[1] One of Adler's prominent experiments included an in depth analysis of mating performance of male rats and its relation to fertilization in the female, which led him to observe how behaviour could affect reproduction in species.
[3] He was influenced in this approach by his undergraduate teachers at Harvard, especially Paul Rozin, Jerry Hogan, and Gordon Bermant, and his student colleagues like Don Pfaff with whom he has maintained scientific relationships over the years.
At the latter part of his career, he has returned to the study of psychology and religion with his students and colleagues at Yeshiva University—profoundly impressed at the speed with which a dormant field 'took off'[10] and with how important these issues were becoming on the American campus.
After the post-baccalaureate year of travel, Adler went to UC Berkeley, where he was a graduate student of Frank Beach (one of the founders of the study of hormones and behavior), and received a Master's in zoology with Howard Bern (comparative endocrinology).
He initiated the Penn Reading Project in 1991 which has continued for over 20 years as an integrative introduction to liberal learning for college freshmen newly arriving on campus.
[14] For this work, in 1992 Adler was inducted as an honorary member of the University of Pennsylvania's Philomathean Society—the oldest continually existing collegiate literary society in the United States.
[16] In this project, citing data that there is a high level of spirituality among students in College because they continually question the "deeper" issues in their lives, the modern curriculum needs to address this.
He has received numerous prizes and honors, including two Guggenheim Fellowships,[18] Sigma Xi National Lecture, Phi Beta Kappa, Fellowship to Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral sciences, Lindback Award for Teaching Excellence,[19] and was in the first group of recipients for the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Awards for Early Career Contributions to Psychology.