APA Div 52 News

Weekly News Digest 12-4-15

EPA 2011 international conference On March 10-12, 2011, over 1,800 psychologists and students from as far as Moscow gathered at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge for the 82nd annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association. Once again, for the ninth year since 2003, this included the semi-annual program and meeting of the 25-person board of directors of the APA Division 52, International Psychology (D52). Thanks to EPA, D52 had its board meeting from noon till 5 pm on March 10, then a two-day program of 10 symposia and poster sessions on March 11-12, presenting work by D52 members and others.  The 30 seats in the Hyatt Cambridge room were often filled by a steady stream of students and professionals hearing about a variety of global topics: publishing opportunities in international psychology, the United Nations, international collaborations on TAT scoring, internationalizing the teaching of psychology, intervening after natural and human-made disasters. Some images of these sessions appear at www.picasaweb.com/takoosh  This program had some unusual features. During the two-day conference, conferees closely followed media news of a deadly 8.9 earthquake in Japan, while teams of experts at EPA discussed their work after past disasters in Haiti, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and elsewhere. Officers of Psi Chi, the international honor society for psychology, joined D52 for a joint session on “Psi Chi: Moving from a national to an international society in psychology.” Under Russian professor Alexander Voronov, a team of seven faculty and students from Moscow visited EPA, and offered a symposium on “Russian psychology today: Current trends.” This included the debut of a nine-minute DVD, “Psi Chi: Student excellence,” translated into the Russian language by Dr. Alexey Sozinov of the Academy of Sciences of Russia. On behalf of D52, President John Hogan thanked the EPA Board of Directors for hosting such a full program on international psychology, and presented his Presidential Citation to EPA Executive Officer Frederick Bonato and Program Chair Diane Finley for their efforts to make EPA a model among the seven U.S. regional psychology associations. Thanks to the efforts of D52 secretary Ayse Çiftçi, about 30 members shared a wonderful international supper at the exotic Elephant Walk in Cambridge To give the EPA presentations a wider audience, Editor Grant Rich invites session chairs or presenters to consider adapting their presentation for possible publication this year in the APA International Psychology Bulletin.  Contact Dr. Rich at optimalex@aol.com   PHOTO CAPTION: Members and guests of the D52 board in CambridgeMA (photo by Michael Meir) Jennifer De Mucci Chairing a panel on  the Impact of Natural Disasters at EPA Karin Soweid is presenting on the reseacrch on the Impact of Long-term Trauma of War in  Lebanon Second Panel on the impact of Human-Made disasters: from left Jennifer De  Mucci, Karin Soweid, Dr Kalayjian, Drs Meiyer

Technology and the internet: Its impact on APA and its members of all ages How are rapid changes in technology and the internet impacting the APA and its members?  Does such changing technology alter how older and younger psychologists “mentor” one another? This pair of questions is part of the 2008 APA Membership Board’s Strategic Plan now under consideration.  On the positive side, technology surely makes all sorts of communication easier and more powerful–including publications and information retrieval.  On the negative side, technology adds new financial and communication challenges. Moreover, as APA members’ average age inches above 60 years, many older psychologists are internet-illiterate, unfamiliar with Facebook and iPods, and welcome a younger “mentor” to reconnect with their own field. In just the past 10 years, it has become inconceivable to picture an APA officer who has no email address.  At the 2008 APA in Boston, the APA Membership Board and the APA Society for General Psychology convened a symposium and conversation hour to bring together several experts from different areas to review the age factor in the embrace of technology, and the significance of this for APA and its membership.  This includes six presentations by eight leaders in the field. **       1. Pressing issues of age and technology applied to psychology Harold Takooshian, Fordham University                In his science fiction novel Childhood’s end (1953), Arthur C. Clarke foresaw an odd future world where roles would reverse, as children had to explain bold new technologies to their elders.  Of course that world is now here, for anyone who has seen a savvy five-year-old at their computer, patiently trying to explain email and the internet to not-so-savvy grandpa.  As futurist Alvin Toffler warned us in his documentary Future shock (1970), the personal computer changes everything—including psychology.                 APA knows this. In 2008, APA shifted from a smaller Membership Committee to a now-larger APA Membership Board, in part to apply empirical methods to probe increasingly complex issues of APA membership.  On 6 April 2006, Membership Chairperson John Robinson hosted the first-ever APA Membership Summit in Washington DC, where over 50 leaders of U.S. psychology convened for two days to focus on membership issues, including age: Why is APA “graying,” and how can APA adapt to attract younger psychologists, whose increase in numbers is not reflected in APA membership rolls?  As a result, APA is now considering a detailed 40-page Membership Strategic Plan to address such issues.                 Similarly, APA Division One, the Society for General Psychology (SGP), has faced the age factor since 2005, when then-President George W. Albee discovered that out of 2,000 SGP members, the number under age 30 was one—Matthew Goodwin, who kindly agreed to become the Society’s webmaster.  When SGP officers Bonnie Strickland, Susan Whitbourne, and Harold Takooshian conducted focus groups with Early Career Psychologists (ECPs) and students at University of Massachusetts in 2006, the age factor was unmistakable at several points.  For example, young people said not only they did not value hard-copy journals as a benefit of APA membership, but they saw this as a deterrent, and joked they would pay extra to NOT receive journals.  The APA website and internet access were all these young psychologists need or want.  At the other extreme, President Albee encouraged APA to offer some sort of tutorial for elder leaders like him who need help to use the internet to stay connected with their own changing field.  SGP appointed a task force on “coping with technology,” and chairperson Richard Velayo published a practical report on how to avoid email overload (Velayo & Blank, 2007).  2. www.apa.com: Reshaping the portal into APA Tony F. Habash, American Psychological Association APA past-CEO Raymond Fowler noted that when the APA first registered its domain name in the 1980s, www.apa.org, only 400 civilian websites were registered on the internet. Of course, the internet and technology have greatly accelerated the past 25 years, to become a defining feature of all organizations, including psychology.  After many years, the APA in 2006 created a new executive position of Chief Information Officer (CIO), to coordinate this crucial function (Cynkar, 2007). As of 2006, the APA website was actually a set of 39 semi-connected websites, each using varying descriptors that made searching imperfect.  APA made it a priority to develop one seamless website, and allocated an estimated 7 million dollars for this renovation.  This revamped website has become a major element within the APA Strategic Plan.  There seems to be a clear age factor at work here, as the increasing importance of www.apa.org to all psychologists and others seems especially true of younger users, who are more accustomed to using web technology.  The next major revision of www.apa.org is set for early 2009.  The APA goal is to position www.apa.org as the trusted source for psychology content for our members, institutions and the public at large, and to be a community hub for anyone with interest in any aspect of psychology through relevant use of Web 2.0 community solutions. 3. Psychology on the Internet: New challenges and solutions Scott Plous, Wesleyan University, and www.socialpsychology.org The conveners of this symposium asked panelists to address two key questions about psychology and the Internet, and also asked me to briefly discuss new challenges and solutions. My response appears below. Question 1: “How are rapid changes in technology and the Internet impacting the APA and its members?”  Changes in information technology have long had a significant impact on APA—on its budget, internal coordination, publications, policy, and revenue—and this impact will only grow over time. Indeed, just as the Internet has profoundly affected commerce, news media, and presidential politics, it is now playing an increasingly central role in science and education. For example, next year’s estimated budget for the National Science Foundation’s Office of Cyberinfrastructure is $220 million―almost as large as the entire budget of NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. Although Internet technologies are expensive, APA members expect the Association to: (a) keep up with other disciplines (even

San Francisco, 17 August 2007. Dr. Ani Kalayjian was recognized with the 2007 Mentoring Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) International Division. For more than a decade, Ani has been on a journey of healing through forgiveness and meaning. She has devoted her life to studying the impact of trauma; mentoring and helping others heal so that they can reach a state of wholeness. The Mentoring Award is presented annually to a member who plays an exceptional mentoring role in an international context. The APA International Division represents the interest of all psychologists who foster international connections among psychologists; engage in multicultural research or practice; apply psychological principles to the development of public policy; or are otherwise concerned with individual and group consequences of global events.   Here are excerpts from her protégées: “Initially I was rather intimidated. I still remember the first email she sent me, just one day after we were matched as mentor/protégée. Her electronic signature occupied about half the page. After reading this seemingly endless list of positions, affiliations, and organizations that she leads, I wondered how she would ever “fit” me in. Fortunately, she quickly assuaged my trepidation with her respectful and humble nature and giving character, when she actually called on the phone. She continues to call me until today, five years after our first appointment. I have benefited from her positive and endless energy, commitment, knowledge, and the network of many of her students, protégées, and other colleagues that gather around her positive energy, sharing and learning and having a lot of fun at the same time.” Ben Bensoden “What is most extraordinary about my teacher and mentor is her unrelenting commitment to bettering society by unifying minds and hearts; emphasizing likeness in human beings and appreciation of differences. She is steadfast in her optimism that prevention of man-made trauma and resilience post natural disasters can be realized and nurtured through forgiveness, tolerance, and respect for all humanity and earth. Subsequently, it is of no surprise that her practice and benevolence extend far beyond our nations borders. For her courage and determination, her selflessness and generosity I recommend Dr. Ani Kalayjian.” Fiorella Paradisi Dr. Kalayjian is the Chair of the APA International Division’s Mentoring Committee. She has matched over 15 pairs of mentors and mentees from around the world. Dr. Kalayjian is also involved in the Mentoring Project of New York State Psychological Association, and Columbia University, Teacher’s College Mentoring Program.