Secretary General’s Report
This
report includes the draft minutes of the EC meeting held in July last year in
Stockholm
(Corrections and suggestions are welcome).
Meeting of the Executive Committee of IAAP held in Stockholm on
Saturday July 22nd and Sunday 23rd July 2000 at the Hotel Radisson SAS Royal
Viking.
Members present:
Adair John, Berry John, Bonnes Mirilia, Carpintero Helio, Dachler
Peter, Drenth Pieter, J.D., Erez Miriam, Fiedler Fred, Fleishman
Edwin, Fowler Raymond, Frese Michael, Gärling Tommy, Georgas James, Johansson
Gunn, Leonova Anna, Lunt Ingrid, Machiko Fukuhara, Merenda Peter, Mohan
Jitendra, Nair Elizabeth, Pick Susan, Poortinga Ype, Porter Lyman, Prieto
José M., Roberts Glynn, Spielberger Charles D., Tikkanen Tuomo, Triandis
Harry C., Velichovsky Boris, Heller Frank, Williams Allan, Wilpert Bernhard,
Zhang Kan.
Observers
Bond Michael, Tan Vicky
Apologies
Avolio B., Balagué G., Culbertson F., Fernández Ballesteros R.,
Groeger, J., Stevan Hobfoll, Kanungo R.N., Kim U., Knowles M.,
Malpass R., Matarazzo J., Morgan R., Munene J., Nsamenang A.B., Sánchez E.,
Thorne C.
Special cases
Gabriel Moser, from France, was not informed about the site and
contents of EC meeting, because by mistake his email address was not included
in the mailing list of EC members after the EC meeting held in SF (1998) but
has been included after the EC meeting in Stockholm (2000). Dina Krauskopf,
from Costa Rica, resigned in 1999.
1. President’s Welcome
The President, Charles D. Spielberger opened the meeting at 09:00
and, after a few comments concerning the agenda and the procedure to follow,
warmly welcomed all the EC members present in the room and invited them to
introduce themselves. Especially mentioned Helio Carpintero (Member of the
Spanish Academy of Social Sciences), Pieter Drenth (President European Academy
of Sciences), Susan Pick (President of the Interamerican Psychological
Society), and Tuomo Tikkanen (President of the European Federation of
Professional Psychologists Associations).
2. Minutes of San Francisco EC meeting
The minutes of the EC meeting held in San Francisco August 8-9,
1998 were approved. It was requested to add the name of Xu Lian Kang, from
China, who was present.
3. President’s report
Charles Spielberger, introduced a broad overview of the achievements
of the last two years, stressing some landmarks such as the improvement of the
quality of good will relationships with the IUPsyS (annual meetings among
officers held in Rome –1999- and Bruge –2000-) and the Interamerican
Psychological Society (meetings held in SF-1998- and in Caracas -1999-).
He also highlighted the transfer of the historical archives to the University
of Passau, after the bilateral agreement signed in February and May 2000
respectively in the US and Germany. It will now be under the direct control of
Prof. W. Schweitzer and the supervision of Helio Carpintero and Peter Merenda.
He praised the success of the ARTS, organized around congresses held in San
Francisco and in Stockholm under the leadership of John Adair. The EC members
present seconded the congratulations to Adair and praised his
efficiency.
Past or present divisional presidents were invited to send
documents concerning the respective divisions to Passau University, following a
suggestion by Pieter Drenth. Peter Merenda and Pino Fumai will gather and send
to Passau University documents and photographs of the ICAP held in Rome, and
will try to find the photos and the discourse made by the Pope during the
reception in the Vatican. Peter Merenda emphasised the importance of also
improving relationships with the ICP where he could play a mediating role.
Pieter Drenth suggested an improvement of the IAAP proactive presence in the
ISSC. The EC members backed the motion advanced: Michael Frese, as
president elect, will be in charge of the initiatives and the involvement in
such a forum.
4. Secretary General’s report
The text had been distributed several weeks before and so the SG
summarized the main aspects such as the problems with the renewal forms sent by
Blackwell, the unexpected change in the currency used in the receipts (from US$
to GBP), the online renewal form in Blackwell’s homepage. He made clear that
the situation had been under control since March and the decline in members
seen in January-February had been reversed with numbers starting to grow in
April. Six of 14 divisions sponsor a WWW homepage under the initiative of each
division and without formal financial support. He suggested that this situation
should be proposed in the near future, since online costs are lower than those
of printing and distributing documents as has been done previously. The IAAP
directory is available online, also at no cost. IAAP brochures were distributed
free during the Congresses held in 1999 in Rome, Durban and Caracas. The only
firm bid for the 2006 ICAP was that backed by the Greek Psychological Society,
to hold the congress in Athens. It was the winner bid in SF and the visit of
inspection was still pending because of difficulties in fixing dates for the
officers’ agenda. He informed that the Hungarian Psychological Society sent a
letter declining their past interest in promoting a congress for the
2006. The EC members approved the report.
The electronic version of documents sent in advance and circulated
during the meeting may be found at http://www.iaapsy.org/drafts/stockholm.html and the SG invited those who
submitted new documents during the meeting to send the corresponding electronic
file to make it available online.
5. Treasurer’s and Finance Committee reports
Ray Fowler commented on the balance of the year 1999 and the draft
budgets for the year 2000 and 2001 based on some assumptions specified in the
document circulated in advance. He showed his concern about the delicate
financial situation of the IAAP with the data summarized in the following
table.
|
Year |
Profit or (Loss) |
Year |
Profit or (Loss) |
|
1994 |
32,924 US$ |
1998 |
(4,284) US$ |
|
1995 |
6,178 US$ |
1999 |
5,319 US$ |
|
1996 |
(18,595) US$ |
2000 |
(8,546) US$ |
|
1997 |
6,178 US$ |
2001 |
(6,850) US$ |
|
Years 2000 to 2002 are estimates |
2002 |
(3,850) US$ |
|
The highest profit occurred in 1994; this was a direct consequence
of the application of the criterion of obligatory membership during the ICAP
in Madrid and the transfer of money for new members. The highest loss occurred
in 1996 because the number of members declined drastically and running costs
increased. For the period 2000-2002 the estimates are, again, negative unless
the IAAP rapidly increases the number
of paying members and updates the dues structure. “If we do not succeed
we will be dipping into our reserves. If we begin spending more than we take
in, it will be virtually impossible to stop and in a few years we could be
facing an empty treasury. I think our first priority must be to preserve
IAAP for future generations, and we must be a little worried from now to our
next EC meeting in Singapore”.
Allan Williams, chairman of the Finance Committee, (which also
included Ype Poortinga and Lyman Porter) reported that the details of the
accounts and balances for 1999 “have been found in order” as well as the
accounts projected for 2000 and the budget for 2001. Rita Claes, past
treasurer, submitted the accounts for 1998, because it was decided in San
Francisco to pass the treasurership at the beginning of the year 1999.
The 1998 accounts and balance were also in order. The Finance Committee
acknowledged that after an analysis of all the financial transactions “a
true and accurate record of the accounts has been kept”. The EC members
accepted the favourable report from the Finance Committee and approved both the
balance of 1998 and 1999 and the draft budgets for 2000 and 2001.
The Finance Committee drew the following observations to the
attention of the EC members:
A draft motion for changing the rules of procedure concerning the
Finance Committee was submitted and accepted by the EC members. The main
argument was that “this is an economical and sufficient procedure, proven in
its validity by past experience, to entrust the Finance Committee with these
control tasks”. The approved rules read as follows:
“The Finance Committee is appointed by the Executive Committee and
shall be responsible for reviewing the financial reports of the Treasurer, the
verification and control of the system of accounting, and for presenting at
each congress to the Executive Committee and to the members of the Association
present in the General Meeting, a report on the Association’s financial
position”.
Ray Fowler, backed by the Finance Committee, proposed a new dues
structure for the years 2001 and 2002 that was approved, after some discussion,
unanimously. The membership dues for 2003 will be fixed in Singapore but an
advance of what should be done was also accepted.
|
|
2001 and 2002 |
2003 |
|
Standard Dues |
60 US$ |
75 US$ |
|
Reduced Dues |
40 US$ |
50 US$ |
|
Subsidized Dues |
20 US$ |
25 US$ |
The subsidized dues are intended a) for members living in a nation
with a developing economy, b) for members whose income is less than 25,000 US$
(but they should request this status), and for students.
The reduced dues are intended for members who would have
difficulty paying standard dues and whose total annual income is less than
50,000 US$. They cover only the running costs of the journal and
the newsletter.
The standard dues are intended for all members. They cover the
running costs of the association and subsidize the membership of colleagues
from low-GNP countries. There must be a critical balance between the standard
and the subsidized dues.
The possibility of paying on a multiyear basis was studied and
approved, starting with the new dues structure in 2001. The great advantage is
that it will allow some colleagues to pay two, three or fours years in a single
transfer of money avoiding bank commissions often more expensive that the dues
paid. Blackwell’s staff has endorsed the feasibility of this measure.
The issue of members who have retired was also studied and it was
considered appropriate that they choose the relevant category taking into
account their retirement pensions. The name of Prof. Bertil Mardberg was
mentioned as the right person who has contact with colleagues who are already
retired and continue participating in international congresses to get feedback
from these senior members. The SG will keep in touch with him and share
suggestions with officers.
Exceptions on dues will be dealt with by the President or
Secretary General
6. Reports of the Standing Committees
6.1. Recruitment drives.
It was agreed that each divisional President should examine in
which countries the division is strong or weak and what can be done to increase
the number of members of this particular division.
It was agreed to come back again to a membership drive 1 plus 1 in
which we asked each member to recruit one more member. However it became clear
that such approach is not enough and EC plus 20 drive was considered more
appropriate. That is, all EC-members are asked to get about 20 additional
members into the association each year in which they are EC-members.
It was considered useful to make a list identifying key persons in
departments of applied psychology or in departments of psychology, which have applied
areas. Key members of these departments will be contacted and invited
individually to become members of our association. This should be done in
different countries and across the different sub-disciplines of psychology for
which we have divisions. The officers will decide if the individual letters
would be sent either by the President of the IAAP or by the Division President
or by the EC-member who has suggested this person. Another possibility
considered was creating the category of Fellow Members as the following motion
was resolved positively by a large majority of EC members.
“Whereas many distinguished psychologists around the world have
made outstanding scientific and professional contributions to Applied
Psychology, and whereas, IAAP is the primary international organization of
applied psychology and whereas, it is appropriate for IAAP to recognize
international psychologists for their contribution. Therefore, the Executive
Committee of IAAP creates a special category of members to recognize outstanding
contributions to applied psychology. Individuals so recognized shall be called
fellows of IAAP. These fellows may be current members of IAAP. In addition,
outstanding psychologists who are not currently members of IAAP may be invited
to join as Full members with Fellow status. To identify psychologists
appropriate for fellow status, the Executive Committee authorizes the President
to appoint a fellows committee, consisting of Officers of the Association and
other members as needed to carry out the functions of the Committee.
Psychologists nominated by the Fellows Committee and approved by the President
shall be designated as Fellows of the Association and appropriate methods of
recognizing this honour, such as a certificate and public announcements, shall
be devised by the Fellows Committee. The Fellows Committee shall seek
nominations from IAAP Divisional Presidents and from other sources they deem
appropriate”.
It was agreed also to launch a particular effort to increase the
number of graduate student members. A critical issue seems to be how to reach
them, via departments or via national associations of psychology. EC members
will be invited to suggest how to proceed in their respective countries.
The subsidized dues of 20 US$ are open to them. Booths
at the major international congresses will be continued. They are an important
vehicle for establishing immediate personal contact with psychologists many of
whom have little knowledge of IAAP or have not had an application form.
In this respect, the presence of members of the EC at these booths is essential
in that they have the opportunity to personally explain the goals of IAAP to
potential members. So this initiative will be maintained at the next
International and Regional and National congresses where the IAAP is
co-sponsor. Also IAAP brochures will be produced and distributed all around
through EC members as well as through activities and journals sponsored or
co-sponsored by divisions. At no cost to the IAAP, IAAP brochures will also be included in the congress pack of
attendees to congresses sponsored or co-sponsored by the IAAP. This must be a
basic item in the agreements signed with psychological organizations. The
Newsletter may be used also as an adequate channel toward encouraging IAAP
members to recruit members. Copies of the Newsletter may be also distributed in
the booths or in the congress pack to promote the IAAP.
The editor of Applied Psychology: an International Review will
send a flyer of the IAAP to authors submitting papers informing them in a
paragraph a) that this is a sound scientific journal sponsored by a
non-profit-making organization, b) that the number of issues and the amount of
pages per year depends on the membership of the organization, c) that this organization
sponsors the annual distribution of 100 copies of the journal to institutions
and colleagues in low-GNP countries, and will invite them to become members.
The suggestion would be that at least one of the co-authors should be a member,
though there would not be actual restrictions. This is a scientific journal,
and so open to the scientific communities and not a bulletin for
“only-members”. In a similar vein, it will be appropriate to insist on members
of the Editorial Board being members of the Association, but again, this is a
scientific journal and not a bulletin supervised only by
members.
The online registration forms available at the web of the IAAP and
of Blackwells must be continued, introducing adequate controls to
guarantee confidentiality and to avoid errors in the exchange of messages
between servers. Michael Frese, Ingrid
Lunt and Jose M. Prieto will plan actions and oversee progress in these issues.
6.2. Action 100
It was accepted that those people who have been participants of
Action 100 in the past years should now be asked to become paying members in
the reduced or the subsidized dues category. A letter, signed by the President
or the Secretary General, will send by Blackwell to them informing them about
this decision.
It was accepted that providing the journal and newsletter directly
to individual members of Action 100 is not as effective as providing the
journal and newsletter to libraries or departments of psychology, to leading
figures in national associations from low-GNP countries, and to organizations
of psychology students. It was decided to prioritize membership in Action 100
to institutional rather than individual applications.
6.3. Transition from Psychology Press to Blackwells
Michael Frese, Ingrid Lunt, Paula O’Connor and José M. Prieto
stated that procedures had been put in place to deal with the difficulties of
the first three months of the year 2000 which had led to a number of errors and
misunderstandings between the IAAP and Blackwells during this period. The
problems were mainly over the membership renewal process and the letter and
invoices sent to the members as well as the online renewal procedures. Things
seem to be under control after May 2000;
the above mentioned persons were entrusted with the task of doing the
follow-up, analysing problems and making decisions.
6.4. Report on IAAP’s relationships with international
associations.
Charles Spielberger reported about the state of co-operation
between the IAAP and the IUPsyS, accentuating the ongoing co-operative
activities. Conventionally this co-operation has concerned the co-ordination of
sites and dates of International Congresses sponsored by each
organization. A recent agreement has been to ensure that the host organization
of an ICP or an ICAP will always provide the other organization with one free
promotional booth in the congress exhibition area, as well as complimentary
rooms at the congress site for EC and Officers meetings, and program time for
symposia sponsored by the organization. Regional Congresses have also been
jointly planned in areas of the world where psychologists usually find it
difficult to participate in international congresses due to economic
restrictions. The Advanced Research Training Seminars is another initiative intended
to offer training to colleagues from economically less developed regions
present in the city or surroundings where the next ICP or ICAP will be held.
Another initiative is the World Forum of International Psychological
Associations intended to provide an opportunity for the international or
regional leaders of specialized associations to freely exchange views on the
needs of psychological organizations around the world and the possibilities of
concerted actions. An outcome is a Directory of International Psychological
Associations and the forum will be held at each future international congress.
In the IAAP, Bernhard Wilpert is the person in charge of the Forum planning and
promotion. Future co-operation is intended to deal with a) working with international
bodies, b) ad hoc co-operation in response to critical incidents, c)
co-operation of IAAP divisions with ongoing IUPsyS activities, d) collaboration
between SG to better determine needs, e) further development of the World
Forum, f) development of international psychological directories, online and
offline, g) conduct of joint world survey of psychology.
Susan Pick, both in her role as EC member and president of the
Interamerican Psychological Society (SIP) informed about the contacts and
agreements reached between both organizations. The main one concerns the issue
that future regional congresses must be avoided in Latin America since this is
a region where there is an international congress held every two years under
the sponsorship of the SIP and there is no need to organize a parallel and
competing convention. The second agreement concerns the co-sponsorship of SIP’s
congress by the IAAP in such a way that the officers or the divisional
presidents may propose and back symposia, workshops and keynote addresses, by
using formal communication channels between both organizations. The prospect of
some financial involvement of the IAAP in SIP’s activities was set aside.
However, an effort will be made to increase the participation of people from
Latin American countries in the ARTS. The critical issue seems to be the
fluency in English of potential candidates.
Tuomo Tikannen, both in his role as EC member and president of the
European Federation of Professional Psychologists Associations (EFPPA) informed
about the contacts and agreements reached between both organizations. The main
issue concerns the involvement of the IAAP co-sponsoring the series of ECP
where proposals of symposia, workshops and keynote addresses are welcome. There
is no need to organize regional congresses of Psychology in Europe since a
EFPPA already tries to keep a balance in the distribution of congress sites
every two years, moving in all directions according to the bids submitted by
national associations. The EFFPA is in the process of taking concrete actions
to make more room for the needs of academic psychology, and understanding
“professional” as a word that refers to the whole range of functions. Exchanges
of views and possibilities have been analysed with IAAP officers. The
idea of a Psychologists’ Day is growing up in several European countries as a
tool for giving Psychology more visibility. It may be convenient to think about
and reach an agreement to fix such a day at the international level.
Michael Frese informed about the desirability of attaining the
direct status of a NGO with the UN. It will mean an initial estimate of 3,000
US$ per year. At least the expenses of the lobbyist should be also reimbursed,
and another unspecified amount should be budgeted. It was mentioned that,
already, the IAAP is an affiliate member of the International Social Science
Council (ISSC) and, so indirectly, of the UN. The contribution is 300 US$ per
year. The pros and cons were discussed, and it was decided to start the
procedure to gain recognition, and afterwards estimate the annual amount of
money to be included in the budget of 2001 or 2002. It will be necessary to
create a small committee, mainly divisional presidents, to involve them in
these kind of initiatives with the UN,
UNESCO, WHO, ILO, the World Bank. The critical issue is
that the IAAP cannot cover these costs with the present annual budget and it
may need to spend money from past years’ reserves. The treasurer and the
officers will study the consequences of an increase of the involvement of the
IAAP in international policy bodies.
Bernhard Wilpert informed about the World Forum of International
Associations in Psychology and announced the contents of the meeting scheduled
during the congress and mentioned the associations that were invited to
participate. The EC members backed this initiative and congratulated Bernhard
for the progress made.
7. Publications committees report
Michael
Frese, as head of the publication committee asked Miriam Erez to first
present the state of APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW. As editor, Miriam Erez presented statistical data
about the papers published in AP:IR during the period 1998-2000. That is
distribution by countries, by conceptual area, number of manuscripts (121),
average delays from reception to publication (130 days), rate of acceptance
(54%), and transactions of reviewers. The index of impact factor has
increased to 0.978 in 1999 and rose through the ranks to post 16 out of 50
among Social Sciences Journals. In 1997 the impact factor was 0.6 and the rank
was 25 out of 50. The EC members congratulated Miriam Erez for the progress and
good job done. She announced that Shalom H. Schwart, has been nominated by the
editorial board members of AP:IR for the best paper award for his contribution
on “A theory of cultural values and some implications for work”. It is an award
of 300 US$ and EC members backed the nomination and forwarded the
congratulations to the author for his excellent achievement.
Ingrid Lunt informed about recent developments in the Newsletter,
the kind of contributions received, the frequency, the lack of reports from
divisions, the difficulties in getting enough manuscripts. She introduced the
idea of adding a third issue of the Newsletter, and after some discussions it
was approved. The SG mentioned that an electronic version of the Newsletter was
produced as soon as the file was received, at no cost. So a printed and an
online version were now the standard for the IAAP.
Michael Frese and Ingrid Lunt introduced the proposal of producing
an Internet Journal, The Graduate Applied Psychologist, and asking for an
amount of 3,000 US$ to launch this project. The idea was not voted and it was
suggested to add a section or column in the Newsletter devoted to the Graduate
Applied Psychologist.
Charles Spielberger and George Zimmer commented the project
of an Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology as a major intellectual undertaking to
be backed by the IAAP. The involvement of EC members and leading figures of
divisions was requested to suggest topics and potential authors, to facilitate
fax numbers or email addresses. The editor in chief will be Prof. Spielberger.
The EC members acknowledged the initiative, seconded the formal sponsorship of
the IAAP to this Encyclopedia and accepted to facilitate the information
available in our database to suggest and contact contributors and to appeal to
a wide audience of scholars, professionals and students active or interested in
Applied Psychology issues. There will be a close correspondence between the
divisional structure of the IAAP and the structure of the Encyclopedia by areas
of expertise.
8. Reports from Task Forces
Peter Merenda and Helio Carpintero summarized activities carried
out by the members of the task force on the History of the IAAP, such as the
creation of the archive unit at Passau, the edition of the proceedings of the
1st to 13rd ICAP, the organization of symposia on the History of Applied
Psychology in international or regional congresses of Psychology accumulating
data, documents and authors for a future book on the subject.
Helio Carpintero also summarized ideas and suggestions reported by
the task force on the Teaching of Psychology. They recommended the creation of
a task force to study the teaching of psychology paying attention to course
contents, reading lists and practical exercises. Also the professional
placement or the practicum in the different programs of applied psychology
should be also studied. The main outcome should be writing a set of
recommendations that should be backed by the IAAP and the IUPsyS and forwarded
to national associations as well as to University Departments or Institutes of
Psychology. During the last decade in many countries, once the university
degree in psychology has been formally regulated, a large number of diplomas
and specialties have been created where opportunism seems to prevail over
actual expertise and rigour in the field. The IAAP should favour the follow up
of psychological specialties and diplomas that are directly related to
divisions to generate a set of minimum standards or a reference model as has
been the case in Work and Organizational Psychology (http://www.ucm.es/info/Psyap/enop/ ) where some leading members of
Division 1 have played a leading role. The EC members backed these
recommendations.
Harry Triandis reported on the task force on Psychology in Low
Income Countries. The President Elect of the IAAP should chair this task force
because in this way he or she will be in the best position to implement the
recommendations during his or her term. Organizers of IAAP congresses should
devote about 7.5% of the budget to travel for psychologists from low-income
countries. Support to the ARTS must continue. The editor of AP:IR should pay
attention to the published papers rate of authors from low-Income countries.
The recommendations were supported and the officers must negotiate with
congress organizers the percentage of ICAP budgets since the number of bids is
scarce, the final balance is usually in
the red and the economic conditions fluctuate among national associations
backing the organization of congresses.
John Adair reported on the three ARTS held in Stockholm: a)
Imaging the structure and function of the brain, b) Psychological test
adaptation to diverse cultures, c) Pathways across development: cross cultural
perspectives. He also informed about the advertising procedures, the
funding system, the selection of participants, the financial support to
participant and the evaluation of seminars. Several EC members praised how John
Adair dealt with these program dilemmas and challenges very effectively.
Fred Fiedler commented the evaluation made by attendees to the
IAAP congress in San Francisco, by e-mailing an electronically scorable survey.
This could be considered a pilot test for future ICAP. 599 attendees responded
with a response rate of 57%. The
SF congress was almost exclusively a meeting of scholars (78%). This is a point
of concern because the large majority of applied psychologists are
practitioners in public or private setting and they have been conspicuously
absent in the event. This is an aspect that the organizers of the ICAP in
Singapore need to keep in mind to adjust the adequate strategy or to fix the focus
in the advertising process. The critical issue is to find the message that will
attract practitioners to our ICAP. There is a need to move beyond the academic
limits. Another finding appeared: combining the APA and the IAAP
congresses was a mistake. Here are other suggestions that emerged for the
organizers of future ICAP:
Frank Heller and Pieter Drenth reported on the “Innovative
Research Methodologies” task force and proposed that this workgroup reports more
extensively to the EC in Singapore and the organizers of the Singapore Congress
give a workshop or symposium on this topic a degree of priority. The EC members
backed this proposal. Bernhard Wilpert
and Ingrid Lunt briefly commented on the World Study of Applied Psychology and
informed that the Newsletter will be the channel used to share interim reports
with IAAP members.
9. Divisional activities
Miriam Erez commented briefly her report on the activities held by
Division 1, Organizational Psychology. That is, a) to develop linkages with
other Associations of Organizational Psychology; b) to start and develop a
divisional website that can be reached at http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~pcoets/div/home.htm
; c) to disseminate information concerning the division and
IAAP in general, d) to open up potential channels of communication, e) to
prepare the Academic program for the upcoming congress in 2002 and d) to
increase the membership enrollment.
Uichol Kim, president of Division 3, (Psychology and National development)
had produced a long report raising the issue of the rising cost of attending
international conferences and several recommendations for lowering the barriers
for scholars from economically developing countries in attending ICAP. Many EC
members had read the document and followed the discussion online and showed
their interest in approaching and analyzing the pros and cons of different
courses of action mentioned in the report. However he was not present and the
discussion of his report was postponed to EC meeting in Singapore.
Tommy Garling, president of Division 4, commented briefly his
report on the activities held on Environmental Psychology. That is a) creating
and maintaining a division homepage, b) submitting reports to the
Newsletter, c) maintaining a mailing and discussion lists with division
members, d) establishing a relationship with the Journal of Environmental
Psychology, e) increasing contacts with other organizations and launching
strategies to increase the membership enrollment. </DIV>
No other reports had been circulated in advance or
distributed in the meeting room and, so, no further discussion followed on
divisional activities.
10. Congresses and conferences
24th ICAP. Ray Fowler commented briefly the
landmarks of the 24 ICAP held in San Francisco August 9-11, 1998. By the end,
2,210 registered participants attended the Congress from 72 countries. Of the
registrants, 1,598 individuals registered in advance of the Congress. About a
third (711) of the registrants were from the United States. In total, 1,964
people participated one or more times in the scientific program. The program
consisted of 186 invited presentations (mainly individual addresses and
symposia), 1,104 submitted presentations (mainly paper and poster sessions and
symposia), and 37 "other" sessions (business meetings and social
hours). The Congress exhibit area featured 36 booths. US$ 100,000 was set aside
from the Congress budget to provide scholarships for participants from the
developing world and transitioning economies. Up to $16,000 of this fund was
reserved for scholarship waivers for participants in the ARTS program. 95
scholarships were awarded, ranging from Congress registration waivers to cash
awards up to $2,000. The registration income resulted in a US$ 421,000 loss to
the APA.
25th ICAP. Elizabeth Nair reported on
Organizational aspect and the Scientific program involved in the planning of
the 25 ICAP to be held in Singapore July 7-12, 2002. Divisional presidents have
been requested to appoint chairs and symposia co-ordinators for their
respective divisions and to appoint committee members who would be directly
involved in making recommendations for keynote and invited speakers and in
receiving abstracts submitted under the specific division. The opening ceremony
will be held at the National University of Singapore and all the other
activities at the Suntec City. The registration fees will be set at below the
rates of ICAP 1998 in San Francisco. About 7% of the total budget has been
allocated to encourage participation from lower income countries. Donations are
welcome for favoring this purpose.
26th ICAP. James Georgas commented briefly that
the organizing and scientific committees of the 26 ICAP to be held in Athens
were in the process of appointment. The first onsite visit was scheduled for
January or May 2001.
Durban Regional Congress. Michael Frese commented the regional
congress held in Durban in July 1999 under the joint sponsorship of the IUPsyS
and the IAAP. In fact, it was a national rather than a regional congress
because the very large majority of participants were just from South Africa.
Another approach should be followed in the 2001 to ensure the presence of
leading figures of Psychology in nearby countries when the regional congress
takes places in Mumbei.
6th ECP Rome
& 7th ECP London. Ingrid Lunt commented briefly the activities held during the 6th
European Congress of Psychology held in Rome in July 1999 and advanced plans
and actions for the 7th ECP to be held in London next July 1-6,
2001. This congress will coincide with the centennial celebrations of the
BPS. She asked for the collaboration of EC members. It was raised the issue of
the high costs of the registration fee and she commented that congress and
living costs in London are “per se” expensive.
27th
InterAmerican Congress.
Bernhard Wilpert and Susan Pick made a few comments about the 27th
Interamerican Congress of Psychology held in Caracas in July 1999 where the
IAAP played the role of co-sponsor for the first time as agreed in San
Francisco. Susan stressed that 26 congresses were held before, every two years
in Latin America, and so the organization of a regional conference in a
conventional manner was not justified because “regional congresses were planned
by the IAAP and IUPsyS in areas of the world where psychologists usually find
it difficult to participate in international congresses due to economic
restrictions”. Workshops and lectures were the focus of the regional
meeting held in Mexico in July 1997 under the sponsorship of the IAAP and the
IUPsyS but it was more a summer school than a congress. This “continuous
training” approach rather than that of a conventional congress should be
considered the right model for regional events planned in the future.
Asian Association of
Social Psychology.
The SG commented on the biennial conference of the Asian Association of Social
Psychology, to be held in Melbourne in July 2001. Uichol Kim, member of the EC
and president of such association has invited the IAAP and the EC members to
become involved organizing activities and co-sponsoring the event. It was in
fact a regional congress backed by a regional association. No further comment
or proposals were made after the absence of Uichol Kim.
Regional Congress Mumbai. Spielberger commented that a
Regional Congress of Psychology was scheduled to be held in Mumbai December
17-20th, 2001 under the joint sponsorship of the IAAP and the IUPsyS. Planning
was still in an early phase under the leadership of Blanche Barnes, from the
Department of Applied Psychology at the University of Mumbei. The
innovation of organizing the congress in December, summer for many foreign
visitors, was highlighted. The issue was raised that it was strange that the
Indian Psychological Society was not involved in the planning of such an event,
that the EC member from India was not, at least, one of the leading figures of
such an event, that other EC members in the region were not directly involved,
and that this congress rested primarily on the initiative of some
entrepreneurial and individual scholars since only a private travel agency and
not the Indian or the Bombay Convention Bureau were conspicuously absent in the
planning. It was commented that the Bombay Psychological Congress Association
backed the event. Jitendra Mohan had agreed to participate as a member of the
Scientific Committee. The SG raised the issue that this congress might
interfere with the Singapore ICAP to be held six months later. Elizabeth Nair
seconded such a comment and stressed that she was worrying because both
activities were planned and backed by the same international organizations for
the same regions and such an event should be re-scheduled for another odd year
after the ICAP in Singapore. No further discussions followed about the pros and
cons.
11. New issues
IAAP Directory. Charles Spielberger commented that
he was in favor of producing and distributing an updated directory of IAAP
members as it was done in the past. Several members backed this idea,
considered as a kind of visit card or a way of advertising who we are. The SG
mentioned that such a directory exists already on a permanent basis at the
homepage of the IAAP located at http://www.iaapsy.org/ and that the database is updated regularly every three months.
There are controls on the online directory to avoid that organizations devoted
to capturing databases of addresses for mailing purposes. The online and the
offline versions are compatible formats, but production and maintaining costs
favor the former.
A document had been distributed summarizing a debate held through
the EC members mailing lists about what should be the main focus of future
congresses or conventions planned for the odd years. An approach favors
following the regional perspective as it has been done in the 1990s. A second
approach favors the model launched in Mexico were “continuous training” was
considered the adequate framework organizing workshops at low costs for
psychologists or students in the region. A third approach introduces the
perspective, not tried until now in the IAAP, of promoting divisional events
such as a summer school, an institute or an advance seminar organized by an
IAAP division with less than 100 members to enhance its international
visibility in the field. The expected outcome would be the strengthening of the
division and an increase of the number of members of such a “weak” division.
This debate and decisions were postponed to further online discussions with the
purpose of fixing a pertinent strategy for the first decade of the 21st century
before or during the EC meeting in Singapore.
The physical and psychological suffering of human beings caught up in natural or technological disasters, in wars, in hostage situations, in acts of terrorism has generated new forms of medical and psychological actions sponsored by governmental as well as non-governmental organizations. Medicine without frontiers is a well-established organization and a parallel organization “Psychology without frontiers” has started to move ahead after the initiative was launched during the ICAP congress in Madrid. The IAAP and the IUPsyS have decided to favor initiatives and actions to create professional standards in this domain where psychological assessment and treatment as well as training is demanded regularly by emergency management specialists and decision makers or by institutions such as the NU or the Red Cross. An specific task force must be created and the SG asked the divisional presidents to suggest names that might elaborate and advance the understanding of what should be done to progress in the right direction in this initiative. Psychological action in this domain requires a multi-divisional perspective. Suggestions and comments are welcome and must be sent to iaap@psi.ucm.es or iaap@correo.cop.es both the email addresses of the IAAP secretariat.
The creation of a Graduate Student Division was argued by Michael
Frese mentioning the initiative backed by the APA under the heading of Science Student
Council. Online discussions must follow to fix what can be done before the EC
meeting in Singapore.
Two new committees were created, both chaired by Michael Frese:
Charles Spielberger thanked all EC members for the tone and
content of the EC meeting that ended by 13:00 July 23rd, 2000.
12. Closing remarks of the SG.
The large majority of documents mentioned in this minutes are
available online at http://www.iaapsy.org/drafts/stockholm.html and if the authors send to the SG
copies in electronic format of the documents distributed just in the meeting
room, these texts will be transformed and made available online. A day
and a half of EC meetings seems insufficient to discuss the long list of items
included in the agenda. In Singapore a
third meeting will probably be necessary during the Congress as has been in the
past in other ICAP. It may be convenient to reduce the number of items on the
agenda. Only a few items need an actual face-to-face meeting whereas many may
be discussed and settled via email discussion list. New times new tools in the
analysis and decision-making procedures.
EC members are requested to inform the SG about their presence or
absence in scheduled meetings because rooms must be reserved in advance and an
estimate of the number of participants favors not only the right choice of room
but also comfort during the meeting and the quality of life, and these aspects
are not minutiae.