A Publication of 2008 APA CONVENTION.... The Society for General Psychology Boston Memories Division One of the American Psychological Association Inside! APA Presidential Candidates Respond! IN THIS ISSUE Student Poster Awards...........2 Burghardt: Evolution of Play.....6 Technology and APA............12 Acres of vendors Buskist: Master Teachers......16 Halpern: Redefining Retirement.....22 Cheal: Presidential Candidates.....30 Division Business: Downtown Exec Committee Minutes..34 O’Brien: Scientific Integrity...39 Awards: Call for Nominations..41 2008 Awards.............11 & 42 Dewsbury: Pres’ Report......44 Editorial Matters............48 Strickland: APA Council.....49 Redcoats on the Common Hogan: Pres. Elect..........50 Barenbaum RetroReview: Allport..........53 Bouchard’s presidential address Volume 43, No. 2 - Fall, 2008 The General Psychologist Page The home of Boston Legal, perhaps? “Do you promise the teacher won’t be shocked?” Talkin’ evolutionary psychology . Dunkin’ donuts Volume 43, No. 2 - Fall, 2008 The General Psychologist Page 2 The long walk to the next session Escalation and deescalation I think Bouchard gave me the wrong medal!” “Hey! You’ve got mine!” “Let’s trade!” Volume 43, No. 2 - Fall, 2008 The General Psychologist Page 3 Poster sessions Watering hole for the revolution A quick massage between sessions Hangin’ in the suite Could three lights mean . ? . they’re coming by duck boat? Volume 43, No. 2 - Fall, 2008 The General Psychologist Page 4 APA CONVENTION - BOSTON, 2008 Student Poster Awards uring the 116th meetings of the American 1. Susanna Berry, BA, Ian R. Wells, PhD, University Psychological Association in Boston on of East London, UK. D14-17 August 2008, the APA Society for 2. Cody D. Christopherson, BS, George S. How- General Psychology offered a poster session with 35 ard, PhD, University of Notre Dame. peer-reviewed presentations by students and faculty from universities in the USA and Europe. By prior 3. Graciete Lo, BA, Fordham University, Eve arrangement, a team of 11 faculty headed by Mary Chang, BA, Hong Ngo, BA, Columbia University Lou Cheal of Arizona State University independently Teachers College. rated all presentations by student researchers, us- 4. Esther Israel, MA, MS, University of Utah. ing a standardized form assessing five factors: the research problem, method, findings, discussion, pre- 5. Jessica L. Belfy, BA, Emilio Ulloa, PhD, Audrey sentation. Hokoda, PhD, San Diego State University. Based on these cumulated ratings, seven awards 6. Jane E. Harries, MA, Raymond A. Knight, PhD, were later presented to student researchers, at a Brandeis University. Marriott Hotel reception that the Society co-hosted The 11 judges for the awards were: MaryLou with the APA Science Student Council. To mark the Cheal (Arizona State), Chair, Bernardo Carducci (Indi- centenary of beloved APA past-President Anne An- ana Southeast), Donald A. Dewsbury (Florida), John astasi (1908-2001), this year marked the debut of the D. Hogan (St. Johns), Laura Meegan (Health & Educa- first “Anne Anastasi award for outstanding student tion Services, Inc.), Richard Meegan (Masconomet research.” High School), Kimberly Miller (Temple), Alex Ruth- The winner of the 2008 Anastasi Award was erford (York), Brian H. Stagner (Texas A&M), Harold the research by Jessica Kim, BA and Raymond A. Takooshian (Fordham), Jason R. Young (CUNY Hunter Knight, PhD of Brandeis University, on “Efficacy of College). the factors of psychopathy for predicting recidivism The next Anastasi Award will be presented at in sexual offenders.” APA in Toronto in August 2009. For any details on Recognition awards were presented to the 6 the Society or these awards, contact [email protected]. top-rated student research presentations: Abstracts of the student posters are available in a special supplement to The General Psychologist, located on the Division One Web site at www.apa. org/divisions/div1/news- pub.html Students and faculty at the Society reception in the Boston Marriott Volume 43, No. 2 - Fall, 2008 The General Psychologist Page FOLLOW-UP ON EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY Evolutionary Psychology and the Origins of Play by Gordon M. Burghardt - University of Tennessee was privileged to be an APA Distinguished Unfor tu- Scientist Lecturer in 2007 and spoke at nately, most I that year’s Western Psychological Associa- of the “new tion meeting in Vancouver. My topic was evolu- wave” of evo- tionary psychology and the origins of play. After lutionary psy- that presentation, Bob Johnson asked me to sub- c h o l o g i s t s mit an essay on the topic. Time constraints being actually seem what they are, I delayed doing so until I would m i n i m a l l y have, so I thought, more free time during a visit- c o n v e r s a n t ing professorship in Japan, devoted to research with com- along with the occasional lecture. Finally, after parative psy- living in a researcher’s dream play world for over chology and three months, the promised article is finished. ethology and Befitting The General Psychologist, I will be quite often largely Gordon Burghardt broad and general about some critical issues discount the concerning the perplexing phenomena that we role of our ancient vertebrate behavioral legacy, call play. I think that play should be more com- although grudgingly accepting a possible link to monly discussed in a wide range of psychology apes and other primates. Indeed, they focus on courses from biopsychology to social, cognitive, the role of natural, and particularly sexual, selec- motivation, emotion, perception, and general ex- tion in shaping the behavior of protohominids perimental as well as developmental, child, com- and early humans in the millennia before the parative, and animal behavior where they are advent of literacy and agriculture. Evolutionary most frequently covered, at least briefly. psychologists have largely ignored play. You will find nary a mention of play in major textbooks or Evolutionary Psychology and the Problem of current research programs. Play On the surface this seems strange, since play Evolutionary psychology is a popular field at (and recreation in general) is common in peo- this time with many courses offered, much stu- ple and, as in other species, can consume large dent interest, and a growing stream of textbooks, amounts of time and energy. Indeed, play may edited books, and monographs not to mention be engaged in much more frequently than fight- journals and societies. The history of this move- ing, sex, and even eating. I think one reason for ment is fascinating and to some extent problem- this neglect is that play appears to lack “serious- atic, but that is not my concern here. But what is ness” either in its proximal manifestations or in evolutionary psychology? It is the application of its adaptive value or function. Perhaps scientists, Darwinian principles to psychological and be- including evolutionary psychologists, anthro- havioral phenomena in humans. Specifically, it pomorphically and unconsciously view play as is based on three assumptions. The first is that a non-serious topic or evolutionarily unimport- much of human behavior contains features in- ant. An additional important factor is that there herited from our vertebrate ancestors. Thus non- is much confusion, even among those studying human primate studies are often used in search- play, that needs sustained attention before a sci- ing for commonalities and differences. The sec- entific approach to play will be successful. There ond is that much of our psychology has evolved are signs that this is happening now on several to deal with recurrent behavioral demands such fronts and what follows is an attempt to deal as finding food and mates, protecting ourselves with some of the outstanding problems in the from human and non-human enemies, and rear- analysis of play. ing offspring. The third is that this psychology in- volves modular rather than general purpose pro- Where Does Play Come From or Who Was the cessing mechanisms. For example, people seem First Player? better able to learn about social cheating than I approach the study of play first as a person about the equivalent problem in a more abstract who enjoys watching animals and people play context. Volume 43, No. 2 - Fall, 2008 The General Psychologist Page Burghardt: Evolution of Play and as an ethologist interested in the evolution was most common, if not exclusively, to be found and ecology of behavior in all sorts of animals. in “higher” mammals. Other species’ playlike be- But my first loves were snakes and reptiles in havior was largely dismissed as misidentified or general. They were my first pets, as we lived in a misfiring “instincts.” Even the acceptance of play flat in the south side of Milwaukee where dogs in birds was suspect in authoritative writings into and cats were not allowed. I have gone on to fo- the 1980s. Robert Fagen, in his seminal volume cus on reptile behavior, particularly the develop- on the biology of animal play, concluded that mental aspects. And in all my years of studying play occurred in some birds, but remained skep- young reptiles I never saw anything that seemed tical of play in non-warmblooded animals. He did like play. Not surprising, however, since most au- advocate the view that play may have immedi- thorities in the 20th century restricted play to the ate benefits for animals, not just benefits delayed “higher” mammals. But my curiosity was aroused. until adulthood and serious tasks in life. For ex- Why was play so taxonomically limited? The first ample, he promoted the idea that juvenile play is thing I did was read some history. important in the development of muscles, coor- Play has been recognized in non-human ani- dination, and physiological performance in gen- mals for many centuries, but the study of animal eral. The problem remained, however, that none play, like so much animal behavior, really did not of these benefits, im- develop until after the writings of Charles Dar- mediate or delayed, win and the rise of natural history, comparative had been empiri- psychology, and, in the early 20th century, ethol- cally confirmed with ogy.