Secretary-General's Report: Mike Knowles

In this edition, I am pleased to report on two important developments. One is the 1 + 1 Recruiting drive, and the other is international cooperation in psychology.

1 + 1 RECRUITING DRIVE

In following up what must have been an appreciable response on behalf of IAAP members, I am delighted to say that the drive has been an outstanding success, and the number of applications that have been received over the past several months is greater by far than any other time in IAAPs history.

What is particularly gratifying is the wide range of countries from which these new members have been drawn - namely 30 - and the addition of new countries such as the Congo, Mali and Tanzania to our international membership.

This widespread response has also been supplemented by successful recruiting drives by the Division of Political Psychology and the Division of Traffic and Transportation Psychology, and these initiatives are gratefully acknowledged.

So, in conclusion, I should like to thank again all those who have helped so widely in this initiative, and by distributing the membership application form which was enclosed in the last Newsletter. Please do write if any more of these forms are required.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN PSYCHOLOGY

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Then, at Montreal in 1974, it was decided that IAAP should move to a four year Congress cycle which it has adhered to ever since. Similarly, around this time, the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) also moved to a four year Congress cycle, and both were dovetailed so that psychologists could attend a major Congress every two years.

Apart from the benefits to individual participants that this new biennial calendar offered, it also meant that the Executive Committees of both IAAP and IUPsyS could meet on a regular two yearly basis. To facilitate this, and as a mark of the increasing cooperation between these two bodies, each gave the other free meeting rooms at their respective Congresses.

This kind of cooperation was raised to a new level at IAAPs 23th International Congress of Applied Psychology in Madrid in 1994 when it was decided that IAAP and IUPsyS should jointly sponsor the organization of regional conferences in psychology. Over the preceding years it had become increasingly felt that while the large international Congresses were successful in catering for universal aspects of psychology, there was a need to organize smaller conferences on a more geographically localised basis so that issues specific to a given region of the world could become the focus of international attention and concentration of effort. Hence, it was agreed that IUPsyS would have primary responsibility for planning the 1995 Regional Conference of Psychology in Guangzhou, China, and IAAP would be the principal organizer of the subsequent regional conference to be held in 1997.

1995 ASIA-PACIFIC CONFERENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY, GUANGZHOU

The Conference had many benefits but perhaps none greater than that for Chinese psychology itself. The hosting of such an international conference provided an excellent opportunity for Chinese psychologists to report on their current research, benefit from questions asked by a knowledgeable audience, meet international colleagues and establish a much broader professional network than ever before, and obtain advise on the preparation of manuscripts and avenues of publication. Since a good deal of the work of Chinese psychologists has a distinctly applied orientation, the Conference gave impetus both to the well established area of Chinese psychology such as developmental psychology, educational psychology and health psychology as well as a range of issues of special relevance to Chinese psychology such as safety in mines; the effect of high altitude sickness on air crew; the impact of market economy upon childbearing attitudes and practices; the influence of different methods of practice upon the acquisition of gymnastic skills; the problem of inland labourers working in capital enterprises; the influence of modernization upon cognitive processes, attitudes and social values; and the development of a national colour system.

Apart from the distinctly Chinese content in these papers, another major benefit concerned the prominence of an Eastern as against a Western orientation in the Scientific Program. This was particularly evident in a wide variety of symposia which reflected not only Confucian and Buddist

philosophies but also the historical heritage of the developing countries in the region. The significance of the national roots of psychology in different cultures was highlighted especially in the area of organizational effectiveness where the striking economic success of Japan and the four Asian Tigers has demonstrated the viability of eastern management practices and the importance of indigenous organizational forms and cultures.

The third major benefit of the Conference was a corollary to this relating to the exposure of Western participants in a more intensive way than has been practicable before to this distinctly Eastern orientation involving history, culture, philosophy and way of thinking. Hopefully, in this regard, the Conference made a significant advance in opening up a body of knowledge which up till now has predominantly reflected Western ideologies and values to the rich intellectual traditions, especially of China and India, so that the corporate content of psychology will become even more international than it is at present.

A fourth important benefit of the Conference was attributable to our Chinese hosts who succeeded in staging a diverse, stimulating, thought-provoking and eminently successful Scientific Program but doing so by availing themselves in a way that at all times and in every respect introduced visitors to the courteousness, friendship, warmth and depth of Chinese hospitality. It was a memorable Conference and one that, on coming home, one returns to time and again in moments of remembrance and reflection.

1996 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PSYCHOLOGY, MONTREAL

At this point in time, IAAP is participating by way of two invited IAAP symposia organized by Bernhard Wilpert and Michael Frese, other symposia and papers organized and presented by IAAP members, and the biennial IAAP Executive Committee meeting. On account of these wide-ranging activities, we look forward to seeing as many IAAP members as practicable at this Congress.

Back to Contents Newsletter Spring 1996

Last modified: March 29th, 1996