How Are We Doing? The First 120 Days

Like other APS officers, I am constantly being asked by psychologists I run into on my professional travels how APS is doing. Letters and cards also continue to arrive from those who our recruiting efforts have not yet reached asking for information about how to join. The attention that the Society has commanded and the seriousness with which it is being taken by all sides themselves say something about how we’re doing. Especially encouraging are the numbers of individuals who tell us they never joined AP A or dropped out some time ago but have decided to become part of APS.

On a more tangible level, a great deal has been accomplished in the first 120 days of the Society’s existence. Membership, as of this writing, is about 3000 and rising. As you have read elsewhere in this issue, the Publication Committee is actively conducting a search for the Editor of our journal, Psychological Science. A number of publishers have expressed interest in publishing the journal and have submitted attractive proposals. The Committee expects in the near future to make a recommendation to our Board about which proposal to accept. In subsequent issues, the APS Observer will be expanded and Steve Hayes has agreed to become its Editor on a formal basis. Turning to the APS convention scheduled for June 10-12, the Con­vention Committee has put together an impressive program. What has been particularly heart­ening is the uniform willingness of those who were asked to give addresses or to put together symposia to accept our invitation. Other Committees are also at work, as later issues of the APS Observer will describe.

As an organization also devoted to advancing and promoting academic and research-ori­ented psychology to outside agencies, APS has already established itself on the national scene. We have joined as provisional members the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and the Consortium of Social Science Associations. (The Society is not yet strong enough financially to become regular members of these organizations but we expect to reach this status next year or the year after.) APS has also become a member of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. Clearly, the formation of APS has not gone unnoticed. We are also establishing our credentials with governmental agencies and other disciplinary organizations.

All in all, a good deal has been accomplished in the space of four months. However, APS is still a very young organization that is not only growing in size but is also in the process of evolving in its internal structure. The present structure was designed to be temporary, as stated in the by-laws, giving the Society and its members the opportunity to determine, in concert with other organizations, the type of society that will most effectively represent and advance the interests of all branches of academic-research psychology. Organization issues are expected to be one of the topics· to be discussed at the leadership conference of APS affiliates and other sympathetic groups being sponsored by APS in late January. We look forward to hearing their ideas. We also welcome the comments and suggestions of individual members.