373 



comparatively young branches of science (young In the sense of the date of 

 their self-deflnltlon as sciences) have an equally great deal to contribute to 

 the international scientific enterprise. I shall confine my remarks largely 

 to the field of psychology. It is vast and varied enough for one commentator. 



It is ironic that psychology — the scientific study of behavior — should be 

 as insular and culture-bound as it has remained. This is perhaps due to the 

 very great size of the "domestic market" in psychology in this country and to 

 the lead we have had on other countries in the development of the science. 

 That lead was gained in World War II with substantial government assistance, 

 as pEiychology proved its utility in the areas of personnel selection, human 

 factors engineering (designing equipment for ease, efficiency, and safety of 

 operation), and treatment of veterans in VA hospitals. While overall U.S. 

 psychology retains its "hegemonic" position in the world, the pockets of 

 excellence outside this country are expanding as other societies and their 

 governments recognize the economic and social benefits of Investment in 

 psychology in the areas of health (public health, preventive medicine and 

 environmental psychology), education (child development, learning theory), and 

 organizational productivity. (See attached letter from APA's past president 

 to the chairman of NSB's Committee on International Science.) 



With the growth of psychology and Its applications around the world, the 

 Impetus toward International cooperation grows. There is no need to explain 

 in great detail why a science of human behavior must have access to other 

 areas of the world; the shame is that we have not yet gone abroad more than we 

 have. In part this is explained by the heavy research agenda here at home: 

 there have been plenty of questions to answer in our own back yard. In 

 addition, there has been In some fields a lack of suitable research partners 

 for U.S. psychologists and behavioral scientists, except in Europe and Japan. 

 Even here, psychology has grown and expanded in different ways in different 

 countries, to such an extent that there will be, even today, substantial 

 disagreement from country to country on the question of what psychology is 

 (indeed we have such disagreements here in the United States). This is due to 

 the tangled growth of psychology's roots in moral philosophy, on the one hand, 

 and physiology, on the other. It is also due to the fact that psychology 

 deals with, and can become immersed In, variables such as culture (e.g., in 

 its effect on behavior) which are all too often not even recognized as 

 variables, to the extent they are taken for granted as part of everyday life. 

 Thus psychologists from different countries, where the discipline has grown in 

 different directions, or where the cultures are particularly distinct, may 

 have a difficult time talking with each other. This problem is also found in 

 the other social and behavioral sciences, and less so in the natural sciences 

 and engineering. However, this state of affairs calls for more, not less, 

 international cooperation, particularly In view of the direct contributions 

 the social and behavioral sciences can make in the areas of economic 

 development, public and personal health, and education. For some time now, 

 APA has been studying the economic and social benefits of basic research in 

 psychology (see attached pamphlet). We have learned recently that the 

 European Federation of Professional Psychologists Associations is planning a 

 meeting in Lausanne in September 1986 on the economic contributions of 



