Monitor on Psychology - February 2012 - (Page 78)

sustainability; sharing the field’s latest research in the area; and taking steps to reduce energy use at APA headquarters. “A key factor in reversing dangerous climate changes is altering our behaviors, habits and our individual and organizational decisions,” says APA Chief Executive Officer Norman B. Anderson, PhD. “Psychologists naturally should be leading the way on this.” APA’s green activities include: • Reaching out to undergraduates: Last year, APA joined forces with 10 other science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and education societies to work on sustainability projects. In one, APA is helping to develop policy recommendations aimed at supporting sustainability themes in STEM education and also to encourage policymakers at the local, state, organizational and national levels to make decisions that favor a more sustainable future — promoting green business, for example, or promoting the United States’ role as a leader in reducing carbon emissions. APA is also disseminating research-based case studies, modules, data sets and other resources supported by research on sustainability that teachers can use in courses, textbooks, websites or class assignments. It’s an exciting opportunity for psychology to work with other disciplines to share scientific knowledge on sustainability and to impact large numbers of students, says APA Associate Executive Director for Education Robin Hailstorks, PhD. “There are so many students who take introductory psychology that we have an opportunity to be leaders in this area.” • Task force updates: APA’s 2009 report from the Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change was very popular with the media, receiving coverage from The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and U.S. News & World Report, among many other outlets. The report addresses psychology’s contribution to understanding the human impacts of climate change, understanding psychological responses to physical and psychological impacts of climate change, and assisting efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. The task force updated its findings in a special section of 78 Psychology also must show the public how its findings can promote more green behaviors, in particular those with high impact, such as choosing transportation options with a low carbon footprint. the May/June 2011 American Psychologist. The issue’s seven articles address human causes, effects and potential responses to climate change, and identify psychological processes that may aid in the creation of successful adaptation and mitigation policies and strategies, says task force chair Janet K. Swim, PhD, professor of psychology at Penn State University. The articles emphasize that interventions should take into account such psychological processes as risk perception — the human tendency to underestimate the impact of future events or events we don’t think will affect us directly. Psychology also must show the public how its findings can promote more green behaviors, in particular those with high impact, such as choosing transportation options with a low carbon footprint. Another task force effort has been to develop APA resolutions on sustainability. One, passed by the APA Council of Representatives last February, officially recognized the psychosocial impacts of climate change, the ethical imperative to address climate change through adaptation and mitigation, and the role that psychosocial processes play in hindering public acceptance of climate change. Another, passed in 2010, encourages APA to set emissions-reduction goals and to determine ways to meet those goals. A third resolution, which is working through APA governance, would establish a committee of psychologists charged with thinking more broadly about sustainability. Their work could include promoting research on sustainability, or encouraging psychologists with the appropriate expertise to advise companies on ways to change employees’ and customers’ behaviors around energy use, for example. • Educating the public: In another effort to reach the public, the APA Science Directorate hosted an exhibit in 2010 on psychology’s role in solving environmental issues. Called “Let’s use our heads to save the environment,” it was one of about 500 exhibits in the USA Science Exhibit on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Several thousand adults and teens visited the exhibit, which focused on how the decisions we make every day influence the environment. “Our location was great — right in the middle of the exposition — and we had a steady stream of people who asked M o n i t o r o n p s y c h o l o g y • F e b ru a ry 2 0 1 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - February 2012

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012
Letters
President’s column
Contents
From the CEO
APA files two briefs in support of same-sex couples
New registry seeks to understand addiction recovery through ‘crowdsourcing’
APA launches a database of tests and measures
Watch for new member benefit: “APA Access”
Apply now for APA’s Advanced Training Institutes
PsycTHERAPY, APA’s new database, brings therapy demos to life
In Brief
APA scientists help guide tobacco regulation
A-mazing research
‘A machine for jumping to conclusions’
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Righting the imbalance
The beginnings of mental illness
Science Directions
Improving disorder classification, worldwide
Protesting proposed changes to the DSM
Interventions for at-risk students
Harnessing the wisdom of the ages
Anti-bullying efforts ramp up
Hostile hallways
R U friends 4 real?
Support for teachers
Speaking of Education
Record keeping for practitioners
Going green
At the intersection of law and psychology
Division Spotlight
Grants help solve society’s problems
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012