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1936 - The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) petitioned the APA to become an affiliate of the APA. Goodwin Watson was chair of SPSSI at the time and Isadore Krechevsky (David Krech) was secretary. The petition was approved by the APA on September 2, 1937. SPSSI is now Division 9 of the APA.
1946 - Reginald Ruggles Gates's book Human Genetics was published. In addition to coverage of physiological characteristics, Gates's influential text reviewed many studies of inheritance of psychological traits, such as intelligence and personality. In other writing, Gates promoted the practice of eugenics.
1959 - The first organized child-care service facility at an APA convention opened in Cincinnati. Only a few children were served, and the effort was not repeated until 1971, when the Task Force on Women in Psychology and the APA Council of Representatives sponsored a service that cared for 355 children. A child-care service has been available in most subsequent years.
1960 - The first meeting of the APA's History of Psychology Group was held. The meeting was attended by 26 participants, including leaders Robert I. Watson, David Bakan, and John C. Burnham. The group later became APA Division 26.
1967 - The first J. P. Guilford Awards for outstanding student research were presented by Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology. The winners were Roy Dreistadt, of the New School for Social Research, and Darryl B. Neill, of Florida Presbyterian College.
1967 - The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis was founded at a Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Board of Directors meeting at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. A. Charles Catania was chairman of the board at the meeting and Montrose M. Wolf was chosen as editor of the new journal.
1969 - The first American Psychological Foundation National Media Award was presented to John Sharnik and Harry Morgan of CBS News for telecasts titled "LSD: The Spring Grove Experiment" and "The Farthest Frontier." The National Media Award replaced and broadened the scope of the Distinguished Scientific Writing Award, begun in 1957 for representations of psychology in the print media.
1971 - U.S. Senator Fred Harris (D-OK) received the American Psychological Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award, the first nonpsychologist so honored. Harris was a strong supporter of social science research.
1972 - Georg von Békésy, physiologist and winner of the Nobel prize, gave the invited address to the APA annual meeting in Honolulu. His topic was "Edge Phenomena in Different Sense Organs."
1976 - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader delivered an invited address titled "Bringing Psychology into the Consumer Movement" to the APA annual convention in Washington, DC. Nader criticized the influence of educational and psychological testing, with special attention given to the practices of the Educational Testing Service.
1979 - The APA Council of Representatives approved admission of Division 39 (Psychoanalysis). Reuben Fine headed the petitioning group.
1979 - The APA Council of Representatives approved creation of Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology).
1980 - The APA Council of Representatives approved creation of Division 41 (Psychology and Law). The division merged with the American Psychology-Law Society in 1984, and the division adopted the name of the American Psychology-Law Society at that time.
1980 - The first APA Division 2 Teaching Awards were presented to Keith Jacobs of Loyola University in New Orleans, Susan Warner, a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Florida, and Jim Eison of Roane State (Tennessee) Community College. The awards were inaugurated and presented by Division 2 President David Cole, of Occidental College.
1983 - The first Sandoz Prize for Gerontological Research was presented in Budapest, Hungary. Ewald W. Busse and George L. Maddox, who headed the Duke Longitudinal Studies Research Group, shared the award with Carl Hollander, director of the Netherlands Institute for Experimental Gerontology. The prize of 20,000 Swiss francs is sponsored by Sandoz Ltd., a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
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