Stanley Coren (born 1942) is a psychology professor, neuropsychological researcher and writer on the intelligence, mental abilities and history of dogs.
In his career, Coren has produced research papers and published items in a wide range of psychological areas including sensory processes (vision and hearing), neuropsychology (handedness, sleep, birth stress effects and behavior genetics) and cognition (information processing and intelligence).
One of his publications, Sensation and Perception, (co-authored with Lawrence M. Ward and James T. Enns) has been listed as required reading for university coursework[6] and went through six editions before his retirement in 2007.
[14] Coren worked on left-handedness and its causes and consequences, with his co-researchers, Diane F. Halpern, Clare Porac, and Alan Searleman.
[15] The media became interested in this work when findings began to emerge indicating that left-handedness was often associated with difficult or stressful births.
[16] Research showing that left-handers were much more susceptible to accident-related injuries because the constructed world and most machinery and tools are designed for the safety and convenience of right-handers evoked a great deal of interest and press coverage.
[17][18] However the work that caused the largest stir and the most controversy was a series of studies in collaboration with Diane F. Halpern which showed that left-handers have shorter life spans, often dying younger because of accidents or problems associated with a compromised immune system (possibly a long-term consequence of birth stress related trauma).
[19] Although originally the source of much controversy, with confirming data coming from a number of other laboratories, these conclusions have become well enough accepted to appear in basic psychological textbooks.
Coren has suggested that in addition to genetics and birth stress other mechanisms might also contribute to the appearance of left-handedness, such as hormonal factors as in the Geschwind–Galaburda hypothesis.
[22] Coren 's research into sleep deprivation suggests that this is contributing to accidents, psychological disturbances, and increased susceptibility to illness.
[23][24] This line of reasoning eventually led to the series of studies which demonstrated that simply losing one hour of sleep due to the shift to daylight saving time can cause an increase in traffic accidents and other accident related fatalities on the Monday following the time change[25][26] Later in his career, Coren shifted to the study of canine behavior and the relationship that people have with their dogs.
A combination of Coren's background in psychology and his love of dogs, the book became an international hit, and has gone through 16 printings to this point.
In addition he was both on the editorial board and a regular contributor to Pets: Part of the Family and Puppy and Dog Basics Magazine.