Decade of Behavior Off to Exciting Start as it Enters
Fourth Year

The Decade of Behavior will begin its fourth year in 2004 and there are already exciting programs and activities being planned!

What the Decade has accomplished so far:

· The first 2004 Decade of Behavior Research Award recipients were selected in October and will receive funding to participate in a briefing on Capitol Hill. Recipients of the award were David Dinges, who was nominated by The Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences and David Williams, who was nominated by the American Sociological Association.

· Three individuals were chosen to participate in the 2004 Distinguished Lecture Program. Each of the awardees conducts research reflective of Decade themes that also stretches the boundaries of traditional disciplinary focus to promote cross-disciplinary behavioral and social science research. The chosen lecturers were Janet Norwood, nominated by the American Educational Research Association; Jeffrey Sachs, nominated by the Association of American Geographers; and Amartya Sen, nominated by the American Political Science Association.

· The Behavior Matters booklet for psychology has been translated into Spanish and will be distributed to foreign affiliates and various agencies and schools in the U.S.

· An update of FundSource, a search tool designed to assist behavioral and social scientists to secure research funding and can be accessed by visiting http://www.decadeofbehavior.org/fundsource/index.html.

· Brought the thrill and excitement of the behavioral and social sciences to secondary school students through Exploring Behavior Week. This program is designed to encourage students to explore a career path within these disciplines.

Programs and activities to expect in 2004:

· A Behavior Matters booklet for the Communications discipline. This booklet will be produced by the National Communication Association and reflects how communication makes a difference in our daily lives.

· Improved and updated materials to promote Exploring Behavior Week and a nationwide recruitment effort to promote the program.

· Acceptance of nominations for positions on the National Advisory Committee, the 2005 Decade of Behavior Research Award, and Distinguished Lecture Program.

· An initiative to inform the public and organizations about the Decade of Behavior through the placement of the logo on journals and publications, as well as links to the Decade website on the homepages of various organizations and foundations.

· The collaborative development of a list highlighting the most substantial behavioral and social science breakthroughs over the past year and a list highlighting important growth areas in the behavioral and social science fields.

· The groundwork for an educational television series or video series highlighting the contributions of behavioral and social science research to the resolution of societal problems and concerns.

Please visit our new website at www.decadeofbehavior.org and tune in for other ongoing developments.