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psychological research and practice. In additional, the Division of Mental 

 Health of the World Health Organization has launched a study of the Role of 

 the Psychologist in Health Care, a project in which the lUPsyS is 

 participating. These are important and gratifying developments. 



The social and behavioral sciences, and certainly psychology, have not 

 been host to any of the sort of "big science" projects as are described in the 

 Congressional Research Service's report of May 22, 1985 to the Committee on 

 Science and Technology. Of course, each branch of science has its own scale 

 of large and small projects, and it would be interesting to compare the mean, 

 median, minimum and maximum costs of research projects in the various fields 

 of science. Sciences characterized by generally larger-scale projects 

 involving heavy capital Investments (as opposed, say, to Investments in 

 manpower) may call for different systems of coordination and support than 

 sciences in which projects are smaller or less capital-intensive. 



Be this as it may, it should be recognized that psychology — and certainly 

 other social and behavioral sciences — have their place in many big science 

 projects, particularly those that bear directly on social, economic, and 

 ecological problems. One salient example is the International 

 Geosphere/Biosphere Program under study by the International Council of 

 Scientific Unions. As the only ICSU member from the social and behavioral 

 camp, the International Union of Psychological Science will certainly seek to 

 bring psychological knowledge to bear upon the study and proposed resolution 

 of ecological problems resulting from man's use of the earth's resources. In 

 this regard, psychological research on how best to motivate individuals to 

 conserve energy (for example) is directly relevant. 



Many other examples of the present and potential contributions of the 

 social and behavioral sciences could be cited. In the areas of toxicology, 

 ecology, agriculture, public health, and the spread of technological 

 Innovation, successful application of scientific findings often turns on a 

 correct appraisal, particularly a "culture-correct" appraisal, of individual 

 and social behavior. The area of child development is perhaps psychology's 

 leading candidate for "big science" status. The field is of manifest 

 importance: it deals with the development of our most important resource. It 

 is relatively nonpolitical, although even questions such as literacy and 

 nutrition can become politicized. And it depends for its scientific rigor on 

 samples and studies performed throughout the world. In this way it could 

 benefit from a structure similar to that of the International Hydrologlcal 

 Program, the Intergovernmental Oceanographlc Commission, and the International 

 Geological Correlation Program, which provide for the collection of data 

 everywhere they are needed. For some years now, UNESCO has supported the 

 lUPsyS in the creation of a network of child development research centers 

 around the world. The International Society for the Study of Behavioral 

 Development has now joined the Union in the project, adding its wealth of 

 specialized knowledge. The Union is also sponsoring a project in Man-Computer 

 Interaction Research (MACINTER) that is characterized by a good deal of 

 East-West exchange (the project is headed up by Friedhart Klix, the 

 past-president of the Union and a psychologist at Humboldt University in East 

 Berlin) . 



