Program Themes
Browse the online program to view session details, scheduling, and speakers.
For the 2026 APS Annual Convention, we’re introducing a new approach to categorizing sessions based not on traditional subfields of psychology but rather on the cross-cutting psychological concepts and processes they examine.
The 2026 invited program is built around six Integrative Science Symposia (ISS), each exploring complex scientific questions through research across multiple domains. The submitted program has also been reorganized to support integration across subfields. Submitters entered their own keywords to categorize submissions, rather than selecting from a list of subject areas. Submissions were analyzed using a Large Language Model (LLM) to categorize all submitted sessions into themes, making it easier than ever to find content aligned with your research interests.
This will open new pathways to find and engage with the science you are looking for and make connections with researchers pursuing similar research questions from complementary perspectives across subfields.
Please use the Online Program to view programming by theme. Select the “Search by Theme” option in the navigation menu and choose a theme to view all related sessions.
Explore the themes shaping the Convention and the breadth of psychological science research they represent:
| Theme | Description |
|---|---|
| Brains, Bodies & Behavior | Neuroscience and psychophysiology linking brain and body systems to behavior. |
| Choices & Consequences: Judgment and Decision-Making | Research on judgment, decision-making, reasoning, risk, bias, moral choice, and behavioral economics. |
| Connection & Belonging: Relationships in Social Life | Work on relationships, attachment, belonging, loneliness, social support, and interpersonal dynamics. |
| Development & Change Across the Lifespan | Research on development from infancy through older adulthood, including parenting and aging. |
| Digital Life & Emerging Technology in Psychology | Research on AI, social media, digital behavior, and technology’s impact on psychological science. |
| Emotion & Motivation: What Drives the Self | Studies of emotion, affect, motivation, reward, self-regulation, and processes shaping behavior and wellbeing. |
| How We Know: Methods, Measurement & Open Science | Advances in measurement, psychometrics, meta-analysis, replication, and open science practices. |
| Identity, Culture & Social Inequality | Research on identity, culture, stigma, discrimination, prejudice, and psychological dimensions of inequality. |
| Language in Mind: Speech, Reading & Communication | Psychological science of language, speech perception, reading, bilingualism, and communication. |
| Mental Health in Focus: Symptoms, Support & Intervention | Research on psychological disorders, clinical symptoms, mental health support, prevention, and evidence-based interventions. |
| Mind Under Pressure: Stress, Trauma & Resilience | Work examining stress, adversity, trauma, coping, resilience, and adaptation under pressure across contexts. |
| Neurodiversity & Individual Minds | Work on autism, ADHD, personality traits, cognitive styles, and individual differences. |
| Perception & Awareness: How We Experience the World | Studies of sensation, perception, consciousness, and sensory experience. |
| Thinking & Remembering: Attention, Memory & Control | Core cognitive science on attention, memory, executive function, and mental control processes. |
