas and Russell Green were key
members) that made significant contributions to the fields of human engineering
and perceptual-motor performance. This multi-faceted, programmatic work
continued productively for 15+ years, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research
(perceptual motor skills in tracking and display-control relationships),
the Aero-Medical Laboratory (dial reading at low photopic brightness levels)
and the Army Medical Research Laboratory (factors affecting target acquisition
performance in simulated tank control and display situations).
Starting in the late 1950s, Shirley assumed key administrative roles locally
and nationally. At Rochester, he chaired the Psychology Department for 7
years (1960-67) and was Dean of Graduate Studies for 16 years (1958-1974).
In parallel, he was a key figure in graduate education nationally, serving
as President of the American Association Schools (1973-74), Chairman of
the Council of Graduate Schools in the U.S.A (1974-75), and a member of
the Graduate Record Exam Board. He was also a consultant in graduate education
to the National Science Foundation, U.S. Office of Education, National Research
Council, and the African-American Graduate (AFGHAN) Institute.
As Chairperson of the Advisory Council on Psychology for the NY State Education
Department, Shirley helped to develop procedures for certifying psychologists.
He was a charter member of the NY State Board of Examiners of Psychologists
(1957-63), the group that monitored these certification procedures. Shirley
was, to invoke a popular cliche, a true gentleman and scholar. He was intellectually
keen, widely read, and had a broad vision of psychology. He was, by nature,
low key and non-ostentatious. Although he tended on first impression to
seem somber, he had a marvelously wry sense of humor and lively wit. An
example; when the Psychology Department outgrew its limited animal space,
Shirley appointed a committee to explore space options. Summarizing the
committee's bleak report for the faculty, he noted that the basement space
exarnined was badly marred by pipes hanging down front the ceiling, moisture
seeping through the walls and uncontrollable drafts. He concluded solemnly
that the space was entirely unfit for rats, but added, after a well-timed
pause, "though we probably could use it for graduate students!"
Honest, fair, and clear thinking. Shirley remained a respected, highly contributory
member of the Psychology Department, the University of Rochester's administration'
and the flelds of psychology and graduate education at large until he retired
in 1974. Indeed, even after retiring, he remained active in graduate education
nationally and maintained a department office where he read regularly, and
stayed close to department doings.
Shirley married Jane Trace on July 11, 1936, shortly after completing his
Ph.D. The Spraggs remained an unusually close, devoted couple for 59 years
until his death in Rochester on January 7, 1995. Shirley is survived by
Jane and their two children, Dr. Jocelyn Spragg, Faculty Coordinator of
Programs for Minority Science Students at the Harvard Medical School, and
Dr. Roger G. Spragg, Professor and Vice Chairman, Department of Medicine
at the University of California (San Diego).
--Emory Cowen. American Psychologist
Volume 52, Number 5, May 1997