The following article was reprinted from Psychological Science Agenda (Vol. 13, No. 1; January/February 2000), with permission of the American Psychological Association (APA) Science Directorate

Decade of Behavior: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
by Richard McCarty, PhD

Two years ago, I wrote my first article for Psychological Science Agenda just as I was preparing to join the staff of the Science Directorate here at APA. That first article provided a glimpse of a new initiative that was developed by the APA Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA). Indeed, all we had at the time was a faint outline of what this effort might entail. This initiative, the Decade of Behavior (2000-2010), has consumed a healthy amount of my waking hours and a good deal of my REM sleep bouts since then. The same can be said for many of my colleagues at APA and at our partner associations. With this first issue of Psychological Science Agenda in the new millennium, I’d like to bring you up to date on how the initiative has taken shape and what you can expect during the first year of the Decade of Behavior (DoB).

The initial concept for the Decade of Behavior was first discussed by BSA in November 1997 as a suitable vehicle to promote the value of behavioral and social science research to address major national challenges. Even during this early discussion, it was recognized that such an effort must include a full spectrum of behavioral and social science disciplines working cooperatively toward shared goals.

BSA instructed my colleagues and me to seek the involvement of many disciplines in support of the Decade of Behavior initiative. In addition, the Science Directorate staff were charged with convening a group of distinguished advisors to define the scope and themes of the initiative. Beginning in December 1997, the following efforts were undertaken:

• Scientific societies were approached to endorse and play an active role in the Decade of Behavior initiative.

• Federal agency heads were invited to join a Council of Federal Liaisons associated with Decade of Behavior.

• Nominations were solicited from interested scientific societies and federal agencies of individuals to serve on a National Advisory Committee to direct the Decade of Behavior initiative.

By June 1998, 46 nominations for membership on the National Advisory Committee had been received. In August 1998, a distinguished selection panel was convened to review the nominations and to identify those who should be invited to serve as members of the National Advisory Committee. The selection panel included: Duane Alexander, MD, Director of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health; Judy Auerbach, PhD, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President (current position-Associate Director of the Office of AIDS Research, National Institutes of Health); Deborah Boehm-Davis, PhD, Professor of Psychology, George Mason University; Shirley Malcolm, PhD, Executive Director for Science Education, American Association for the Advancement of Science; and Orlando Taylor, PhD, Dean of Graduate Studies, Howard University. The selection panel identified 12 individuals from the group of 46 nominees. The 12 leaders were contacted in August and September 1998 and the acceptance rate was 100%.

The National Advisory Committee held two meetings in 1999, one in January and another in May. At its first meeting, the committee members expressed interest in broadening their expertise and invited three additional individuals to join the committee. Those individuals were contacted and each accepted the invitation to serve. Over the course of its meetings in 1999, the National Advisory Committee agreed upon major themes for the initiative; developed white papers for each of the themes; discussed a formal launch of the initiative in 2000; developed a strategy to encourage involvement of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government in the initiative; and focused on mechanisms for public education and outreach.

We have worked to build up the base of support among our partner scientific societies as well as federal agencies. A complete listing of endorsing societies and members of the Council of Federal Liaisons is included on the DoB web site (http://www.decadeofbehavior.org). The total membership of the endorsing societies exceeds 250,000. We will continue to approach additional societies and federal agency heads to seek their active involvement in the Decade of Behavior.

A second major effort that has been ongoing for several months involves an approach to the White House to have President Clinton issue a presidential proclamation declaring the years 2000-2010 the Decade of Behavior. This multi-pronged approach includes a letter to the President signed by 10 members of the Senate. We have also met with Neal Lane of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Chris Jennings, Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy Development, both in the Executive Office of the President. We have also approached several members of the President’s Cabinet and these efforts will continue into early 2000. We hope to have a favorable response from the President in the near future.

Here is what you can expect to happen during 2000 and beyond:

1. A few activities will be unique to APA. For example, you may notice a new symbol appearing on many APA publications in 2000, including the new version of the Monitor, many of our journals, and, of course, this newsletter. The new symbol is the logo for the Decade of Behavior and we hope you find it appealing. In addition, APA Books will unveil the Decade of Behavior book series, featuring the best of psychological science.
    
   
2. We have launched a Decade of Behavior website to provide interested individuals with the plans for the initiative and ongoing activities. I hope you will visit, bookmark the site, and return frequently for up-to-the-minute developments. The address is http://www.decadeofbehavior.org/.
    
   
3. As 1999 came to a close, we were working with Dr. Bennett Bertenthal, Assistant Director for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF), on the transfer of a prototype website developed at NSF that contains a searchable database for funding opportunities in the behavioral and social sciences. Thanks to the cooperation of Dr. Bertenthal, who is now at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues Wanda Ward and John Gawalt, we will continue to upgrade the database, and our hope is to make it available on the Decade of Behavior website to all interested individuals in the behavioral and social sciences on or about May 1, 2000. We are very grateful to our colleagues at NSF for allowing us the privilege of hosting this valuable resource.
    
   
4. Our Public Policy Office at APA is planning a series of Capitol Hill briefings on issues relating to the Decade of Behavior. The first will focus on the impact of computer technology on people. This provides an excellent opportunity to inform members of Congress and their staff members on the importance of behavioral and social science research in the formulation of public policy.
    
   
5. We are working with WETA, the PBS affiliate in Northern Virginia, on a prime time Decade of Behavior video series. This series, which we hope will eventually include five hour-long episodes, will be the cornerstone of our public education effort. Richard Thomas, Executive Producer at WETA, heads up the video production team. He is joined by Steve Rabin of the Educational Film Center and Andrea Kalin of Spark Media. The plan is to submit a NSF grant in late spring and secure additional funding from corporate and foundation sources. The total budget for production of the video series, development of educational outreach materials, and advertising costs is estimated at approximately $3.7 million. We also plan to add two additional episodes on health and behavior topics, and this could increase the final budget to $5 million. If all goes according to plan, the first episode will appear on PBS stations across the country during the fall 2002.
    
   
6. An additional element of our public education effort will take shape during the fall semester 2000. We hope to involve faculty and graduate students in the behavioral and social sciences in outreach to their local communities. This may involve public lectures or visits to elementary and middle schools. We are committed to encouraging "civic scientists" throughout the country to educate primary school students and the public at large regarding the contributions of behavioral and social sciences to solving major national problems. Many scientific disciplines are considering public education efforts, and we must address this issue effectively if we are to improve public understanding of and support for behavioral and social science research.

Scientifically it makes sense for a focus on behavior to follow a focus on the brain. As the driver and mediator of human behavior, the brain is no longer the "black box" it was before new methodologies and new technologies made neuroscience possible. A similar renaissance is occurring in the behavioral and social sciences. The federal investment in behavioral and social science research is yielding important results that may affect our system of health care and education. The Decade of Behavior is a vehicle that will allow scientists to better serve the public need for information and answers, by improving connections between the research and its consumers.

It is appropriate that the first decade in the new millennium focuses on more than a single organ, disease, or population. Behavior affects the young and old, the sick and well, and helps us understand the connections between people. The study of behavior fits into current federal initiatives, such as Healthy People 2010 (with one of its three foci on healthy behavior). The Decade of the Brain was successful in many ways; it gave neuroscientists a focus and resulted in some important public education initiatives, such as Brain Awareness Week. Planners for the Decade of Behavior are working on ways to have a similar public education impact. We look forward to working with you on these exciting efforts.