The following article was reprinted from Psychological Science Agenda (Vol. 14, No. 1; January/February 2001), with permission of the American Psychological Association (APA) Science Directorate

Heads-Up for Behavior Awareness Week 2001
by Nancy K. Dess, PhD, APA Senior Scientist
 

Picture tens of thousands of school kids across the country engaged in a lively exchange about the scientific research that psychologists do. With the cooperation of psychological science enthusiasts, that picture will become reality for one week next October and every October thereafter.

The Concept

Last spring, Science Directorate staff and the graduate student advisory group, Science Student Council (APASSC), hatched the idea of creating a new tradition in the discipline. It would build on the successful Decade of the Brain's Brain Awareness Week program, the centerpiece of which was visitation by neuroscientists to K-12 classrooms to introduce young students to brain research. During Behavior Awareness Week, we imagine a tidal wave of graduate students will wash over classrooms, each making just one 45-minute visit, with the core message that "some psychologists do scientific research." A decision was made to focus on Grades 8-10-students old enough that cognitive and language development are well along, yet young enough that few (if any) will have had already taken a psychology course. And a prime time for unsettling stereotypes about psychology and planting seeds for future studies and greater public understanding of our field.

Progress and Plans

Science staff and APASSC members set about developing pilot materials to be used by brave volunteers in the fall. These included a PowerPoint presentation template with some basic information about psychology and fun, interactive demonstrations, such as the Stroop color-naming task, the American flag afterimage, and an ambiguous figure. An instruction booklet provided tips about arranging for the visit, making the presentation, and administering a simple evaluation form. The materials are designed to help rather than constrain presentations, allowing plenty of flexibility in the style and content of the visit.

Then off-via e- or snail mail-the materials went to the small crew of volunteers, who visited classrooms during October and November 2000. We'll soon have evaluations and informal reports from them, which we will use to make next year's visits even easier and more effective. Revised materials will be disseminated in late spring, through e-mail distribution lists and posting a downloadable form on the APA Science website.

The Big Picture

The Decade of Behavior initiative is a broad-based, interdisciplinary movement. Eventually, we expect other behavioral and social sciences will work with us to expand the Behavior Awareness Week outreach effort. We share a common challenge: compared to the "traditional" sciences-biology, chemistry, physics-behavioral and social sciences come very late to children's lives, if at all. When they do, these disciplines often are not taught as sciences or integrated with other sciences. 

This challenge probably cannot be overcome by the behavioral and social sciences muscling into the K-12 science scene, figuratively saying, "we want a piece of the pie." In addition to practical and other barriers to doing so, this would only worsen the fragmentation and accretion of content that plague curricula. A solution more likely will be found through unifying science education around enduring themes or topics-such as what it means to be human, what our role is in a world animated by other creatures and forces of nature, how to understand fighting and making peace, making family and friends, and communication. Such a vision of science education is beautifully articulated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science's book on science literacy, Science for All Americans (1990). Its first chapter, on "The Nature of Science," opens: 

"Over the course of human history, people have developed many interconnected and validated ideas about the physical, biological, psychological, and social worlds. Those ideas have enabled successive generations to achieve an increasingly comprehensive and reliable understanding of the human species and its environment" (p. 1).

The call is for early integration of behavioral and social sciences into people's lives. Children will benefit if the call is heeded, because more integrated curricula will be richer, more accessible, and more engaging. Greater public awareness of how those sciences can enhance our understanding of the way the world works and how to make it work better will enhance public support for them. Finally, aspiring college and graduate students educated in this way will know more about what science really is-thus benefiting our and other disciplines, in the nearer term through more informed self-selection into majors, and in the longer term through reshaping the disciplines themselves.

Behavior Awareness Week might seem an awfully small step toward that lofty goal. It is. But it is, at least, a modest, promising, and personally rewarding one.

Stay Tuned

Broad involvement in Behavior Awareness Week-your involvement-will be key to its success. Recruitment will be targeted primarily at graduate students, but junior or senior psychology majors and faculty are more than welcome to join in. Our fondest hope is that Behavior Awareness Week will become a tradition in departments, just "something we do" during one week every fall. APA will be ready to help however it can to make the experience a positive one for everyone involved. Watch for announcements about the availability of materials in coming months!

Have questions or ideas?  Please contact Nancy Dess by email or phone at (202) 336-5925.