Student Events at 18th Annual Convention

The 18th Annual Convention featured a full slate of student-oriented events produced by the APS Student Caucus Board in collaboration with the APS staff and student-affiliate members. The program included events that highlighted student research, disseminated valuable information about graduate school and publishing, and provided the opportunity to network with top researchers and fellow students.

APS Student Caucus Convention Kick-Off

Students of scientific psychology gathered from all over the world to meet each other at the Student Caucus’ Convention Kick-Off. At this event, students had the chance to get to know each other with an icebreaker activity and find out about the opportunities offered by the APSSC. In addition, the winners of our Research on Socially and Economically Underrepresented Populations (RiSE-UP) Competition, Student Research Competition, and Student Grant Competition were recognized for their outstanding achievements. The APSSC Executive Board was thrilled to meet so many Student Caucus members!

Grad School: The Naked Truth and So Much More

This year’s convention hosted the second APSSC student event Grad School: The Naked Truth & So Much More. This student-only panel discussion addressed the ins and outs of getting into and surviving graduate school that are not found in program brochures. Discussion topics included building research experience, nurturing peer and mentor relationships, and the importance of priorities and self-imposed limits.

How to Get Published: Guidance From Journal Editors

Three distinguished editors, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Elizabeth A. Phelps, and Stephen J. Ceci, offered suggestions on how to get published. Among the topics discussed were how to write clearly and effectively, the editorial and review process, issues in deciding who gets credit for authorship, and revising a manuscript. The editors emphasized that articles should be geared towards a general audience rather than written as a technical document. Moreover, articles should be well written, concise, and capture the audience’s attention. Many manuscripts receive a “revise and resubmit” decision. The editors advised that such an outcome should be viewed positively and that students should carefully consider the recommendations of reviewers in revising the manuscript.

APSSC Student Social

At the Student Social, students had the opportunity to mingle with their peers on the 16th floor Sun Roof of the Marriott Marquis, overlooking midtown Manhattan. Students filled the room and got to know each other better while enjoying beverages and delicious hors d’oeuvres that were made available to all students free of charge. The event went by far too quickly, but everyone had a great time.

Student Research Competition Addresses

Each year APS Student Affiliates have the opportunity to submit their research for consideration in the APSSC Student Research Competition and the winners, selected by peer-review, present their research in symposium format at the convention. The 2006 Student Research Competition highlighted student research from a variety of areas, including industrial/organizational, cognitive, social, and developmental psychology. Taylor Poling, University of Tennessee, spoke about how individual personalities, values, and preferences for teamwork impact team member agreement. Andre Kehn, University of Wyoming, presented research indicating that working memory capacity moderates the speed of accurate eyewitness identifications. Jay Van Bavel, University of Toronto, talked about several experiments in which categorizing individuals as ingroup members led to an implicit preference for the ingroup and eliminated implicit bias against a racial outgroup. Majorie Rhodes, University of Michigan, spoke about how gender influences the motivational consequences of social comparisons in young children.

RiSE-UP Symposium: Research on Socially and Economically Underrepresented Populations

The 2006 RiSE-UP Research Competition Symposium included three diverse topics (stereotype threat, sexual orientation, and sex difference in the demand/withdraw interaction pattern) from the winners of this year’s competition. The 2006 winners, Sylvia P. Perry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Laurie L. Messerli, Castleton State College, and Sarah Holley, University of California, Berkeley, were invited to present their research at the convention in addition to receiving a monetary award for their outstanding research endeavors. The RiSE-UP symposium provided convention attendees with an excellent opportunity to learn about current research projects completed by undergraduate and graduate student affiliates. The three winners each gave a 20-minute presentation on their projects related to underrepresented populations.

Champions of Psychology

At the Student Caucus’ Champions of Psychology event, seven renowned champions shared their advice and knowledge with attendees. Students were thrilled to have the chance to meet with these esteemed researchers and talk with them in an informal setting. The seven champions were: Susan Andersen, Timothy Baker, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Charles Gallistel, Gail Goodman, Walter Mischel, and Barbara Spellman.

The APS Student Caucus would like to thank the student affiliates and APS staff members who helped to make these events possible. In addition, the APSSC is grateful to the distinguished APS members who participated in these events, sharing their knowledge and experience with students.