The Human Capital Initiative--Where Is It Now?

Seven years ago, a broad coalition of behavioral science groups launched the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) as part of a continuing effort to bring social and behavioral science research to bear on pressing national problems. The initial meetings produced a report identifying several areas of national concern (aging, literacy, productivity, substance abuse, health, and violence) and a call for research agendas addressing each of them. To date, research agendas have been produced on the changing nature of work, productive aging, health and behavior, and psychopathology. Research agendas stemming from workshops on violence and substance abuse are expected to be published soon.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Research (SBER) Division became actively involved in HCI-related research (and backed it with research dollars) in 1994. HCI-related projects have been sponsored by most of SBER's program areas.

NSF Social Psychology Program Officer Steven Breckler, PhD, urges psychologists to continue to submit proposals relevant to HCI issues, because demonstrating that the research community considers the issues important and compelling is the best argument for continuing or increasing HCI funding. Basic research in psychology (e.g., on attitude formation, prejudice, learning, memory, and language registers) is key to the issues addressed by HCI.

Plans are presently underway to extend the range of HCI concerns. For example, the National Academy of Sciences is organizing a workshop on the implications of rapid societal changes, such as the infomatics revolution, for human functioning; the HCI Coordinating Committee is planning at least two additional workshops, one outlining the basic psychological science issues underlying HCI and the other addressing another HCI area of concern--literacy and learning.

Look for more details about HCI in future issues of this newsletter.