Question 1
David Hubel was part of a team of scientists that won a Nobel Prize in 1981 for elaborating how the brain collects information from the retina of the eye to create detailed visuals of the world. He collaborated with scientists such as Torsten N. Wiesel and Roger W. Sperry. Their work was fundamental in the work of other scientists and psychologists (Gellene, 2013).
Like David Hubel, Torsten N. Wiesel’s research helped discover one of the fundamental ideas on brain function. This is the discovery that the cerebral cortex is made up of computational modules that are lined up in nerve cells columns. This knowledge has proved critical to psychologists because they understand the biological occurrences of mental illness.
Daniel Kahneman has contributed to research on human decision-making and judgment under uncertainty in economic circles. He has achieved this by integrating psychological research insights into economic science and specifically by establishing how common human errors arise from biases and heuristics. He came with what is now known as the Prospect Theory. By doing so, he laid the foundation for a new branch of psychology research.
Herbert A. Simon is one of the founders of artificial intelligence. Through his research, he indicated that humans use symbolic processes while reasoning, speaking, writing, solving problems, inventing and writing. He is mostly acclaimed for the bounded rationality theory, which is a theory on economic decision-making. The theory states that the human mind restricts itself and would not be able to process all the information available to help in making an economic decision. His theory is important to psychology because it can be applied to individuals as well as organizations.
Roger Sperry was a psychobiologist whose split brain research won him the Nobel Prize. He discovered that the two brain hemispheres remained in a conscious state, independently thinking, willing, reasoning and emoting. This resulted in the idea of a dualist brain and mind. This was important because it adds to the philosophical and psychological inquest into the mind-body problem. This is the investigation of how an immaterial mental event affects physical events. Richard Atkinson was a researcher who dealt with memory and cognition problems. He developed a theory on human memory, which has been influential in research and helped to show the relationship between psychological behavior and brain structures.
Question 2
The American Psychological Association (APA) is America’s chief scientific and professional body representing the field of psychology. It is the world’s main association of psychologists. The mission of this association is the advancement of the creation, application and communication of psychological knowledge for the benefit of society and the improvement of human life (Huddle, 2013).
The Association of Psychological Science (APS) is a non-profit organization geared towards the development of scientific psychology at the national as well as international level. The mission of the association is to promote, advance and protect the interests of scientific psychology in research, teaching, application and improving human welfare (Huddle, 2013).
APA has several roles. First, the association encourages the creation and application of psychology in a broad manner. Secondly, it promotes research in the field of psychology as well as promoting the improvement of the methods of research and application of findings. Thirdly, it improves the capacity and qualifications of psychologists through high conduct, ethics, education and achievement standards. Fourth, it improves professional psychological practice by increasing and disseminating knowledge by way of meetings, reports, papers, publications and discussions.
The APS concentrates mainly on advocacy (Huddle, 2013). This is in three major issues namely: the enhancement of psychology in scientific research, training and education; Human Capital Initiative (dealing with problems related to psychological help such as aging, violence, mental health and literacy; preparing behavioral scientists.
The APA was formed in 1892 for the purposes of advancing psychological knowledge for societal benefit and improvement of lives. The APS was formed in 1988 for the purposes of advancing scientific psychology. This is because some psychologists believed that the APA could not meet their needs comprehensively. In addition, internal tensions inside the APA had to be mediated while satisfying a diverse group of psychologists (Huddle, 2013). The APA has larger membership than the APS. The APA consists of more than 134,000 members made up of educators, researchers, consultants, students and clinicians. On the other hand, the APS consists of 25,000 members. The APA also has extensive directorates including the Center for Psychology and Health. The APS does not have directorates. APA has 54 divisions which are focused on different disciplines.
Question 3
The APA has 54 divisions organized by members depending on common interests. Some of these divisions include the Society for General Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Developmental Psychology and the Evaluation, Measurements and Statistics division. First, the Society for General Psychology deals with the creation of coherence in the different specialties of psychology by encouraging its members to consider different perspectives from the sub-disciplines of psychology in their theory, research, and practice. This division is open to membership from professional practitioners, psychologists and academic scientists, focused on public interest (Fisher, 2005). Secondly, the Experimental Psychology division’s mission is the promotion of scientific inquiry through research and teaching as well as supporting experimental psychology through education programs and advocacy. This division is always in close contact with relevant directorates of the APA. The members of this division are employed in various settings such as in colleges, universities, industry, and government. These members are committed to the growth of experimental psychology as a science. Membership is open to psychologists working in social and developmental areas of research. Thirdly, the Developmental Psychology division was formed in 1945 for the purposes of promoting developmental psychology research. In addition to this, the division works to keep standards of application of knowledge in childcare, policy and education high. It comprises of 1,328 members, where membership is open to graduate and undergraduate student affiliates. Part of the division’s role within the association is selecting the Stanley hall awards for outstanding scholars in the area of developmental psychology. Fourth, the Evaluation, Measurements and Statistics division deals with promoting exceptional standards in research and application of appraisal, measurement, assessment, statistics and qualitative methods. The members of this division are free to become members of three sections: qualitative methods; evaluation; assessment; measurements and statistics (Fisher, 2005). There are 2,000 members in this division such as specialists in the field of educational psychology, industrial-organization psychology, psychometrics as well as individual assessment. The members of this division share three main goals: To promote research and information exchange between practitioners in the division; to promote and maintain high standards; and to interact in a professional manner with other groups and individuals in interpretation and application of psychological data, statistics, program evaluations and individual assessments.
References
Fisher, C. B. (2005). Encyclopedia of applied developmental science. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Gellene, D. (2013, September 24). David Hubel, Nobel-Winning Scientist, Dies at 87. The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/science/david-hubel-nobel-winning-scientist-dies-at-87.html?_r=0
Huddle, J. (2013). Differences Between APA & APS. Education. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://education.seattlepi.com/apa-certification-2648.html
