Association for Psychological Science: Celebrating 20 years as the leading voice in psychological science
2008 marks the 20th anniversary of the Association for Psychological Science. Since its formation in 1988, APS has committed its resources to promoting scientific theory, practice and research. It has attracted a membership consisting of the top researchers and most promising students in the field of psychological science.
One of the chief reasons for the establishment of APS was to provide a strong independent voice for psychological science in Washington. APS was the driving force behind the establishment of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health, and the B/START (Behavioral Science Track Awards for Rapid Transition) program of grants for new investigators at NIH.
APS’s motto — “the giving away of psychology in the public interest” — has been one of the building blocks of the organization. APS has been engaging the public and translating psychological research findings for a more general audience since its inception. In the past year, research published in APS journals has appeared in over 4,000 media outlets with a total circulation upwards of 170 million.
APS publishes four journals that are ranked among the top in the field: Psychological Science, ranked 6th for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, and Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Influential researchers and members of the press travel from around the nation to the APS annual convention, held in late spring each year. With over 3,000 psychologists in attendance, the program features presentations by the field’s most distinguished researchers and educators on a variety of topics, including human development, culture, learning, behavior and health, motivation, memory, personality, neuroscience, emotion, genetics, and much more.
The 20th annual convention will be held May 22-25, 2008, in Chicago, with highlights including special anniversary programming and a Keynote Address by University of California, Los Angeles psychologist Shelley Taylor; a “Bring the Family Address” by Laura Carstensen, Stanford University; and an “Inside the Psychologist’s Studio” interview with Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman.
As APS celebrates this milestone, it is more important than ever to look back on its 20 years of dedication to psychology and to look forward at the field’s bright future.
