The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist
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BUSINESS NAME The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist Division 6, American Volume 25, Issue 2 Fall/Winter, 2010 Psychological Association Editor A Message From Division 6 President Gordon Burghardt David J. Bucci, PhD Dartmouth College As incoming president of Division 6 I was not totally aware of what would be entailed. Now that I am in the thick of helping plan the APA convention program, facilitating the operation of our various Division President committees such as Membership, Fellows, Awards, Gordon Burghhardt, PhD Students, and others, I see that I, along with many other Div. 6 members, take for granted the ‗gift‘ we have as one of the oldest APA divisions and the sup- port and resources available to us from APA. None- theless, there are problems that we need to discuss both within and across the many APA Divisions. In Inside this issue: this and future newsletter essays I want to raise is- sues, present proposals, and try to elicit some feed- back and dialogue that can be discussed within our Message from 1, 4- division listserv [email protected] or through President 5 personal exchanges at [email protected]. In any event, vigorous conversations seem to be needed. Membership Crisis & the Scientific Imperative APA council, but only one seat due to our small Division 6 2-3 The Division Services office of APA is concerned membership. Still, our impact on the field, as Officers about the health of all divisions, as many APA mem- shown by articles and research blurbs in the APA bers are not affiliating with any division and those Monitor and the flagship American Psychologist, belie remaining in divisions are rapidly aging and member- our small numbers. We need to make sure our colleagues realize that our work is at the core of Historian‘s 6-7 ship numbers are shrinking. The data are quite strik- ing. About two thirds of Division 6 members are 60 material on diverse topics covered in numerous Column or older! Also, membership has declined 13% in the ‗chapters‘ in basic psychology courses. This is not last five years. Thus, it is important for Division 6 that true of the topics covered by many other divisions. In fact, the future health of psychology as a science Comparative Evolu- new members be recruited to both extend and en- 8-9 and practice is, I assert, dependent on the health of tionary Psychology: rich our field and to enhance our role and influence our research areas. While often recognized as such Forging Forward in APA councils and policy. Todd Shackelford, Mem- bership Committee chair, is working hard on recruit- outside of psychology, it is often not so recognized ment of new members and Division Services is plan- within psychology. This was made crystal clear to ning a major membership drive across all divisions me when I attended, as editor of the JCP, a ‗meet Encourage Your 10 the editors‘ session for the graduate student or- Colleagues and early in 2011. Division 6 is one of the oldest divisions of APA, ganization within APA at the San Francisco APA Students to Join convention in 2009. Division 6 in spite of name changes along the way. We repre- sent the basic science area of psychology in two im- It is also clear that rigorous and innovative portant areas: behavioral neuroscience and compara- science is being stressed more and more by grant- Defending Animal 11 tive psychology. Each of these areas has major subdi- ing agencies, insurance companies, etc. and that Cognition Research visions and have historically been well-supported by therapies and social statements need to be supple- federal research. Two major journals are associated mented by rigorous research and scholarship. It is with the Division: Behavioral Neuroscience and Journal telling that the American Anthropological Associa- of Comparative Psychology. Both journals are, signifi- tion just removed ‗science‘ from its mission state- ment, so as, apparently, not to offend those who cantly, APA journals and not divisional journals, which have lower status and receive less support than the see their role in anthropology as non-scientific frontline APA journals. We have representation on (continued on page 4) Page 2 The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist Division Officers & Committees 2010-2011 President: Gordon Burghardt, PhD Phone: (607) 777-4383 Department of Psychology e-mail: [email protected] University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996 Past Early Career Representative: Kimberly Chris- Phone: (865) 974-3300 tian, Ph.D. e-mail: [email protected] Unit on the Genetics of Cognition and Behavior NIMH/MIH Past-President: Mark Bouton, Ph.D. 35 Convent Drive, Rm 1C1006 Department of Psychology Besthesda, MD 20892 University of Vermont Phone: (301) 402-6757 Burlington, VT 05405 Email: [email protected] Phone: (802) 656-4164 e-mail: [email protected] Current Student Representative: Sheri Browning Departments of Psychology President-Elect: Mauricio Papini University of Tennessee Mauricio R. Papini, PhD 1404 Circle Dr. Professor of Psychology Knoxville, TN 37996-0900 817-257-6084 Phone: (865) 974-3300 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Secretary/Treasurer: Mary Cain, Ph.D. Past Student Representative: Drina Vurbic Department of Psychology Department of Psychology Kansas State University The University of Vermont Manhattan, KS 66506 John Dewey Hall Phone: (785) 532-6884 Burlington, VT 05405 e-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Council Representative: Jeff Alberts, Ph.D. Awards Committee Chair: Matthew Cooper, PhD Department of Psychology Department of Psychology Indiana University Austin Peay Building Bloomington, IN 47405 University of Tennessee Phone: (812) 855-0470 Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 email: [email protected] Phone: (865)-974-3328 Email: [email protected] Current Member-at-Large: Mary Meagher, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Awards Committee Past Chair: D. Cody Brooks, Texas A&M University Ph.D. College Station, TX 77843 Department of Psychology Phone: (979) 845-2564 Dennison University e-mail: [email protected] Granville, OH 43023 Phone (740) 587-5683 Email: [email protected] Current Member-at-Large: Michael J. Beran, Ph.D. Language Research Center, Georgia State University Membership & Growth Committee Chair: Todd K. University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303 Shackelford, PhD Phone: (404)-413-5285 Department of Psychology Email: [email protected] Oakland University 112 Pryale Hall Past Member-at-Large: Lisa Savage, Ph.D. Rochester, Michigan 48309-4401 Department of Psychology Phone: (248) 370-2285 Binghamton University Email: [email protected] Binghamton, NY 13902 Volume 25, Issue 2 Page 3 Division Officers & Committees 2010-2011 (continued from page 2) Membership & Growth Committee Past Chair: Past Newsletter Editor/Website Past Manager: Jonathan Crystal, Ph.D. Eric P. Wiertelak,PhD Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Department of Psychology Indiana University Macalester College 1101 East Tenth Street Saint Paul, MN 55105. Bloomington, IN 47405 Phone: (651) 696-6111 Phone: (812)-856-2246 email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Listserv Manager: Suzanne McDonald, PhD Program Committee Chair: Jesse Purdy, PhD Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies Department of Psychology 4700 Keele Street Southwestern University York University P. O. Box 770 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 Georgetown, TX, 78627-0770 Email: [email protected] Phone: (512) 863-1985 Email: [email protected] Division Historian/ Archivist: Gary Greenberg, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Program Committee Past Chair: Jeansok Kim, Ph.D. Wichita State University Department of Psychology 4447 N. Malden St. T-471 Health Sciences Center Chicago, IL 60640 University of Washington Phone: (773) 728-6159 Seattle, WA 98195-7270 e-mail: [email protected] Phone: (206) 616-2685 Email: [email protected] Editor of Behavioral Neuroscience: Mark S. Blum- berg, Ph.D. Fellows Nominating Committee Chair: Charles Department of Psychology Snowdon, PhD University of Iowa Department of Psychology E11 Seashore Hall University of Wisconsin Madison University of Iowa 510 Psychology Iowa City, Iowa 52242 1202 West Johnson St. Phone: (319) 335-2424 Madison, WI 53706-1611 Email: [email protected] Phone: (608) 262.1041 Email: [email protected] Editor of the Journal of Comparative Psychology: Fax: (608) 262.4029 Gordon M. Burghardt, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Fellows Nominating Committee Past Chair: Mark University of Tennessee Stanton, Ph.D. Knoxville, TN 37996 Department of Psychology Phone: (865) 974-3300 132A Wolf Hall e-mail: [email protected] University of Delaware Newark, DE 19716 Phone: (302) 831-0175 Email: [email protected] Fax: (302) 831-3645 Current Newsletter Editor/Website Manager: David Bucci, Ph.D. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 03755 Phone: (603) 646-3439 Page 4 The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist President’s Message (continued from page 3) humanists or social activists for which ‗science‘ sources are needed. Such resources are not is an obstacle. I view such proposals as warning going to come from our division dues or the signs that antagonism to science comes from APA central office. We need to be proactive. the left as well as the right. While such anti- One way is to obtain foundation and other science rhetoric has not been enshrined in support outside the APA. This may eventually APA yet, I have heard intimations to the effect be worthwhile, but I have a challenge for my that ‗you scientists have APS and APA needs to colleagues. As mentioned above, our member- be a more inclusive umbrella.‘ ship is aging. This is certainly not a good thing Such fears may not be unfounded even in in the long run, but it does mean that our Division 6 areas as not many years ago there membership has many experienced senior fac- were movements to censor scientific studies of ulty and researchers. Many of us also may have behavior with the Science for the People at- the time and resources to promote the division tacks on E.