Association For Psychological Science - History

History

The APS was founded in 1988 by a group of scientifically-oriented researchers and practitioners who are interested in advancing scientific psychology and its representation at the national level. This group of psychologists felt that the American Psychological Association (APA), psychology’s parent organization, could no longer adequately meet their needs, and had effectively “become a guild”. This breakaway effort was not a unique event in the history of organized psychology, for the founding of the APS represents only the most recent instantiation of long-standing intra-disciplinary tensions that have characterized the field since APA’s inception in 1892 (see for a more detailed account). Organized psychology has always represented various constituencies, and beginning in the 1970s, there were several attempts to restructure the organization in an effort to mitigate internal tensions and satisfy the needs of a heterogeneous group. In 1987, the Assembly for Scientific and Applied Psychologists (ASAP) formed to support another reorganization effort, but ultimately this reorganization plan was rejected by the APA membership in early 1988. As a consequence, in August 1988, the ASAP became the APS.

APS grew quickly, surpassing 5,000 members in its first six months. Today, more than 20,000 psychological scientists in the United States and abroad, whose specialties span the entire spectrum of scientific, applied, and teaching specialties, are members of the Association.