Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA): 2016 Annual Report

Bonnie J. Spring, PhD, chair

The Board of Scientific Affairs held two meetings in 2016, on April 1-3 and November 4-6. The fall meeting was preceded by a full-day retreat. The following report summarizes the major work topics, accomplishments, and other issues of concern to the Board over the past year, including work of the committees that report to the Board and activities managed by the Science Directorate. 

BSA worked with APA President Susan McDaniel and Science Directorate staff to develop the APA Prize for Interdisciplinary Team Research, the first honor designed specifically for interdisciplinary teams that include psychological scientists. The prize will be given biennially. A subgroup of BSA members reviewed 18 applications and selected the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) for the 2016 prize. Sara J. Czaja, PhD (University of Miami), one of the Principal Investigators, submitted the team application. The team encompasses expertise in psychology, industrial/human factors engineering, gerontology, computer science, clinical and neuropsychology, biomedical engineering, marketing, industrial design, and public health.

ATIs provide training in cutting-edge methods and technologies to psychological scientists. Five ATIs took place in 2016. 

• Structural Equation Modeling in Longitudinal Research, at Arizona State University, May 31-June 4, 2016. Kevin Grimm, who is a faculty member at Arizona State University, led this course, which featured a series of lectures and hands-on computer workshops on longitudinal methods, modeling, and measurement in contemporary psychological research using SEM. 
• Big Data: Exploratory Data Mining in Behavioral Research at Arizona State University, June 6-10, 2016. Kevin Grimm, who is a faculty member at Arizona State University, led this course, which featured an overview of recent advances in exploratory data mining for the analysis of psychological and behavioral data, including both general principles and specific techniques. Participants also gained hands-on experience with the techniques and were invited to bring their own data and research problems to work on in consultation with the course instructors.
• Research Methods with Diverse Racial & Ethnic Groups, at Michigan State University June 6-10, 2016. Frederick Leong led this ATI, which included sessions on methods for investigating treatment outcomes in diverse populations, quantitative and qualitative methods, measurement equivalence and invariance across diverse groups, and methods in areas ranging from genomics to aging research to community research.  
• Non-Linear Methods for Psychological Science, at the University of Cincinnati, June 20-24, 2016. Organized by Michael Richardson, this ATI provided a thorough introduction to a variety of non-linear and dynamical methods.  Such methods are becoming increasingly prominent within psychology and related disciplines. Specific topics included time series analysis, recurrence quantification analysis, fractal analysis, and dispersion analysis.
• Single-Case Intervention Research: New Developments in Methodology and Data Analysis, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, June 27-July 1, 2016 and led by Joel Levin. This institute will cover the latest approaches to designing, analyzing and presenting data from single-case research. Such “single cases” can be any individual or clustered entity, such as a group, classroom or community.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunity Grants Program solicited proposals from departments of psychology. The goal of the program is to provide research training opportunities for undergraduates with little to no lab experience. Eight psychology departments were selected for the 2016 program. Students were hired for six to eight week research assistantships for a total of 38 student participants. Each selected department provided the students with a high-quality research experience as well as mentorship and professional development guidance. With some small modifications, the program will be offered again in 2017 under the name Summer Undergraduate Psychology Research Experiences (SUPRE).

BSA established the Culture of Service Awards in 2006 to increase attention to the involvement of psychological scientists in service to the discipline. The awards have recognized individuals as well as departments for their contributions to a culture of service. Beginning in 2017, the individual award will be presented every other year (alternating with the APA Prize for Interdisciplinary Team Research) while the departmental award will no longer be offered. The individual Award for Distinguished Service to Psychological Science was presented in 2016 to Susan Fiske, Princeton University, and James Jackson, University of Michigan.

BSA developed the Meritorious Research Service Commendation to recognize outstanding psychologists in the federal government and nonprofit organizations who help foster psychological science through their work in planning, promoting, and managing funding programs for research and research training. 2016 was the 15th year in which the citation was given. BSA selected Susan M. Czajkowski (National Cancer Institute); Bradford W. Hesse (National Cancer Institute); Wendy J. Nilsen (National Science Foundation); and Catherine M. Stoney (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute); to receive commendations for 2016.

Science programs at the 2016 APA convention included the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award addresses, the Neal Miller Lecture, the Master Lectures, and Science Student Council programs. 

Master Lecture Program

BSA selected the following speakers to participate in the 2017 Master Lecture Program at the 2017 convention: Allyson Bennett (University of Wisconsin) in the biopsychology area, Gary Bennett (Duke University) in the health and behavioral medicine area, Saul Kassin (Williams College) in the applied psychology area, Bernard Weiner (University of California, Los Angeles) in the motivation area, and John Wixted (University of California, San Diego) in the cognition and perception area.

Distinguished Scientist Lecturer Program

BSA selected the following speakers to deliver Distinguished Lectures at regional psychology conferences in 2017: Silvia Canetto from Colorado State University, Stevan Hobfoll from Rush University, and Michael Lewis from Rutgers University.

Neal Miller Lecture

BSA selected Carol A. Barnes (University of Arizona) as the Neal Miller Lecturer at the 2017 APA convention.

The work of the committees that report to BSA constitute a large part of science governance activities, as summarized below:

The Committee on Scientific Awards continues to recognize important scientific achievement in psychology through its selection of psychological scientists for prestigious APA awards. It selected recipients for the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, the Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology, and the Distinguished Scientific Awards for Early Career Contributions to Psychology. The Committee also recommends psychologists that APA can nominate for other scientific awards not conferred by APA.

The Committee on Animal Research and Ethics worked on projects that focused on educating the public about the nature of nonhuman animal research, in general, and in psychology in particular.

The Committee on Human Research developed a plan for disseminating information on current issues in the responsible conduct of research, including human research participant protections.

The Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment began work on the revision of the Guidelines for Test User Qualifications. The Committee continued to monitor activities related to educational initiatives involving the 2014 edition of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.

The Science Student Council advises BSA and the Science Directorate on issues of concern to graduate students. It also selected recipients of graduate student awards and developed programming for the APA Convention.

BSA members elected Dr. Sara Jo Nixon as Chair for 2017.

The 2016 membership of BSA included six women and three men. BSA did not have board specific diversity training during 2016.

2016 BSA members: Bonnie J. Spring, PhD, Chair, Tammy D. Allen, PhD, Aaron S. Benjamin, PhD, Hector M. Betancourt, PhD, Adriana Galvan, PhD, Sara Jo Nixon, PhD, Robert W. Proctor, PhD, Linda C. Sobell, PhD, and Linda P. Spear, PhD.