By Raymond D. Fowler, PhD
APA Chief Executive Officer

Psychology, perhaps more than any other discipline, belongs to the people. People are interested in how psychology's findings can be applied to their daily lives and how it can help them better understand their own behavior and the behavior of others. Since APA's founding more than 100 years ago, APA members have been sharing their knowledge with a very interested general public. One part of APA that is especially oriented toward giving psychology away is the Public Interest Directorate. (Henry Tomes discusses that further in his column on page 30.)

A strong history of sharing psychology

Joseph Jastrow, APA's first treasurer from 1892 to 1893, was a classically trained experimental psychologist who drew on his training to develop a public exhibition on psychology for the Chicago World's Fair at the turn of the century. Jastrow soon found that people were eager to learn about the new science and how it related to their lives. He was one of the first psychologists to write articles for popular magazines such as Atlantic Monthly and Harpers, and his daily column "Keeping Mentally Fit" was syndicated in more than 150 newspapers.

APA's third president, William James, was also dedicated to informing the public about psychology, and he had a unique talent for communicating psychological concepts in terms that were understandable to the public. He worked extensively with public school teachers and wrote a widely used popular book, "Talks to Teachers." Almost 100 years after his death, James is still the psychologist whose name is best known to the public.

Psychology's popularity waxed and waned during the first half of the century, but came back strongly in the post-World War years, which Life magazine labeled "The Age of Psychology." The concept of making psychology relevant and accessible grew rapidly in the 1960s and 70s. In his famous 1969 APA presidential address, George Miller made a dramatic point of asking psychologists to "give psychology away" by sharing its findings with the general public in ways they could apply to their daily lives. APA began to help psychologists work with the media and to prepare press releases on major developments in psychology.

In the 1970s, APA began to consider starting a popular magazine that would tell about psychology from the perspective of psychologists but abandoned the idea because that function was being served by another popular magazine, Psychology Today. When the quality of Psychology Today began to diminish in the early 1980s, APA took the big step of purchasing the magazine as its own. Although the venture was riddled with financial difficulties almost from the start, the magazine's editorial quality improved under APA's management, and the magazine effectively presented psychology's story during the five years of APA ownership.

Over the years, APA's public information efforts have continued to expand. Circulation of the Monitor has grown, and we have developed a staff of highly skilled public affairs professionals who bring psychology to the media. Our Media Referral Service, which began in the 1970s with a few dozen names on 3" x 5" cards, is now a sophisticated database of 1,300 psychologists who talk to reporters about their areas of expertise. APA now makes from 300 to 500 media referrals each month.

Reaching new audiences

Although most APA publications are scholarly books and journals for a professional audience, in recent years we have begun to explore new terrain. In 1997, we acquired Magination Press and began offering books for children with special needs. We also recently contracted with an agency to represent APA in establishing a co-venture with a commercial publisher for a series of trade books in psychology.

As technology has changed, APA has been a pioneer in communicating via the Internet. APA was among the first 20 associations to have its own web site. When we officially launched our web site in January, 1995 there were only 5,000 web sites in existence; now there are millions. Our award winning web site receives more than 1 million hits per week. We are now able to talk to more people in a week than we used to in years, and more people in a month than we used to in decades.

As an extension of APA's longstanding commitment to give psychology away to the public, the Board of Convention Affairs and the Board of Directors are working with APA's governance system to make the APA conventions more accessible to the general public. Future conventions will include public talks and other programs in the evenings to attract local people who want to learn more about psychology.

The idea of sharing psychology with the public is not new for APA. It has always been very important for APA as an organization to develop psychology and communicate it in the public interest. It's an integral part of our mission, and has been for a long time.

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