International Perspectives On Psychological Science Leading Themes

The essays appearing in these two volumes are based on Keynote (Vol. 1) and State-of-the-Art (Vol. 2) Lectures delivered at the XXVth International Congress of Psychology in Brussels, July 1992. The Brussels Congress was the latest in a series of conferences which are organized at regular intervals under the auspices of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), the main international organization in the field of Scientific Psychology. The first of those meetings took place in Paris in 1889. An important function of the International Congresses is to promote communication between different specializations in psychology. Speakers were therefore asked to present lectures and discussions in their own fields of study, in a way that would be accessible to fellow psychologists active in other fields. State-of-the-Art lecturers were specifically asked to prepare a tutorial review on a topic which, in the view of the Program Committee, had recently given rise to particularly important developments. These contributions are included in Volume Two. Keynote lecturers were left free to address whatever subject they felt was of greatest interest. The chapters in Volume 1 are preceded by the Presidential Address by Mark R. Rosenzweig.

The essays appearing in these two volumes are based on Keynote (Vol. 1) and State-of-the-Art (Vol. 2) Lectures delivered at the XXVth International Congress of Psychology, in Brussels, July 1992. The Brussels Congress was the latest in a series of conferences which are organized at regular intervals under the auspices of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), the main international organization in the field of Scientific Psychology. The first of those meetings took place in Paris in 1889. An important function of the International Congresses is to promote communication between different specializations in Psychology. Speakers were therefore asked to present lectures and discussions in their own fields of study, in a way that would be accessible to fellow psychologists active in other fields. State-of-the-Art lecturers were specifically asked to prepare a tutorial review on a topic which, in the view of the Program Committee, had recently given rise to particularly important developments. These contributions are included in Volume Two. Keynote lecturers were left free to address whatever subject they felt was of greatest interest. The chapters in Volume 1 are preceded by the Presidential Address by Mark R. Rosenzweig.

This book describes the present status and the history of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) -- the most representative international psychological body. The IUPsyS includes national psychological associations from 66 countries, with more joining every year, and it has formal relations with the United Nations, UNESCO, the World Health Organization, the International Council for Science, and the International Social Science Council. Many well known psychologists have played important roles in this international organization, and the text and many photographs bring the story to life. IUPsyS was organized formally at the 14th international Congress of Psychology at Stockholm in 1951, so the 27th International Congress of Psychology at Stockholm in 2000 marks a half-century of its existence. But the history of the IUPsyS goes back to the first International Congresses of Psychology, 1889, and to the International Congress Committee which foreshadowed the organization of the International Union. After describing the present status of the IUPsyS in Chapter 1, the book traces briefly the early development of scientific societies and organizations. Chapter 3 tells how the first International Congress of Psychology was organized in Paris in 1889 and what it accomplished. Successive international congresses and the growth of psychology during the next sixty years are treated in chapters 4-6. The founding and development of the International Union in the last half of the 20th Century are described in the remaining chapters. International Congresses organized by the IUPsyS have taken place regularly since 1951, and the IUPsyS has steadily gained in the scope and influence of its activities. The congresses, long restricted to western Europe and North America, became more representative geographically, moving to Moscow, Tokyo, Leipzig, Acapulco, and Sydney, with the 28th congress planned for Beijing in 2004. The history shows how the IUPsyS has become increasingly able to face the problems and opportunities of the 21st century.

Divided into four parts, the first section of this book deals with levels of processing and memory theory, the second addresses working memory and attention, the third deals with cognitive aging, and the last addresses neuroscience perspectives.