Interim Advisory Committee Considers Options for Use of $500,000

An Interim Advisory Committee met December 17 to consider suggestions on how APA can best spend up to $500,000 allocated to advance scientific psychology.

The stated objective of this APA science initiative is to 'promote and enhance the development of scientific psychology and its applications to research and graduate education.' APA members, APA governance groups, and related organizations contributed nearly 150 suggestions for meeting this objective. Proposals ranged from support for highly specific research initiatives to far-reaching public education efforts.

The Interim Advisory Committee was chaired by Gordon Bower, PhD, of Stanford University, APA's Chief Science Advisor. Robert Resnick, PhD, and Dorothy Cantor, PsyD, the 1995 and 1996 Presidents of APA,and Raymond Fowler, PhD, APA's Chief Executive Officer, reinforced their support for new science activities.

Twenty-one identified areas of need fell under 5 broad categories:

Providing direct opportunities for research and dissemination of findings.
Supporting and promoting graduate and undergraduate education in scientific psychology.
Strengthening the scientific base of psychological practice.
Educating the public about the nature and importance of psychology as a science.
Developing mechanisms and procedures to facilitate the research enterprise.

After much discussion and debate, the committee voted to focus on educating the general public, creating mentor programs, and focusing on elementary and secondary education. The committee agreed that the development of position papers on topics of interest in scientific psychology would also be valuable.

The committee members established an implementation subcommittee to develop detailed proposals for the expenditure of the $500,000. Duncan Luce, PhD, Denise Park, PhD, and Martin Seligman, PhD, will serve on the subcommittee, which will ex-pand the range of options beyond those already suggested.

The subcommittee will work with the Board of Scientific Affairs and the Science Directorate staff to implement the new projects.

Interim Advisory Committee

Nancy Ator, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

David H. Barlow, PhD, State University of New York, Albany

Gordon Bower, PhD, Chair, Stanford University

Sheldon Cohen, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University

Kay K. Deaux, PhD, City University of New York Grad Center

Howard Egeth, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

William S. Hall, PhD, University of Maryland

E. Mavis Hetherington, PhD, University of Virginia

Madeline Heilman, PhD, New York University

Phillip Hineline, PhD, Temple University

Roberta Klatzky, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University

Duncan Luce, PhD, University of California

Sue Mineka, PhD, Northwestern University

Denise Park, PhD, University of Georgia

Walter Schneider, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD, University of PennsylvaniaAn Interim Advisory Committee met December 17 to consider suggestions on how APA can best spend up to $500,000 allocated to advance scientific psychology.