2010 James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award

Alan E. Kazdin

Yale University

Alan E. Kazdin, world-renowned researcher and methodologist, is associated with numerous watershed contributions to psychological science, including groundbreaking work in the study of conduct disorder in children. Kazdin developed, rigorously tested, and implemented the most well-respected and effective cognitive-behavioral treatments, including parent-management training and problem-solving skills training, among other cognitive-behavioral techniques. He provided a model for how to implement high quality, programmatic treatment research that examines moderators and mediators of change, as well as core issues of treatment efficacy, breadth of impact at home and in school, and factors that predict success or failure of outcome such as treatment adherence, parent psychopathology, and socioeconomic disadvantage.

In a field that has a history of flashy treatments that have proven to be failures, Kazdin has used carefully designed experimental methodology to show the effectiveness of his treatment protocols. In fact, as a leader in the field of clinical methodology, Kazdin has been an advocate for expanding the range of methodology we use in psychological research as reflected in his influential texts on research designs in clinical psychology. Further he has been an articulate proponent for how research methods can be used in clinical practice as well as a central influence on how to develop and synthesize the evidence needed to identify evidence-based treatments.

Alan Kazdin has been a remarkably prolific and important scholar – more than 600 publications; the editor of five journals; and the recipient of a MERIT award from National Institute of Mental Health, along with many other grant awards and honors. Like James McKeen Cattell, for whom this award is named, Alan Kazdin, has advanced the application of psychological science throughout his career and is considered to be among the highest-impact psychologists of any era.

See Kazdin’s award address presented at the 2010 APS Annual Convention in Boston.