In 1984, Rescorla was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship.[8] In 1985, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1986 was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contribution award of the American Psychological Association.[9] In 1989, he was named the University of Pennsylvania's James M. Skinner Professor of Science.[3] In 1991, Rescorla was awarded the Howard Crosby Warren Medal by the Society of Experimental Psychologists.[10] He also received the Ira Abrams Distinguished Teaching Award of the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn in 1999,[10] followed by appointment as the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology in 2000.[7] In 2005, Rescorla received the Horsley Grantt Award of the Pavlovian Society.[10] Following that, in 2006, he was granted an honorary doctoral degree by the Ghent University, in Belgium.[10] He was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008.[10]