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.

Special Event

Relationship Science 2012: Advancing the Foundation Built by Ellen S. Berscheid and Elaine C. Hatfield

Friday, May 25, 2012, 1:00 PM - 2:20 PM
Chicago Ballroom IX

Harry T. Reis
University of Rochester

Ellen Berscheid and Elaine Hatfield were pioneering scholars who opened doors to the scientific study of attraction, relationships, and emotion when those topics were not on psychology's agenda. This symposium honors the foundation they built. Each of the speakers will link past to present, by describing contemporary advances in the study of processes and phenomena first identified by Berscheid and Hatfield.

Legends and Legacies: The Continuing Influence of Berscheid and Hatfield in the Science of Interpersonal Attraction
Eli J. Finkel
Northwestern University

Eli J. Finkel in the news: CBS News (Feb 7, 2012), Los Angeles Times (Feb 8, 2012), The New York Times (Feb 11, 2012), BBC (Feb 13, 2012), Huffington Post (Feb 14, 2012) and Businessweek (April 4, 2012) .

Read the APS Daily Observations on Eli Finkel: Part I and Part II.

The Greening and Blossoming of the Scientific Study of Passionate Love
Arthur P. Aron
Stony Brook University

Relationships Shape Emotional Lives
Margaret S. Clark
Yale University

Relationships Influence Everything (mostly): Why Relationships Should Be More Central in Psychological Science
Harry T. Reis
University of Rochester

Harry Reis in the news: BBC (Feb 13, 2012), The Sydney Morning Herald (Feb 18, 2012) and ORF (Feb 6, 2012).