Convergence: Connecting Levels of Analysis in Psychological Science
In the past, our field harbored distinct, and often competing, schools of thought that tackled different problems and produced findings that often appeared to diverge. Today, investigators attack shared problems at complementary levels of analysis and produce results that converge. Studies of people in a social world; mental systems of cognition and emotion; and biological mechanisms of the genome and the nervous system interconnect and yield an integrated psychological science. The APS 23rd Annual Convention displays, and celebrates, these advances in our field.

SSCP Presidential Address

The Elusive Independent Variable in Psychosocial Intervention Research

Friday, May 27, 2011, 4:00 PM - 4:50 PM
Monroe

Varda Shoham
University of Arizona and National Institute of Mental Health

Although many efficacious behavioral treatments exist, patients in community settings rarely receive them. In contrast to pharmacotherapy, the fidelity of a behavioral intervention rests disproportionally on what clinicians do and don’t do—the illusive, multi-component independent variable of psychosocial intervention research. Narrowing the science-practice gap will depend on finding efficient and effective ways to assess, enhance, and maintain the fidelity of empirically-supported psychosocial treatments in real-world settings.

Subject Area: Clinical