'Decade of Behavior' moves forward

An interdisciplinary advisory panel representing the behavioral and social sciences has begun work on a request that the U.S. Senate pass a resolution naming the years 2000­10 the "Decade of Behavior."

Such a request will be one of the first orders of business for the Decade of Behavior National Advisory Committee, which met for the first time Jan. 15­17 in Washington, D.C., to begin planning what they hope will become a national research, public policy and public affairs initiative.

The idea of making the first decade of the new millennium the Decade of Behavior was first advanced by APA's Board of Scientific Affairs as a way to increase public awareness and understanding of the behavioral and social sciences' contributions to health, safety and education. The initiative will also include a federal advocacy effort to increase funding and legislative support for the behavioral and social sciences.

Over the past year, the initiative has grown into a multidisciplinary collaboration, with the backing of the directors of multiple funding agencies and numerous behavioral and social science organizations (see list). The advisory committee itself consists of 12 people representing nine different disciplines.

At the January meeting, committee members prioritized tasks for planning the initiative over the coming months and set some of the initiative's ultimate goals, which include:

* Attracting talented young people to the behavioral and social sciences and ensuring they receive adequate training.

* Nurturing the behavioral and social sciences by pulling together a broad spectrum of researchers to discuss research priorities and shape research agendas.

* Informing policy-makers of the importance of supporting the behavioral and social sciences.

* Expanding research funding to provide more resources for behavioral and social science researchers.

* Connecting with the public to increase the public's understanding of the behavioral and social sciences and why they are important.

Along with formulating these goals, the advisory committee agreed that its first priority is getting Congress to declare 2000­10 the Decade of Behavior. Public policy staff from APA and the Society for Public Health Education are working with committee members to draft the resolution and find a senator to back it. They're hoping that it will come up for a vote this spring in the Senate, then quickly move to the House of Representatives for approval.

To support their argument in Congress, committee members will draft white papers that describe in detail the contributions the behavioral and social sciences can make toward each of four themes that will form the core of the initiative: health, education, safety, and promoting a more prosperous and democratic society.

The themes will be included as part of the initiative's expanded title--"The Decade of Behavior: Promoting Research and Application to Enhance Health, Safety and Education within a More Prosperous and Democratic Society"--which will be used in all official Decade of Behavior documents.

The idea of a more prosperous and democratic society came from the demographers, sociologists and political scientists on the panel, explains advisory panel co-chair John Bruer, PhD, president of the James S. McDonnell Foundation in St. Louis, Mo. They tend to work on a much more global level than some of the other committee members are used to, but the work that the psychologists and child development experts do eventually informs those broader perspective.

Committee members worked remarkably well together, embracing the varied points of views of their colleagues, says Richard McCarty, PhD, APA's executive director for science who organized the committee's first meeting.

"They all left with an excitement and enthusiasm for the project that will take this initiative to the next level," he says.

Several subcommittees formed by the panel are already working to flesh out the four themes, plan a kick-off event for next spring, find a celebrity spokesperson to publicize the initiative and develop financial support.

To ensure that all disciplines have a say in shaping the Decade, during the meeting committee members voted to add three additional members: an economist, an anthropologist and a physician.

Anthropologist Dean Falk, PhD, of the State University of New York, Albany, has already agreed to represent his field, and Charlet Plott, PhD, of the California Institute of Technology will be the representatives for economics.

The advisory council is now encouraging all the Decade partners to become actively involved in planning programs and events, says McCarty. "APA got the ball rolling, but we want this to truly be a multidisciplinary, integrated initiative."

The American Sociological Association will host the next advisory committee meeting, planned for late May or early June.

Members of the 'Decade of Behavior' National Advisory Committee with APA Executive Director for Science Richard McCarty (top, third from left). Standing, left to right: Jack Lanier, John Bruer, McCarty, Roger Downs, Linda Martin, Robert Bjork. Seated: Troy Duster, Paula McClain, Aletha Huston, Joe Martinez. Missing: Anne Petersen, Lila Gleitman and Stephen Manuck.

Decade of Behavior Endorsers and Supporters

* American Educational Research Association

* American Political Science Association

* American Psychological Association

* American Psychological Society

* American Sociological Association

* Association for Behavior Analysis

* Consortium of Social Science Associations (13 member societies)

* Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (more than 350 member departments)

* Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences (18 member societies)

* Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

* Linguistics Society of America

* National Academy of Neuropsychology

* Psychonomic Society

* Society for Computers in Psychology

* Society for Judgment and Decision Making

* Society for Public Health Education

* Society for Research in Child Development

* U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Psychological Science

* Virginia Psychological Association

* Duane Alexander, director, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, National Institute of Health

* Norman Anderson, director, Office of Behavioral & Social Sciences Research, NIH

* Bernard Arons, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA

* Bennett Bertenthal, assistant director of the National Science Foundation's Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences Directorate

* Enoch Gordis, director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH

* Steven Hyman, director, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH

* Alan Leshner, director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH

* Barbara Rimer, director, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, NIH



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