Observer > 2002 > April
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152002Volume 15, Issue4April 2002

Presidential Column

John Darley
John Darley
Princeton University
APS President 2001 - 2002
All columns

In this Issue:
Gaining Traction for Psychology in the Public Arena

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The Observer is the online magazine of the Association for Psychological Science and covers matters affecting the research, academic, and applied disciplines of psychology. The magazine reports on issues of interest to psychologist scientists worldwide and disseminates information about the activities, policies, and scientific values of APS.

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Up Front

  • Stephen F. Austin State University

    Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) is located in Nacogdoches, "the oldest town in Texas." Established by the Texas legislature in 1921, SFA opened in 1923 and has developed into a comprehensive regional university with a reputation for academic excellence. The university enrolls approximately 12,000 students during regular semesters and 5,000 in each summer term. In an impressive setting of pine trees and natural beauty, the main campus spans over 400 acres and includes some 28 major instructional buildings and 19 dormitories. SFA is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The Department of Psychology has 12 full-time faculty representing diverse areas of interest and specialization. We serve approximately 400 undergraduate majors, who can complete a BA or BS degree in psychology. The department offers undergraduate honors courses each semester in support of the SFA University School of Honors. In addition, we have approximately 40 students enrolled in our M.A. graduate program.

  • Gaining Traction for Psychology in the Public Arena

    Darley In previous columns, I expressed concerns about the relative lack of psychology's presence in the public policy arena, and examined some of the reasons for that absence. Here, I want to begin to sketch a plan for increasing our presence in the worlds of public policy. One thing is clear: To have an impact on public policy, we need a theory of how public policy is made, one we can scan for entry points for what we know. What I want to do is analyze the possible points of entry for our research findings. (For the sake of this discussion, let us assume that the kind of public policy I'm talking about is the kind that is made by legislative entities, with input from the executive branch of government.) One quite plausible theory of public policy formation, drawn from the "public choice" perspective in economics, suggests that psychology - as with social science in general - finds remarkably little traction for its potentially useful discoveries in the public policy making process.

Practice

  • Stephen F. Austin State University

    Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) is located in Nacogdoches, "the oldest town in Texas." Established by the Texas legislature in 1921, SFA opened in 1923 and has developed into a comprehensive regional university with a reputation for academic excellence. The university enrolls approximately 12,000 students during regular semesters and 5,000 in each summer term. In an impressive setting of pine trees and natural beauty, the main campus spans over 400 acres and includes some 28 major instructional buildings and 19 dormitories. SFA is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The Department of Psychology has 12 full-time faculty representing diverse areas of interest and specialization. We serve approximately 400 undergraduate majors, who can complete a BA or BS degree in psychology.

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