Decade of Behavior Initiative is Under Way

APS President Robert Bjork and his UCLA colleague Christine Dunkel-Schetter at the Decade of Behavior “launch” on Capital Hill last fall. Behind them is an exhibit on “Stress in Pregnancy and Effects on the Offspring Throughout the Lifespan” based on the work of APS Fellow and Charter Member Dunkel-Schetter and APS Charter Member Marci Lobel of SUNY Stony Brook.

A new initiative is under way to increase the visibility of behavioral and social science research. The “Decade of Behavior” (DoB) is modeled after the Decade of the Brain initiative that was developed in the 1990s by the neuroscience community. This latest initiative is being organized and operated by the American Psychological Association, and more than 50 organizations, including APS, have endorsed it. Similar to the Decade of the Brain initiative, which APS also supported, this multidisciplinary effort seeks to publicize the progress achieved in behavioral and social science and to raise awareness of research in these areas with the hope that this awareness will translate into public understanding and support. APS President Robert Bjork is representing the Society on the DoB advisory committee. Other APS members serving on the committee include: Fellow and Charter Member Aletha Huston of the University of Texas at Austin; Fellow and Charter Member Joe Martinez, University of Texas at San Antonio; Fellow and Charter Member Anne Petersen of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation; John Bruer, James S. McDonnell Foundation; and Stephen Manuck, University of Pittsburgh. The five themes of the initiative are: a healthier nation, a safer nation, a better educated nation, a more prosperous nation and a more democratic nation.

For more information on DoB, visit .