The Founding of the Association for Psychological Science: Part 2. The Tipping Point and Early Years

The founding of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) occurred in the context of longstanding dialectical tensions within organized psychology. It represents the most recent breakaway effort from the American Psychological Association (APA), psychology's parent association in the United States. Beginning in the 1970s, numerous APA committees deliberated the Association's structure, making recommendations designed to appease the various constituencies within the changing organization; all but the last of these proposals were ultimately rejected by the APA Council. In 1987, the Assembly for Scientific and Applied Psychologists (ASAP) formed to encourage APA reorganization, and in early 1988, the APA Council approved a reorganization plan; that plan was, however, rejected by the membership. In August 1988, the ASAP became the APS. The early years of the APS were shaped by challenges and successes that would lay the groundwork for the APS to become a prominent organization in the promotion of scientific psychology. An understanding of these events may provide insight into the nature of organized psychology and its future.