Born in Brooklyn, Cohen received his bachelor's degree in 1963 from Columbia College of Columbia University, and his doctorate in clinical psychology from University of Michigan in 1968.
His later work examined the biological mechanisms and risk factors in psychopathology.
In 1995, he was a signatory of a collective statement titled "Mainstream Science on Intelligence", written by Linda Gottfredson and published in The Wall Street Journal.
[1] Cohen also wrote two books on children for both academic and lay readers, framed by the nature versus nurture debate.
His work suggests that much parental influence is not only weak or transitory but also illusory.