Science Briefs

The Beautiful Powers of Unconscious Thought

by Ap Dijksterhuis

Ap Dijksterhuis obtained his PhD in 1996 at the Radboud University Nijmegen (at that time still called University of Nijmegen). Between 1996 and 1999 he was a Research Fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2000 moved to the University of Amsterdam as an Associate professor. In 2002 he became full professor and in 2006 moved back to the Radboud University Nijmegen. In 2005, Ap won both the APA Award for Early Career Contributions and the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology Kurt Lewin Award. In that same year, he also received a Vici grant--the largest grant of the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO)--to fund research on unconscious thought and decision making. In 2007 he published a popular psychology book in Dutch called 'Het slimme onbewuste' ('The smart unconscious') which became a bestseller. Recently, HP/De Tijd selected Ap as one of the top 100 of most influential Dutch people.

"When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters however...the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves."

Sigmund Freud

When you are facing an important decision, others will sometimes tell you to postpone your decision and "sleep on it" first. In my case it was often my grandmother who gave me this advice. It is a belief many people intuitively share: It helps to put a problem aside for some time in order to arrive at a better decision. Somehow, waiting seems to help us to differentiate between the vital and the futile. Postponing a decision helps us to base our decisions on the appropriate reasons.

But does this "folk belief" hold in a scientific experiment? A few years ago, we conducted an experiment in which we had people choose between four hypothetical apartments. The information was constructed in such a way that one of the four apartments was objectively more desirable than the other three, in that it possessed more positive and fewer negative qualities. However, this was not immediately evident as the apartments were described with a great deal of information. After our experimental participants read all the information about the apartments, they chose their favorite one either immediately or after a period of distraction during which they did some other things. Our hypothesis was that the latter group would continue to "unconsciously think" about the apartments while they were distracted. Indeed, our findings showed that 37 % of the participants who decided immediately chose the appropriate apartment, whereas 60 % of the unconscious thinkers chose the best one (see Dijksterhuis, 2004; Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006). Postponing a decision helps, even if one does not consciously think about it anymore.

The next question was whether unconscious thought could be even more helpful than an equal period of conscious thought. Traditionally, most scholars on decision making have assumed that thorough conscious thought is the best strategy to arrive at sound decisions. This is without doubt sometimes true, but as a general principle it needs to be qualified. We know that under some circumstances (e.g., Wilson & Schooler, 1991), conscious thought deteriorates the quality of decisions. In another experiment we conducted (Bos et al., 2009), our participants chose between six houses that were on sale in our home city, Nijmegen. We simulated the website on which these houses were advertised but removed the asking price. Our participants were given a few minutes time to navigate our "website," and some participants were then given as much time as they wanted to think about the houses, and to further browse through the information. Others were distracted for about 45 minutes (they actually did other experiments) before they decided. Finally, participants chose their favorite house and they were asked to estimate the asking price for each of the six houses based on the information provided. The unconscious thinkers - that is, the ones that were distracted - performed significantly better than the conscious thinkers, a finding that has now been replicated a number of times (see Strick et al., 2009, for a meta-analysis).

In other experiments (Dijksterhuis, Bos, van der Leij & van Baaren, 2009), we asked immediate decision makers, conscious thinkers, and unconscious thinkers to predict the results of soccer matches that were to be played in the near future. The accuracy of the predictions did not differ much for people who didn't know much about soccer. For fans, however, the results did differ. Fans who thought unconsciously made better predictions than fans who thought consciously or fans who guessed immediately. Interestingly, for both immediate decision makers as well as for conscious thinkers, knowledge of soccer did not correlate with the quality of the predictions. Only among unconscious thinkers was this correlation obtained, indicating that the benefits of expertise, at least within the confines of the present paradigm, become apparent when one thinks unconsciously rather than consciously.

Recently, the finding that unconscious thinkers outperform conscious thinkers and immediate decision makers has been replicated in new and interesting domains. Whereas our original experiments were mainly concerned with consumer decisions, it is now established that unconscious thought can improve clinical diagnoses made by clinical psychology students (de Vries et al., 2009), judgments of justice in hypothetical court cases (Ham, van den Bos & van Doorn, in press), and even moral judgments (Ham & van den Bos, in press).

But why is unconscious thought so helpful? In our view, there are two reasons. The first has to do with the different processing capacities of conscious and unconscious processes. Consciousness works in a serial fashion and has a small capacity. That is, it can only do one thing at a time, and it can only work on a very limited amount of information. Unconscious processes have the capacity to work on different things in parallel and can integrate a large amount of information. In a series of experiments, we (Dijksterhuis, Bos, Nordgren & van Baaren, 2006) tested whether the amount of information involved in a decision determines which strategy - conscious thought or unconscious thought - is the most fruitful. In these experiments, experimental participants had to choose their favorite among four hypothetical cars. For some, the cars were only characterized by four attributes, while for other participants the cars were characterized by twelve attributes. Indeed, conscious thinkers fared well when they had to choose among cars described by only four attributes (they actually did a bit better than unconscious thinkers), but they performed very poorly when they had to choose among the cars with twelve attributes. The difference in capacity was also suggested in another experiment (Dijksterhuis, 2004), where we asked conscious and unconscious thinkers who had just chosen between four apartments whether they had based their decision on just one or two attributes or on a more holistic, global judgment. The majority of the conscious thinkers claimed to have followed the first strategy, whereas the unconscious thinkers had done the latter.

We (Dijksterhuis, Bos, Nordgren & van Baaren, 2006) once interviewed people who had recently purchased a consumer product. We asked whether they had thought a lot about it consciously, or whether they had followed the "sleep on it" strategy. As it turned out, buyers of products that only require limited information processing (CD's, clothes, small things such as shampoo), experienced more post-choice satisfaction after conscious rather than unconscious thought, whereas buyers of more complex products (cars, cameras, furniture) experienced more satisfaction after unconscious thought.

The second major reason we offer for why unconscious thought is helpful is that it seems to be better at weighting the relative importance of different attributes. People who judge a house know that a large space as well as many electrical sockets in the kitchen are positive attributes, but they do well to recognize that the first attribute is far more important than the second. Obviously, it should receive more weight in a decision.

The idea that unconscious processes may, at least sometimes, be more effective at weighting than conscious processes is not new. It was already suggested by Freud and more recently by Wilson & Schooler (1991). In their experiments, they showed that conscious thought may actually be detrimental for the weighting process. In our own work, we obtained some suggestive evidence that unconscious thought is effective at weighting. In one experiment (Dijksterhuis & van Olden, 2006), participants had to choose one among five art posters. They did this immediately after seeing the posters, after some time of conscious thought, or after a period of unconscious thought. After they had chosen a poster to take home with them, we also asked participants to what extent they liked each of the five posters. A few weeks later, we called our participants, and asked them how satisfied they were with their choice, to what extent they experienced regret, and for how much money they would be willing to sell their poster. As it turned out, unconscious thinkers were more satisfied and asked for a higher selling price than other participants. Also, the degree to which they liked the chosen poster relative to the ones not chosen correlated with their satisfaction. This was not true for conscious thinkers: The extent to which they liked their poster after choosing it was not predictive of later satisfaction. This strongly suggests they engaged in poor weighting by using the wrong reasons to choose.

Recently, we discovered that unconscious thought leads to an automatic weighting process that continues - at least for a while - as time passes (Dijksterhuis, Bos & van Baaren, 2009). Assume you have to choose between two cars, one with a few very important positive characteristics (good safety record, good mileage) and many unimportant negative characteristics (not many cupholders, only available in three colors), the other with many unimportant positive characteristics (enough cupholders, available in many different colors), and few important negative characteristics (poor safety record, not very good mileage). Most people would choose the former car over the latter, and if you ask people immediately after processing information about such cars, they indeed show a mild preference for the former car. However, after a period of unconscious thought, this preference for the appropriate car has become much stronger. During unconscious thought, important matters become more important, whereas unimportant matters become more unimportant.

Still, unconscious thought is not effective in all tasks. It computes rather rough preferences that allow us to sense that we like one alternative better than another. However, it is not a precision instrument, as it cannot actively use propositional rules such as are needed in arithmetic (try to calculate 26 x 23 without conscious thought - it's impossible). Consciousness, on the other hand, is capable of doing just that--making it more precise. This is relevant for decision making, as it means that when we are faced with a decision that involves little information and not much weighting--that is, a decision for which the weaknesses of conscious thought are not very relevant--conscious thinkers can actually outperform unconscious thinkers. Likewise, when we have to make a decision based on numbers and calculations - such as in games - conscious thought usually outperforms unconscious thought. Payne and colleagues (Payne, Samper, Bettman, & Luce, 2008) provided people with information about various strategies in a game. The various alternatives were based on numerical values (as in returns of stocks) and on probability. In such a case, conscious thinkers are better than unconscious thinkers.

We have learned - especially in the Western world - that conscious deliberation is the holy grail of decision making. This idea needs to be revised. Sometimes conscious thought is more helpful, but sometimes unconscious thought is better. The important avenue for future research is to establish the circumstances when one strategy is better than the other. Perhaps because we have learned that conscious deliberation is almost always good, some people are surprised by, or skeptical about, findings that unconscious thought is helpful, or more generally, that we can perform very useful cognitive operations without conscious guidance. However, our evolutionary history should make clear that it is not surprising at all. Decision making is much older than human consciousness as we know it, and as with all such ancient abilities, we are generally quite good at them if we rely on our unconscious.

Acknowledgement: This research was supported by a Vici grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) (453-05-004). More information on our research program can be found at www.unconsciouslab.com.

References

Bos, M. W., Dijksterhuis, A., Bongers, K. C. A., van der Leij, A., Sjoerdsma, A., & van Baaren, R. B. (2009). Complexity and unconscious thought. Manuscript in preparation.

De Vries, M., Holland, R. W., Witteman, C., Vente, F., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2009). Intuitive processes in diagnostic decision-making: Classification after conscious versus unconscious processing. Manuscript under review.

Dijksterhuis, A. (2004). Think different: The merits of unconscious thought in preference development and decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 586-598.

Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M.W., Nordgren, L.F., & van Baaren, R.B. (2006). On making the right choice: The deliberation-without-attention effect. Science, 311, 1005-1007.

Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M.W., & van Baaren (2009). Unconscious thought leads to automatic weighting. Manuscript under review.

Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M. W., Van der Leij, A., & van Baaren, R. B. (2009). Predicting soccer matches after unconscious and conscious thought as a function of expertise. Psychological Science, in press.

Dijksterhuis, A., & Nordgren, L.F. (2006). A theory of unconscious thought. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 95-109.

Dijksterhuis, A., & van Olden, Z. (2006). On the benefits of thinking unconsciously: Unconscious thought increases post-choice satisfaction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 627-631.

Ham, J., & Van den Bos, K. (in press). On unconscious morality: The effects of unconscious thinking on moral decision making. Social Cognition.

Ham, J., van den Bos, K. & Van Doorn, E. (in press). Lady Justice thinks unconsciously: Unconscious thought can lead to more accurate justice judgments. Social Cognition.

Payne, J., Samper, A., Bettman, J.R. & Luce, M.F. (2008). Boundary conditions on unconscious thought in complex decision making. Psychological Science, 19, 1118-1123.

Strick, M., Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M.W., Sjoerdsma, A., Van Baaren, R.B., & Nordgren, L.F. (2009). A meta-analysis on unconscious thought effects. Manuscript in preparation. See www.unconsciouslab.com.

Wilson, T.D. & Schooler, J.W. (1991). Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 181-192.

Executive Director’s Column

The Fuzzy Boundaries of Science
by Steven Breckler, Executive Director

When news of this year’s Nobel prizes started rolling out earlier this month, it got me thinking (as it always does) about those who have been recognized in the past by the Nobel Foundation for psychology-related work. We all know that a Nobel Prize in Psychological Sciences does not exist (wishing, of course, that it did). Nevertheless, the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences frequently honors those whose work is based in and contributes to psychological science.

In 1978, Herbert Simon was recognized for his work on decision making. That work was clearly anchored in economics, but it had tremendous influence in psychology. Indeed, Simon and his colleagues often published their work in the leading psychology journals.

In 2002, psychologist Daniel Kahneman was recognized for his work (in collaboration with psychologist Amos Tversky) on integrating psychological research into economic science. The lecture Kahneman delivered upon acceptance of the Nobel Prize focused on maps of bounded rationality. He published two versions of that lecture: one in The American Economic Review and another in American Psychologist.

The subtitle of Kahneman’s American Economic Review article was “Psychology for Behavioral Economics”. Although we know Kahneman best for his collaborative work with Tversky, he also engaged in important collaborative work with economist Richard Thaler. At the fuzzy boundary between psychology and economics, it was that work that helped to establish the new interdiscipline of behavioral economics.

Economics, like psychology, often finds itself at the fuzzy edges of disciplinary boundaries. Right now, it is the fuzzy boundary with neuroscience that enjoys intense development. Just as psychology and neuroscience find a connection in the interdiscipline of behavioral neuroscience, economics and neuroscience find a connection in the interdiscipline of neuroeconomics.

I have a confession to make. When I first learned about the work being done in behavioral economics, and later in neuroeconomics, my thoughts were cynical. It seemed to me that the discipline of economics, having run out of legitimate problems to study, was looking for inspiration from psychology. And even worse, from old psychology.

On deeper reflection, however, my cynicism turned to enthusiasm and appreciation for the value of fuzzy boundaries in science. Psychology succeeds as a science because of its ability to draw from and integrate with many other fields of science – biology, ethology, genetics, mathematics, computer science, sociology, anthropology, political science, and, yes, economics.

If the interdisciplines of behavioral economics and neuroeconomics are drawing attention, that’s a good thing for behavioral and social sciences. And to the extent that psychology and psychologists are part of the mix, that’s even better. This is the natural evolution of science, and we should embrace it.

In the Science Directorate

Advanced Training Institute Courses Immerse Scientists in Innovative Methodologies

By Nicolle Singer

APA’s four Advanced Training Institutes (ATI) of 2009 are now complete. More than 100 psychologists and other behavioral scientists, including advanced graduate students, took part in these informative courses sponsored by the APA Science Directorate.

Participants in each ATI arrived for their week of intense study ready to hit the ground running. Before each course began, they had already received a list of recommended readings and a short biography of each participant and instructor. After travelling from across the state, country, or internationally, participants settled into hotels—for which APA arranged special discounted rates—the day before the start of each course.

The first three programs of the summer took place in June. The University of Cincinnati hosted its popular course "Non-Linear Methods for Psychological Science" (June 8-12). This ATI provided a thorough introduction to a variety of non-linear and dynamical methods. This family of methods is becoming increasingly prominent within psychology and related disciplines, and many participants arrived with ideas about ways to incorporate them into their research. Specific topics at this ATI included time series analysis, recurrence quantification analysis, fractal analysis, and dispersion analysis. In addition to lectures and discussion, the course included hands-on experiences in which participants practiced using advanced software, made available by the instructors, and had the opportunity to consult with the instructors about their own projects.

The second ATI of the summer on “Research Methods with Diverse Racial & Ethnic Groups” (June 22-26) was also enthusiastically received. Michigan State University’s Center for Multicultural Psychology Research hosted this course, which drew an eager group of researchers interested in learning the best ways to conduct sensitive and appropriate research with diverse populations. The nine expert instructors discussed research methods in their areas during lectures and discussion sessions. Sessions covered such topics as quantitative and qualitative methods, the why’s and why-not’s of web-based data collection, measurement equivalence and invariance across diverse groups, and methodological issues in areas ranging from genomics to HIV prevention. Participants also collaborated on group projects during a portion of each day and discussed their plans with faculty and the entire class on the last day of the course.

The University of Virginia was once again the site of the third ATI of the summer, “Structural Equation Modeling in Longitudinal Research” (June 29-July 3). Because participants in this course were currently using structural equation modeling (SEM) in their research or had firm plans to begin using these methods, interest was intense and questions flowed freely. The workshop included classroom lectures, demonstrations, and lab time with instructors ready to answer individual questions. After an in-depth overview of the principles and practice of SEM, instructors discussed increasingly advanced topics with the group. Participants were encouraged to bring along their own data and research problems to the ATI, and have reported that the hands-on nature of the program and interactions with the instructors was very beneficial -- above and beyond what they can learn from a written text alone.

A new ATI was held on July 20-24 on “Exploratory Data Mining in Behavioral Research” at the University of Southern California. This course provided 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 were encouraged to bring their own data to work on in consultation with the instructors, and this one-on-one time was again reported to be very valuable. In addition to lectures and discussion, participants had time to experiment with the data mining computer programs and develop their own new projects. Jack McArdle of USC directed the ATI and co-taught it with other faculty from US and European universities.

The Science Directorate looks forward to building upon the success of these programs with the 2010 line-up of ATIs, which will be announced this winter. To learn about next summer’s ATIs, visit the website or contact us by email. The programs will be announced in PSA as soon as they are made final.

My Summer at APA: How Research Came to Life for Me

By Josiah Leong

Living in the nation’s capital for the summer, it was difficult to miss the air of importance and responsibility in a city where so much policy is created. I was struck by this upon my arrival at Reagan National Airport and continued to take note of it throughout the summer months. The daily commute in Washington placed me amongst people from many different industries and academic disciplines -- all here to promote their constituencies’ needs. Coming from a research-intensive university, the importance of applying research results to public policy was new to me. While I relished the chance to experience the political atmosphere of our nation’s capital, I was even more enthusiastic about the idea of working alongside psychology professionals within that arena.

I landed in the APA Science Directorate as part of my program, “Cal in the Capital” -- an internship program at the University of California, Berkeley, where undergraduate students like me are placed in policy-relevant organizations. For two months I worked in the Science Directorate. I helped facilitate some of the vital programs that the APA conducts, such as graduate student awards and the Advanced Training Institutes. I was particularly involved in the Summer Science Fellowship (SSF), a program in which undergrads come to the DC area to work fulltime in a local university laboratory. Participation with these programs allowed me to see the direct benefits of having a strong, well-funded organization with the resources and impetus to train and educate people in the research community. My internship experience impressed upon me the critical role that psychology researchers have in policymaking and the budget and appropriations process. I encountered people at APA who came from diverse backgrounds in psychology and spoke with several who were once academic-based research psychologists but then unexpectedly found an interest in the wider view of research (e.g., funding, research ethics, and policy), and psychology’s impact at an institutional level. These psychologist-advocates helped open my eyes to the effect psychological research can have on policy.

On July 14th, the APA hosted an educational event for congressional staff that addressed the topic of substance abuse amongst military personnel. Tim Condon, the deputy director at the National Institute of Drug Abuse, presented on the prevalence of substance abuse in the military and the foreseeable needs of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Kathleen Carroll, a professor of psychiatry at Yale University discussed numerous therapies that currently exist for substance abuse. Briefing events like this are common in Congress and are essential opportunities for interest groups to make members of Congress aware of pressing issues that they’d like to have prioritized by the legislature. I was given an opportunity to assist with this briefing.

One event that was particularly enlightening to me was a poster session held in the Senate building. The National Science Foundation invited researchers from around the country to present their breakthrough findings and innovations to members of Congress. The presentations were compelling and informative—allowing people to imagine the endless potential that research had for positive change. The event also doubled as a way to justify the amount of funding devoted to research. I left realizing the value of being able to communicate research to lay people and its implications for procuring funding for the behavioral sciences.

The culmination of my time at APA was a literature review paper on substance abuse in veterans. I presented my findings to my peers in the SSF program as well as to APA staff, and I was naturally keen to impart my new outlook on research and the need to make research accessible.

Government Relations Update

Duane Alexander Announces Departure from NICHD

By Karen Studwell

At the September meeting of the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council, Duane Alexander announced that he would be leaving the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the end of the month. He was joined by Francis Collins, the new Director of the National Institutes of Health, who thanked Alexander for his remarkable service to the institute. Alexander has served as the NICHD Director since 1986, and has overseen the budget of one of the NIH’s primary institutes supporting of psychological scientists.

Alexander first came to NICHD in 1968, after graduating from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He left briefly to complete a fellowship in pediatrics with a focus on developmental disabilities at the John F. Kennedy Institute for Habilitation of the Mentally and Physically Handicapped Child at Johns Hopkins. He returned to NICHD in 1971 as Assistant to the Scientific Director and directed the NICHD National Amniocentesis Study, which established the safety and accuracy of prenatal diagnosis using amniocentesis.

As a founding organization of the Friends of NICHD (FNICHD), APA has a long history of working with Alexander to encourage the institute to further research in child development, early learning, school readiness, developmental disabilities, family formation, women’s health, youth violence, and medical rehabilitation. In 1992, APA President Charles Spielberger honored Alexander with a Presidential Citation, for “his dedicated support of behavioral research as an essential element in preventing illness and disability and restoring function to the disabled; his recognition of the importance of the control of fertility to the health of mothers and children; and his strong advocacy of research on human sexual behavior and steadfast support of the scientific peer review process." This month, APA will be hosting a lunch with FNICHD coalition members to honor Alexander for his years of service and dedication to women’s and children’s health.

Though leaving the NICHD, Alexander will be staying within the NIH, serving as a Senior Scientific Advisor on Global Maternal and Child Health Research at the NIH’s Fogarty International Center. He will focus on the NIH contributions to the White House’s $63 billion Global Health Initiative being developed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity in less developed countries through research and delivery of health services. According to Alexander, “The opportunity to work at this level to translate research advances, many of them from NICHD and NIH, to people in challenging settings is too good to pass up.”

As of October 1, Susan Shurin, currently the Deputy Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, will serve as Acting Director of NICHD, while a search is conducted for a new permanent director. Shurin has been at NIH for three years after serving as Vice President for Research at Case Western Reserve University, where she was also a Professor of Pediatrics and Oncology.

What are APA’s Main Concerns at the National Institutes of Health?

By Pat Kobor

In mid-September, Francis Collins, new Director of the National Institutes of Health, invited scientific and health organizations to send him brief lists of each organization’s priority interests at NIH, to help orient him to his new job. Collins promised to share the correspondence with directors of NIH’s institutes and centers.

APA responded on October 2, 2009, with a list of nine important issues. Steven Breckler, APA’s Executive Director for Science, remarked, “It was not an easy exercise to focus on a brief list, because APA has very broad interests at NIH.” The Science Government Relations Office monitors the research portfolios, infrastructure and strategic plans of almost all the 27 institutes and centers, and many of the coordinating offices in the Office of the Director of NIH. The agency’s own figures show that NIH spends approximately ten percent of its budget on behavioral and social sciences research.

Writing for APA, Breckler mentions two important personnel vacancies in positions that are important to psychology: the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. The letter thanks Collins for NIH’s support of OppNet, a new initiative to enhance NIH’s support of basic behavioral and social sciences research, and for the agency’s strong defense of peer reviewed, funded research that has come under political attack. In addition, the letter includes issues to carefully monitor while an NIH governing body investigates whether two NIH institutes—the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – should be merged. Breckler also notes APA’s longstanding advocacy in support of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation of tobacco, which recently became law, and offers assistance and support while NIH and FDA coordinate to support that regulation.

See the letter to Dr. Collins here and let APA know about any additional concerns you have for psychology at NIH ( Science Directorate email).

Trick or Treat? Fiscal Year 2010 Funding Decisions Postponed Until Halloween

By Karen Studwell

As Fiscal Year 2009 came to a close at the end of September, the House and Senate had made little progress on passing the twelve appropriations bills that fund the federal government, including those that fund the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. To sustain funding for the federal government, both the House and Senate passed a Continuing Resolution, which provides flat funding for most federal programs, but expires on October 31st, 2009. During the month of October, House and Senate staff will continue to work out the differences between each of their respective appropriations bills individually. Given the focus on health care reform legislation, it may be difficult to pass each of these appropriations bills separately, making an omnibus bill likely. An omnibus bill would combine all the outstanding funding bills together in one bill and would be passed more quickly and with less debate than if Congress passed them individually.

APA’s Science GRO staff are paying close attention to the deliberations over the FY2010 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. While the House version included $500 million more for NIH than the version approved by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, the House version also included an amendment sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) that would rescind funding for three peer-reviewed research projects funded by the NIH. The language must be removed by the conference committee to preserve funding for these projects. In October, APA joined with nearly fifty other scientific organizations in signing a letter from the Coalition to Protect Research, requesting the conferees to support scientific integrity and remove the amendment language from the final legislation.

Interesting Careers

An Interesting Career in Psychological Science:
Vice President of the College Board

WAYNE CAMARA

PhD (1986) - Industrial/Organizational and Educational Psychology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Vice President of Research and Analysis
The College Board
New York City, New York

To many people, psychological and educational tests appear only to create barriers or to inform them that they lack skills or knowledge that they in fact believe they possess. Results from tests are often at odds with our own self perceptions and belief systems. For example, test results may inform us that our children are well above average within their classrooms, but average in comparison to other students in a state or nation. Test results can inform us that we have not mastered all the content in a field where certification is required or that we lack the skills to be placed into an advanced training program or college course. As we age, test results may also inform us that we no longer have the reaction times to drive a car safely.

Tests engender significant emotional reactions from many individuals and groups, yet there is a strong research base that supports their validity, utility, reliability and fairness in education and psychology. As an undergraduate psychology student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth I became interested in how assessments could provide empirical evidence that supports and informs clinical or educational judgments during a course on Psychological Testing. I came to understand how information from standardized tests, when used appropriately, could supplement professional judgment and provide a means of comparing individuals to other individuals (a normative purpose), to themselves (a longitudinal purpose), or against a set of established criteria or standards (a criterion-related purpose). In addition, tests served important descriptive and inferential purposes.

Throughout my education I have always been interested in measurement and evidence that could be used in evaluation. I completed a master’s degree in educational measurement and then a certificate of advanced graduate study in school psychology at Rhode Island College and worked for two years as a school psychologist in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. I administered a large variety of cognitive, personality, and projective tests to students, developed individualized educational plans, and developed psychosocial diagnostic reports for school-aged children who were referred for assessment due to educational or behavioral issues.

After just two years of employment as a school psychologist I enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. My course of study included a unique combination of foundation and quantitative courses in both industrial-organizational psychology and educational measurement. Again, my primary interests were the efficacy and validity of tests and assessment in decision making. My master’s thesis evaluated a variety of predictors used in employment selection, and my dissertation involved developing an adaptive screening assessment for applicants to the state civil service. Courses that focused on personnel selection, validation, educational testing, computer-based testing, and measurement theory were the core of my graduate program. Gaining proficiency in statistics and quantitative methods was just as essential.

I began my career at Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO), in Alexandria, Virginia, where I had the opportunity to work on a number of extremely interesting research projects including job analysis studies, identifying personality and other non-cognitive factors that were associated with success in entry-level managers, and examining the validity of the military’s testing program for a variety of uses in schools and with military entrance. I devoted a substantial amount of time to writing responses to federal and state government requests for proposals, which are the primary sources of funding for such educational research organizations. I gained an enormous amount of practical experience in budgeting, staffing, and pricing of research and technical services, areas that are not taught in most graduate programs. However, my training in research design, sampling, and research methodology were invaluable for this type of work.

The primary deliverables of all research organizations are written reports and oral presentations. Psychologists and psychometricians who work in such organization must communicate clearly to a wide range of audiences. Efficiency in writing was just as important as communicating clearly and it is not unusual to be expected to produce lengthy technical proposals in a few weeks while managing large research studies. Unlike graduate school, researchers may be working on several different problems with several different teams of researchers under very tight deadlines. The ability to present the technical material in oral presentations and handle questions under fire is an essential skill for success.

I then held a variety of positions in the Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association (APA), from Director of Testing to Associate Executive Director of the Science Directorate. During that time, I was responsible for the development of testing and science policy within APA and influencing federal policies on testing provisions of the Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Polygraph Protection Law. In this role I devoted a substantial amount of time and effort demonstrating the utility of tests to a wide range of audiences.

In my current position as Vice President of Research and Analysis at the College Board, I am involved in the scientific, educational, public policy, media relations, and business aspects of large-scale testing programs such as the Advanced Placement (AP) program, PSAT/NMSQT, and SAT. I supervise approximately 75 professionals, half of whom hold a doctoral degree in psychometrics, educational psychology, or other related areas. Research psychologists and psychometricians at the College Board, and many other similar testing organizations, are responsible for designing and conducting research on a wide variety of issues that answer common questions about the fairness of tests, whether tests are coachable, and whether the ordering of test questions has an impact on student performance. We design and develop new tests such as the SAT writing test and a new eighth-grade assessment that will be parallel to the PSAT/NMSQT and SAT. We also examine data from each test to ensure scores are comparable and to pretest new items for future forms. My work combines applied research on a broad range of issues related to measurement and learning, overseeing operational testing and measurement issues for large scale testing programs, and working with a large variety of test users and stakeholders to improve and maintain our programs. One of the biggest challenges today is communicating the efficacy of tests and their appropriate role in decision making to a wide variety of audiences.

I recommend that graduate students interested in pursuing a career in testing and measurement take advanced coursework in quantitatitive psychology, psychometrics, statistics, research design, and measurement. In addition, they should become proficient in understanding and using statistical software programs such as SPSS and SAS and specialty software in areas such as item response theory. Graduate students can also benefit from summer or year-long internships with testing organizations such as the College Board, Educational Testing Service, and ACT, where they can gain important applied experience in large-scale assessment programs.

From the APA Science Student Council

Curing Researcher's Block: Generating Innovative Research Ideas

By Winny Shen

As the school year moves into full swing, many of us settle back into our regular routines and engage in a little self-reflection. We ask ourselves questions such as: "How much progress have I made in my research over the summer break?" and "Is my curriculum vitae looking a little bare for that grant application/fellowship/upcoming job search?" More often than not, the conclusion we draw is that we can be more productive researchers by taking on new research projects. But what projects? Fear not, brave researcher who dares to ask this question. Below is a list of activities that can help you to overcome "researcher's block."

Attend lectures, workshops, and conferences
Attending lectures, workshops, and conferences regularly is an easy way to inject some new intellectual material into your research. Are you interested in a new or interdisciplinary research topic, but have limited familiarity with it? Networking with colleagues at these events can not only inspire great research ideas, but also generate opportunities for collaboration. Attend a workshop on a new methodology or statistical technique. Consider how these new methods can be incorporated into your research. Be adventurous at professional meetings (and in your coursework choices), and grasp the opportunity to learn more about topics outside your normal research interests.

Read broadly within and outside of your discipline
In this modern information age, there is more psychological research being published than ever before. To manage this flow of information, many of us have chosen to specialize and to read only journals in our specialty areas. However, reading a publication targeted toward a broader psychology audience (e.g., American Psychologist), a general science audience (e.g., Science), or toward the lay reader (e.g., Psychology Today) can help keep us abreast of interesting developments in the field at large. Perhaps your area utilizes unique methodologies or provides an alternative perspective or theory that can be used to better understand a research question in another area. Or perhaps your area has something to offer in solving pressing social issues, such as climate change, poverty, or discrimination. A broader worldview can often lead to novel research ideas.

Revisit your definition of "research"
In addition to our role as researchers, we all occupy many other roles. One way to generate new research ideas is to create a synergistic relationship among your various roles. For example, many researchers are also teachers. Consider applying your research skill set toward improving our knowledge of effective teaching strategies by designing an experiment in your own classroom. This approach will help you expand your viewpoint of research topics to pursue.

Draw inspiration from daily observations
At its core, psychology is the study of human behavior. As casual observers of daily life, we are all constantly collecting data about our world. Many research ideas can be inspired by the popular media or your own daily observations. As an example, perhaps you've noticed that there is a lack of representation of women or minorities in your subdiscipline and have some testable theories about why this occurs. By drawing upon our everyday lives, we can generate new research ideas. Perhaps Isaac Newton would have formulated his theory of gravitation sooner if he spent more time outdoors observing apple trees. So to keep track of your research ideas, keep a research journal handy to capture interesting thoughts, concepts, or theories as they occur to you. You never know when inspiration, or an apple, will strike.

Federal Research Funding Opportunities for Psychological Science
October 2009

Listed below are new funding announcements from federal agencies for support of research and training in psychological science and in multidisciplinary areas that include psychological science. Federal funding opportunities can also be found at grants.gov.

See last month’s list.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Postdoctoral Fellowships in Polar Regions Research
09-612

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program  (TCUP)
10-501

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Community Networks Program (CNP) - Centers for Reducing Cancer Disparities through Outreach, Research and Training (U54)
RFA-CA-09-032
(NIH, AHRQ, HRSA, CDC, Dept. of Defense)

National Institutes of Health

Recovery Act Limited Competition: Building Sustainable Community-Linked Infrastructure to Enable Health Science Research (RC4)
RFA-OD-09-010
(multiple institutes)

NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research Competitive Revisions for Studies Focused on Neuropathic Pain or Neural Plasticity to Promote Collaborative Pain Research (R01)
PAR-09-264
(multiple institutes)

Mechanisms, Models, Measurement, and Management in Pain Research (R01)
PA-10-006
(multiple institutes)

Mechanisms, Models, Measurement, & Management in Pain Research (R21)
PA-10-007
(multiple institutes)

Mechanisms, Models, Measurement, and Management in Pain Research (R03)
PA-10-008
(multiple institutes)

Notice of Intent to Publish a Request for Applications for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (R25)
NOT-MH-10-003
(multiple institutes)

Secondary Analyses of Existing Data Sets and Stored Biospecimens to Address Clinical Aging Research Questions (R01)
PA-09-265
(NIA)

Behavioral and Integrative Treatment Development Program (R03)
PA-10-011
(NIDA, NIAAA)

Behavioral and Integrative Treatment Development Program (R01)
PA-10-012
(NIDA, NIAAA, NINR)

Behavioral and Integrative Treatment Development Program (R34)
PA-10-013
(NIDA, NIAAA)

Notice of Intent to Publish a Request for Applications for Cognitive Remediation Approaches to Improve Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes (R01, R21)
NOT-DA-09-015
(NIDA)

MBRS Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) (R25)
[Minority Biomedical Research Support]
PAR-10-004
(NIGMS)

Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS) (R01)
RFA-MH-10-060
(NIMH)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Recovery Act 2009 Limited Competition: AHRQ Clinical and Health Outcomes Initiative in Comparative Effectiveness (CHOICE) Grants (R01)
RFA-HS-10-003

Recovery Act 2009 Limited Competition: Innovative Adaptation and Dissemination of AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Research Products (iADAPT) (R18)
RFA-HS-10-004

Health Resources and Services Administration

Social and Behavioral Interventions to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation
HRSA-10-037

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

2010 National Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost Share Grant
USDA-FS-UCF-01-2010(see Public Health and Urban Forests)
(Forest Service)

Disaster Resilience for Rural Communities
USDA-CSREES-AFRI-002564
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service)

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Advances in Bioscience for Airmen Performance
BAA-09-02-RH
(Air Force)

Research Interests of the US Air Force Academy
USAFA-BAA-2009-1 (see Dept. of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership)
(Air Force)

Fundamental Research to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (C-WMD)
HDTRA1-09-14-FRCWMD-BAA
(Defense Threat Reduction Agency)

Department of Defense Multi-Disciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)
ONR-BAA-10-002
(Navy, Air Force, Army)

Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology
ONR-BAA-10-001
(Navy, Marine Corps)

Research and Analytical Support for the 711th HPW Human Effectiveness Directorate
BAA-09-03-RH
(Air Force)

Science and Technology For Warfighter Training and Aiding
BAA-09-05-RH
(Air Force)

USA Medical Research and Materiel Command Broad Agency Announcement
W81XWH-BAA10-1
(Army)

Warfighter Interface Technologies Advanced Research Programs (WITARP)
BAA-09-04-RH
(Air Force)

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Green and Healthy Homes and Technical Studies Program
FR-5300-N-20

Healthy Homes Demonstration Program
FR-5300-N-17

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Joint Fire Science Program - Primary Announcement
FA-RFA010-0001
(see Public Perceptions; Organizational Learning; Ethno-ecological Traditions)
(Bureau of Land Management)

Joint Fire Science Program - New Science Announcement
FA-RFA10-0003 (see Fire Social Sciences)
(Bureau of Land Management)

NASA

NASA Digital Learning Network
NNL10ZB1001C

Grant Available for LGB Family Psychology or Family Therapy

The Roy Scrivner Memorial Research Grants support empirical and applied research focused on lesbian, gay, and bisexual family psychology and lesbian, gay, and bisexual family therapy. One grant of up to $12,000 for research by a graduate student will be awarded with strong preference given to dissertation candidates.

The deadline is November 1, 2009. For more information, visit the APF web site.

Fellowships for Child Psychology Research

APF is pleased to offer up to four $25,000 fellowships for graduate students conducting research in child psychology. The Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Fellowship program seeks to support scholarly work that contributes to the advancement of knowledge and learning in child psychology. To qualify for the fellowship, applicants must have achieved doctoral candidacy. In addition to the four fellowships, two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to runners-up.

The deadline is November 15, 2009. For more information, visit the APF web site.

Summer Research Grants for Underrepresented Minority Groups in Neuroscience

SOMAS-URM: Support of Mentors and their Students in the Neurosciences from Underrepresented Minority Groups

The SOMAS Program is pleased to announce the 2010 SOMAS-URM summer fellowship program designed to support junior faculty (untenured/pre-tenure assistant professors, typically within five years of having completed PhD and postdoctoral training) in the neurosciences seeking to launch research programs with undergraduate student collaborators. Faculty from predominantly undergraduate institutions will be eligible for awards of up to $8,000. Selections will be made based on the justifications for and the quality of the proposed research experience for the undergraduate. Preference will be given to faculty from underrepresented minority groups (URM), to faculty from institutions serving women and/or minority groups, or to faculty who have identified URM students as research collaborators. Special consideration will be given to faculty members with little experience in grant writing and who are just beginning their research programs.

Application deadline is December 1, 2009. For more information, visit the web site.

Announcements

NSF Seeks Nominations for Top Awards

The National Science Foundation has issued calls for nominations for major awards to be given in 2010:

National Medal of Science

This award is “the Nation’s highest honor for American scientists and engineers presented annually by the President of the United States.” Fifteen psychologists have received this award, including Michael Posner in 2009 (see accompanying article).

For details about the award and nomination process, see http://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/medal.jsp. The nomination deadline is November 5, 2009.

Vannevar Bush Award

Sponsored by the National Science Board, the governing body of NSF, this award “honors truly exceptional lifelong leaders in science and technology who have made substantial contributions to the welfare of the Nation through public service activities in science, technology, and public policy.” Among the previous awardees is psychologist Richard C. Atkinson (2003), who served as NSF director and president of the University of California.

Details about the award and nomination process can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/bush.jsp. The nomination deadline is November 4, 2009.

Alan T. Waterman Award

This award is “the highest honor awarded by the National Science Foundation to a promising scientist or engineer at the dawn of their professional career... In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant of $500,000, over a three year period for scientific research or advanced study.” For further information, see http://www.nsf.gov/od/waterman/waterman.jsp. The nomination deadline is November 5, 2009.