Robert R. Provine

Robert Raymond Provine (born May 11, 1943 in Tulsa , † October 17, 2019 in Baltimore ) was an American neuropsychologist and gelotologist . From 1983 he was Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland (UMBC).

Life

Provine studied from 1961 to 1965 as an undergraduate at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in psychology. Between 1965 and 1971 Provine continued his studies as a graduate at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was employed as an assistant professor from 1971 - after obtaining his doctorate ( Ph. D. ) - until 1974 . From 1974 Provine worked at the UMBC, since 1983 there as a professor of psychology. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Psychological Science . Provine was married with two grown children.

plant

Provine dealt with neural mechanisms of behavior and developmental neurobiology . His focus in recent years has been on studying laughter , known as gelotology . To this end, he published his book Laughter: A Scientific Investigation in 2000 , in which, among other things, he investigated the reasons for laughter and the function of laughter. In the course of this work, Provine also put forward a thesis about the origin of language or speaking, which is related to the breathing of living beings: A complex spoken language should only have developed with the upright gait, through which coordinated breathing is made possible, Provines walkie-talkie theory : "This is the basis of the bipedal (" walkie-talkie ") theory of speech evolution." He also dealt with the causes of yawning . In his book Curious Behavior he examines the phenomena of chuckling noises, burping, laughing and flatulence in the sense of a “sidewalk neuroscience”. He also brings in criticism of his colleagues and refers, among other things, to Marx.

Fonts (selection)

Laughter. A Scientific Investigation . Viking Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-670-89375-7 .
Curious behavior: yawning, laughing, hiccupping, and beyond . The Belknap Press, Cambridge (Mass.) 2012, ISBN 978-0-674-04851-5 .
- German by Sebastian Vogel : A strange being. Why we yawn, burp, sneeze and do other weird things . Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-498-05212-6 .

Web links

Provines site at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (English)

Literature by and about Robert R. Provine in the WorldCat bibliographic database

Individual evidence

↑ Emily Langer: Robert Provine, scholar of laughter, yawns and hiccups, dies at 76. In: The Washington Post. October 19, 2019, accessed October 21, 2019 .
^ AAAS Members Elected as Fellows. December 18, 2009, accessed January 10, 2020 .
^ Robert Provine, 1943 - 2019. Association for Psychological Science, October 21, 2019, accessed January 10, 2020 .
^ Robert R. Provine: Laughing, Tickling, and the Evolution of Speech and Self. In: Current Directions in Psychological Science. Volume 13, No. 6, 2004, p. 217.
↑ Florian G. Mildenberger on: Robert R. Provine: Curious Behavior. Yawning, laughing, hiccupping, and beyond. The Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2012. In: Specialized prose research - Crossing borders. Volume 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), p. 588 f.

personal data
SURNAME	Provine, Robert R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Provine, Robert Raymond (full name); Provine, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American neuropsychologist and gelotologist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 11, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tulsa
DATE OF DEATH	17th October 2019
Place of death	Baltimore

[1] Emily Langer: Robert Provine, scholar of laughter, yawns and hiccups, dies at 76. In: The Washington Post. October 19, 2019, accessed October 21, 2019 .

[2] AAAS Members Elected as Fellows. December 18, 2009, accessed January 10, 2020 .

[3] Robert Provine, 1943 - 2019. Association for Psychological Science, October 21, 2019, accessed January 10, 2020 .

[4] Robert R. Provine: Laughing, Tickling, and the Evolution of Speech and Self. In: Current Directions in Psychological Science. Volume 13, No. 6, 2004, p. 217.

[5] Florian G. Mildenberger on: Robert R. Provine: Curious Behavior. Yawning, laughing, hiccupping, and beyond. The Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2012. In: Specialized prose research - Crossing borders. Volume 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), p. 588 f.