What is I-O?

Now that I am well into my presidency, I can say it has been an eye opener for me to discover the range, number, and extent of projects, task forces, actions, and initiatives meant to further our discipline, advocate for psychological science, and apply psychological knowledge in the service of society. I also had no idea of the large staff infrastructure at APA that serves as our eyes, ears, hands, and feet in making sure that psychology gets funded and represented at federal and local levels, in making sure that the very best of science, application, and practice come to the attention of policy makers and implementers, and in fostering psychologys collaborations with other scientific disciplines.

I realize I may sound like a cult convert, but I want to share with my colleagues in SIOP a few of the things that Ive learned that APA does for its scientists and scientist-practitioners. I hope it will help dispel the myth that APA does nothing for scientists or academics, or my dues go only to support practice. The more I have learned, the more I have been motivated to contribute time, energy, and talents to further these important efforts (as I will outline at the end of this note). If you want to know the whole gamut of things the Science Directorate does, please check out its Web pagewww.apa.org/science.

Here are a few highlights in just three areasadvocacy, training, and what I will call burning issues. These activities underscore what APA does behind the scenes in service to us all. 

Advocacy

You probably all know that APA has a large presence on Capitol Hill through its activism for mental health parity and prescription privileges. But did you know that APA has an equally vocal presence for science matters? APA staffers monitor what is happening on the hill and in federal agencies relevant to researchers (NSF and NIHincluding institutes NIMH, NICHD, NCI, NINDS, NIDA, NIAAA, NIA; and VA, NASA, DOE, DoD, and FDA to name a fewa lot of alphabet soup, but rich in funds that we want to tap into). They work in many ways to advocate for behavioral science funding, and for report language in federal bills in support of behavioral science researchby proposing legislative language, by testifying before congressional committees, and by visiting with congressional members and their staff. Much of this work is done in coalitions, and APAs staffers take leading roles. Just for starters, PPO-Sciences Karen Studwell chairs the Friends of the NICHD (a coalition that advocates for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development), PPO-Sciences Director Geoff Mumford is the treasurer of the Coalition for National Science Funding, PPO-Sciences Heather Kelly is the treasurer of the Defense Research Coalition, and PPO-Sciences Pat Kobor is co-chair for the Coalition for the Advancement of Health through Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. In addition to lobbying efforts, APA staff continually monitor and respond to doings in the federal research and regulation arena. Whenever there are requests for comment on proposed regulations or changes to the research landscape, staff request input from relevant experts and draft a comment or letter from APA. In the last year APA has made comments on a wide variety of proposed legislative and regulative issues from education, animal research, medical records privacy, data sharing, to standards for IRB accreditation. For each of these issues, members have been asked for their inputto make comments on written documents, to come to Washington to help put on congressional events, such as briefings or research exhibits, or to let APA take them to talk directly to their congressional representatives on the Hill about specific legislative issues. You can find out about these by subscribing to a monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up to dateits called SPIN. Look at it via http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/spinhome.html or sign up by sending an e-mail to ppo@apa.org.

APA also advocates in a different waythere is regular APA representation at major meetings of other societies and organizations (e.g., Society for Neuroscience, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academies of Science, etc.), where larger science initiatives and issues are discussed. In these venues, APA presents information on such issues as ethics, research regulation and IRBs, or gives comments to National Research Council committees on their scope and work plans. APA has an important place at the science tableI attend a biannual conference of the presidents of over 60 scientific societies, where psychology is the only social/ behavioral science represented, and have been able to show these physicists, biologists, and others of the many ways in which psychology is relevant to issues of national defense, terrorism, and more. APA staff also attend regular meetings with other science groups and with policy makers (for example the Office of Science and Technology Policythe White Houses advisory arm) to discuss current science opportunities and issues and consult with federal agencies on applications of behavioral research to their concerns. 

Training

APAs most visible student activities occur through its graduate student association, APAGSbut did you know that the Science Directorate sponsors the Science Student Councila group of 10 students who engage other science graduate students in convention programming, an extensive Web presence, an e-mail network, a grant program, and more? The Science Directorate is also involved in some direct training activities. One activity is for more established researchersthe Science Directorates Advanced Training Institutes, first held in 1999, offer week-long, hands-on courses on cutting-edge methodologies such as fMRI techniques or longitudinal modeling. Another activity is directed toward advanced graduate students and young faculty, the Academic Career Workshop. This workshop, which delves into the nitty gritty of finding, getting, and keeping an academic research position, has been offered for several years at conventions and at smaller scientific meetings. APA offers many more opportunities for learningfrom teaching tips for faculty, to a week-long course on psychology in general for outstanding science undergraduates, to the Exploring Behavior Week outreach to high school students. I will add that each of these activities is something in which you or your students could participate. I am planning to have APA develop the standard text for high school psychology courses, to collaborate with APS in promoting psychology science at high school science fairs, and to develop new Web sites for training high school and college teachers in being more effective in their teaching. 

Burning Issues Activities

You may know about APAs standard governance groupsthe Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) consisting of 9 outstanding scientists (current chair is Harry Reis, Div. 8 Executive Officer), and its three standing Committees, CPTA (Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessments), CARE (Committee on Animal Research & Ethics), and COSA (Committee on Scientific Awards). But you may not know that BSA regularly supports the establishment of working groups or task forces that address timely issues. Recent ones are a working group on Internet research, a task force on testing on the Internet, and a working group on the implications of the genetic revolution for psychological research and knowledge, and an ad hoc group to address current issues in research regulation, especially IRB activities. Each of these groups, comprised of experts on the topics, has been called together to survey the issues and make recommendations about what to do next. For example, the research on the Internet group (chaired by Robert Kraut) is looking at technical, ethical, and other implications of using the Internet as a tool for collecting data, as a means of assistance to researchers who are or intend to use this tool. The IRB group is planning to develop informational materials to facilitate IRB-researcher-administration interaction.

I could continue this list of things the Science Directorate and APA do for social psychologists and social psychologyI have not even mentioned their regular activities that support the field such as research-based awards, student grants, conference awards, and more, that demonstrate that APA respects and supports its scientific foundation. But there is a more important point that I would like to address: the perception that APA does nothing and what you can do about it. When I mentioned this perception to Science Directorate staff (headed by Dr. Kurt Salzinger), they said it was something they constantly worry aboutand wondered how much their regular effortssubstantial communications such as, Psychological Science Agenda, the bi-monthly newsletter; electronic mailing list notes; and the Science sections in the monthly Monitorget read or noticed by colleagues. Only you can answer that onebut I want to remind you that the marvelous activities APA does in support of science are only possible when members (that is YOU!) are generous with their time, effort, and attention. In each of their activities, the Science Directorate draws on member expertise, ideas, and enthusiasm. So when you read a call for comments on your division electronic mailing list, or read about a new important issue for which APA might be active, know that your input, your response, and your opinion are not only important, they are the heart of what APA is all about. I want to assure you that there are eager ears waiting to hear from youmine, Bob Sternbergs (APAs president-elect who will carry on the scientific tradition), and the staff of the Science Directorate.

Finally, let me mention a few things that I will be focusing on during my presidential tenure, in addition to helping develop a high school text and psychology science fairs. I am working with the heads of APS to find areas in which our organizations can meaningfully collaborate for the benefit of psychological science. I am advancing an initiative to develop a compendium of what all research psychologists have done that demonstrates a significant difference in improving some aspect of our lives, individually or collectively. Data are coming in from this survey (to which I would like each of you to contribute, see http://research.apa.org/survey/compendium/). When collated and organized by a task force of our experts, this compendium will be invaluable for creating a more positive image of psychology to Congress, the media, and to the public.

I hope this quick overview has been of some value to you and encourages you to continue your APA membership, join if you are not, and promote APA to your students.

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