Dr. Robert J. Sternberg
* What social and public interest issues will you emphasize during your term and what specific plans do you have for achieving your objectives?
APA should seek support for:
* Research/development/action on fighting disease, poverty and hunger in the United States and worldwide. Our work on five continents has shown that psychological interventions can help people learn relevant skills.
* Reducing violence and conflict and promoting peace in schools, society and the world. Our work on hate, conflict resolution, wisdom and indigenous values provides bases for understanding and reducing violence and for promoting peace.
* Promoting interests of groups subject to discrimination. Our work on abilities promotes equity for all groups, including women, ethnic minorities, aging populations, individuals with disabilities and gay people.
* What do you consider to be the central issue confronting undergraduate education (high school, two-year and four-year college levels) in psychology in the next 10 years?
I believe the central issue confronting undergraduate education is teacher preparation.
* Teacher preparation. Many graduate students have good formal psychology backgrounds, but little or no explicit background in how to teach and mentor effectively. Conversely, high school teachers often have more teaching experience than formal psychology background.
* Our contribution. We have been funded for research and development aimed at improving psychology teaching. This work promotes memory-based as well as analytical, creative and practical learning of psychological knowledge.
* Goal. APA should launch an initiative to ensure adequate preparation of teachers/mentors of psychology at the high school and undergraduate levels.
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