The Future of Psychology

The Grand Unified Theory of Behavior

Forces Shaping the Field

National Politics and Research Funding Self-Interest versus Quality of Life 1950s – Behavioral sciences viewed as Communistic 1980s – Attempts to eliminate research funding for Psychology from government agencies Currently – Biological/Neuroscience funded better than Clinical/Social

Evolution of Science Lines between traditional disciplines are blurring Methods and instruments shared across disciplines Multidisciplinary research Movement towards becoming problem-centered

Developing Infrastructures Internationalizing of data sharing and collaborative research Increasing availability of large research databases Electronic publishing Interactive textbooks Classes without classrooms

Biology Behaviorism and Cognitive Psychology ignored biological substrates for years Linkage of external manipulations with internal biological changes Bodies, minds, and environments interact with each other e.g., Psycho-neuro-immunology

Evolution of Measurement The complexity of statistical procedures may have exceeded the ability of researchers to use them well Large bodies of research more difficult to understand Meta-Analysis revisited Chaos Theory

Obstacles to Productivity

The Identity Problem Who are we? Neuroscientists Cognitive Scientists Behavioral Scientists A diaspora to other departments; splitting of departments

Information Management Too much information; too many studies Specialized sub-disciplines Must determine the most important findings Must determine how to disseminate the most important findings Integrate disparate results into more comprehensive explanations of behavior

Access to New Tools Cost and availability of tech such as brain imaging machines Rising costs for animal research Large scale database management for audio and video

Training Approaches Greater inclusion of biology and genetics into graduate programs Training in information infrastructure Tech training in brain imaging, etc. Emphasis shifted to multidisciplinary training and research