Volume 20: No. 6, June 2006

June 2006 Announcements

Happy Anniversary to OBSSR!

Your comments invited on the new Strategic Prospectus

The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health is celebrating its ten-year anniversary on June 21-22, 2006 with a power-packed event on the NIH campus. The event will include a Town Meeting at which the new draft Strategic Plan will be presented and discussed.

OBSSR is asking for comments through June 30, 2006. The draft plan is called “The Contributions of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research to Improving the Health of the Nation: A Prospectus for the Future.” You can access the draft prospectus and share your comments via the OBSSR website. Please share your comments with APA as well so they can inform APA’s response to OBSSR. Send a note to Pat Kobor of the Science Policy Office by Wednesday, June 28, 2006.

Coming Soon: A Scientist's Guide to the APA Convention

The Science Directorate is currently preparing a listing of science-focused programs for the 114th APA Convention which is being held in New Orleans, LA from August 10-13, 2006.

Science Directorate sponsored programs as well as sessions sponsored by APA Divisions will be highlighted. This web-based guide will be available online on the Science Directorate's webpage in late June. Copies will also be available for distribution during the convention at the Science Directorate Booth.

This guide is being developed to highlight and promote science-focused convention programming. Convention programs include symposia, paper and poster sessions, invited addresses, discussions, and workshops.

Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS) Announces First Science Café

Co-sponsored by APA Science Directorate

Tools of the Trade
Propaganda and Persuasion: Psychology’s Use in Intelligence
Wednesday, August 2, 6:30 pm
The International Spy Museum
800 F St., NW, Washington, DC

Was JFK killed by the CIA? Did AIDS originate in a lab in Maryland? You may have been persuaded that these rumors were true. Ever since Aristotle developed the first scientific perspective on persuasion, people have sought to understand how to most effectively influence the opinions, beliefs, and behaviors of others. Soviet intelligence is notorious for their program of “active measures”—an array of covert and overt operations including propaganda—used to influence another countries policies and actions. In this enlightening discussion, Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, a psychologist at Arizona State University, will present an overview of the psychological research on communication, persuasion, propaganda, and social influence including information on how to effectively sway the opinions of others; and Dr. Thomas Boghardt, historian at the International Spy Museum, will overview some of the most fascinating and successful uses of propaganda and active measures in modern history. He will also discuss some recent events which may seem suspicious to the "unpersuaded."

Tickets: $12

Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and members of The Spy Ring : $10

Join Today!!

Click here for more information (.pdf).