Government support of psychological research: Fiscal year 1958.

"In fiscal year 1958 (ending June 30, 1958), approximately $23,900,000 were obligated by some 12 departments and subdivisions of the federal government for the conduct of research in psychology and closely related areas. This is an increase of about $8,000,000 over the support reported for fiscal year 1957, and about $13,000,000 over that for fiscal year 1956." 4 tables indicate: (a) expenditure by agency, (b) research areas in psychology supported, (c) expenditure by geographic region, (d) obligations of federal government for research by scientific fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Government support of psychological research fiscal year 1957.

"The purpose of the report is to provide information on the amount and sources of funds which are available from the Federal Government for the support of psychological research. In addition, the report reflects the relative emphasis being placed on specific areas within the general field by such support programs and shows the distribution of funds geographically… . In fiscal year (ending June 30, 1957), approximately $15,600,000 were obligated by some 20 departments and subdivisions of the Federal Government for the conduct of research in psychology and closely related areas." 3 tables indicating annual rate of support of extramural research in psychology and related fields are provided; a fourth table indicates obligations by scientific fields for fiscal years 1956, 1957, and 1958. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current status of federal support for psychology.

Reports on federal funding for psychology. The present report is based on information obtained between December 1968 and April 1969. The data in this report, generally, come from the agency offices directly involved in the programs described, such as the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Mental Health. Some figures, however, are from official publications. No attempt at a detailed analysis of funding levels for specific programs supporting psychological research will be made in this report. Many agencies were unable at the time of this report to determine how much of their allocations was specifically to psychologists or for psychological research as opposed to broader categories such as behavioral scientists, behavioral research, or extramural research. In a later report from this office, a finer breakdown of funding for psychology and an interpretive analysis will be presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Association for the Advancement of Psychology: 1983.

This article describes the public policy activities in Congress of the Association for the Advancement of Psychology (AAP), which is the recognized independent national advocacy arm of American psychology, representing the interests of psychology in the public policy arena. AAP's public policy activities in Congress continued to focus on the elimination of discrimination with regard to the treatment of mental illness and mental health professionals, increased federal funding of behavioral and social science research and research training, and the protection of constitutional rights without exception. AAP activities included working with other mental health advocacy groups to urge Congress to enact fiscal 1984 appropriations measures favorable to psychology, lobbying for various child-related federal programs in 1983, and legislation drafted by the AAP to eliminate current discrimination between physical and mental health benefits for the 10 million federal employees, annuitants, and families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Financial support for research in psychology and related areas.

"Financial support for psychological research has increased as psychologists have demonstrated their capabilities of contributing significantly to developments on a broad front ranging from the biological to the social sciences." As an aid to persons seeking information on agencies and foundations providing financial support for research in psychology and related areas, the American Psychological Association's Board of Scientific Affairs has compiled a list of sources; these are listed in 2 general sections—federal agencies and private foundations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Association for the Advancement of Psychology: 1980.

Founded in 1974 under the auspices of the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association, the Association for the Advancement of Psychology (AAP) is a nonprofit corporation that interacts with all branches of the federal government in the interest of psychology and the public. AAP's public policy activities in Congress and the federal agencies in 1980 continued to focus on the elimination of discrimination with regard to the treatment of mental illness and to mental health professionals; opportunities for funding in research and training; the protection of constitutional rights without exception; and fairness in government regulations. The cumulative effect of the advocacy effort, the constant monitoring of annual congressional appropriations and authorization processes, and the greater sophistication of AAP's interaction with the American Psychological Association resulted in significant gains for mental health in federal health programs. The AAP convention program featured a panel of psychologists who entered into a lively debate on the role of AAP and its interaction with state psychological associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA bridging the gap on aging-related issues.

Past and present efforts of the American Psychological Association related to aging issues are described. Initiatives to integrate aging information into the psychology curriculum at all levels of education and training and to advocate for federal policies and funding that recognize the role of geropsychology and expand training opportunities for practitioners and researchers are discussed. These include the Committee on Aging's Preparing Psychology for an Aging World Initiative; the Education Policy Office and the Office on Aging's Graduate Training in Geropsychology Initiative; and the program offerings of the Office of Continuing Professional Education. The critical need to educate policymakers regarding the role of geropsychologists and psychological researchers in identifying and addressing the mental and behavioral health needs of older adults and their families is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investing in our future: Unrealized opportunities for funding graduate psychology training.

Purpose: Changes in the health care environment have brought challenges and opportunities to the field of psychology. Practitioners have been successful in modifying service models to absorb losses of financial support for behavioral health care, due to managed care and public policy changes, while simultaneously managing the growing need for these services. However, in this reactive mode of responding to evolutions in the health care system, the field of psychology has at times lost sight of the long-term vision required to promote psychology's inclusion in the health care system of the future. In particular, a focus on training psychologists and ensuring the availability of funding to support these activities must be a priority in planning for the future. This article provides an overview of federal programs that currently offer funding for psychology training, as well as other opportunities for federal funding that have been unrealized. Details regarding advocacy efforts that were required to secure available sources of funding are given, followed by consideration of strategies for taking advantage of existing resources and prioritizing advocacy for additional funding. Conclusion: Funding for psychology training provides an avenue for increasing the number of well-trained psychologists who can serve patients' mental and behavioral health needs and thereby improve health outcomes. Moreover, capitalizing on available funding opportunities for psychology training and promoting efforts to expand these opportunities will help ensure that the field of psychology is positioned to remain an important contributor to the health care system of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The federal sentencing guidelines: Psychological and policy reasons for simplification.

The federal sentencing guidelines are the most controversial and most complex of all the sentencing reform efforts. The undue complexity of the federal guidelines, and the continuing pressures for change that add to complexity, undermine the goals of sentencing reform. Based on policy grounds and on psychological theory and research, sentencing should be structured through the use of sentencing guidelines, which need to be both simple and comprehensible. The federal guidelines should be based on a 2-step process, in which (a) the broad outline of sentences is determined by the offense of conviction and (b) judges can consider, within well-defined limits, the aggravating and mitigating factors of a case using relevant conduct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology's response to the graying of America.

Asserts that changes set in motion by major public health advances early in the century have increased the demand for knowledge about the aging process, especially the psychological aspects of aging. There is need for basic and applied research on aging in areas such as memory; federal support should be provided for training at the predoctoral level; and information on the psychological aspects of aging should be transmitted to society, policy makers, and members of other professions who serve the elderly. Knowledge of aging as a biological, psychological, and social process is applicable in fields such as industry, education, and engineering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and the Office of Naval Research: A decade of development.

"During its tenth year, the Psychological Sciences Division of ONR was supporting 143 separate contracts for research in various fields of psychology." Summary tables are presented of financial support of contract research projects by the Psychological Sciences Division, ONR from 1946 through 1956, areas of contract support by Psychological Sciences Division 1946-1956 and the geographic distribution of 143 ONR contracts active in the year 1956. Psychology's place within ONR, the substantive work of the branches of the Psychological Sciences Division (Physiological Psychology Branch, Personnel and Training Branch, Group Psychology Branch, Engineering Psychology Branch, and the Manpower Branch), ONR's impact on psychology (in terms of publications, conferences and symposia, and the training of graduate students), the evolution of psychology in a government agency, and perspectives of the present and the future are presented. 24 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whatever happened to Canadian psychology?

Up until about 1950, psychology in Canada was showing a healthy, balanced development comparable to that occurring in the USA. Since then, however, psychology in Canada has become more and more lopsided -- strong in those areas supported by federal agencies such as NRC and DRB, but weak in all those areas for which responsibility was turned over to the provinces. This did not happen in the United States where the growth of the discipline as a whole was recognized as a national responsibility, and where federal agencies were created as required to foster healthy, balanced development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awards for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest: Patrick H. DeLeon.

The Awards for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest recognize persons who have advanced psychology as a science and/or profession by distinguished contributions in the public interest. For 1984, Patrick H. DeLeon is cited for his leadership role in empowering the field of psychology with a strength of public purpose and public responsibility. Through his efforts as psychology's most dedicated colleague on Capitol Hill, DeLeon has contributed his professional effectiveness to improved federal support for research, education and training, and service delivery. Within psychology, he has contributed to its involvement with the legal system, to its public image and message, to its growth as a scientific and professional discipline, and to its professional status. Through his own example, he has charted psychology's course as a discipline and profession in making important contributions to human welfare, social justice, and economic growth. Along with the citation, a biography and bibliography of DeLeon's works are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Madness and government: Who cares for the mentally ill?.

Reviews the book, Madness and government: Who cares for the mentally ill? by Emory A. Foley and Steven S. Sharfstein (1983). This book is a fascinating factual account of the struggle to develop community intervention alternatives to the 100-year domination of the state hospital system in the United States. It is the story of the efforts of "Washington's Noble Conspirators," who struggled for more than 20 years after World War II to expand the amount of federal support of medical research, to get federal money into the care of people with mental disorders, and to obtain federal support for the training of mental health personnel and research into the whole area of mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological research, practice, and social policy: Potential pathways of influence.

Greater use of psychological research and practice knowledge in the formulation of social policy is necessary to enhance the well-being of U.S. citizens and communities. Although historically there are instances in which psychological and social science research and practice have had a substantial influence on federal policy, for the most part the relationships among research, practice, and policy have been tenuous. Three cases in which research has substantively influenced policy over the past 80 years are reviewed: Keynesian economics, Head Start legislation, and the activities of conservative think tanks. Several recommendations are made for ways in which psychologists can enhance their influence in the policy arena, including communicating directly with policymakers regarding relevant policy findings and knowledge gleaned from practice; conducting interdisciplinary, multilevel research as well as evaluation research (including qualitative data drawn from practice settings); and networking among researchers, practitioners, policy advocates, and social action groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth, scope, and direction of current Soviet psychology: The 1963 All-Union Congress.

A comparison of papers delivered at the 1959 and 1963 Union Congresses indicates that "research in the discipline known as psychology in the Soviet Union… more than doubled in quantity in the last 4 yr. As of 1963, using a paper-read index and also a publication index, Soviet psychological research" is almost equally divided between (a) applied educational action research and (b) research that might be called basic." The basic research is almost equally divided among 3 areas: (1) engineering and information psychology, (2) traditional experimental human psychology, (3) comparative psychology engaged mostly in the study of "higher" functions in primates and in psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on construct validity of psychological tests: 50 years after Cronbach and Meehl (1955).

The middle of the 20th century was a very exciting time to be in the field of clinical psychology and, especially, assessment psychology. Seminal publications during that time clarified the then novel distinction between hypothetical constructs and intervening variables (MacCorquodale & Meehl, 1948), elucidated the concept of construct validity (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955), and described a methodology for estimating convergent and discriminant validity of measures of constructs and the role of variance due to common methods in the associations among measures of similar and different constructs (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). These articles have been the bedrock of clinical psychological and personality psychology assessment since that time. The year 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of Cronbach and Meehl's (1955) article "Construct Validity in Psychological Tests." A submission last year by Smith (2005b) struck me as an excellent time to honor the signal contributions of these psychologists of the last century through consideration particularly of the article by Cronbach and Meehl. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological science around the world.

Discusses the numbers and training of psychologists and psychological researchers worldwide, based largely on responses from 38 countries to an International Union of Psychological Science survey. The total number of psychologists in the world appears to be over 500,000, with 62,000–82,000 engaged in research as their primary or secondary work activity. Differences between industrialized and developing nations are described in the deployment of psychologists among fields of research. The differences are examined in terms of traditional academic/research fields and health service provider fields. A trend toward a growth of practice and a decline of academic/research psychology is noted. Concerns are expressed about insufficient numbers of psychological researchers. Major obstacles to such research include insufficient financial support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Federal impact on psychology in medical schools.

The impact of federal legislation on medical education and in turn on the role of psychology in that process is examined, and the efforts of psychology to impact legislation are reviewed. The federal Medicare program, and its consideration of the functions and costs of medical education under the prospective payment system for hospital care, is examined in detail. Psychologists can no longer maintain the expatriate role with which they have been content in medical schools and must assume a more responsible and proactive role. Psychologists must increase their involvement in the administrative and fiscal activities of medical colleges and universities and their understanding and advocacy efforts regarding the federal legislative issues that affect health care and medical education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)