APS Presidential Columns
May/June 2021: The Societal Divide: What Can We Do About It?
Shinobu Kitayama explores the societal divides caused by socioeconomic class in a global context, along with its consequences and potential means of closing it.
March/April 2021: Innovative Methods and Scientific Progress
Methodological innovations provide scientists with fresh ways of addressing the mysteries of the human mind.
January/February 2021: Perspectives and the Truth: Another Case for Diversity and Inclusion
Analyzing the mind as a computer has proved highly generative, but it may also overlook its interdependence with the environment, writes APS President Shinobu Kitayama.
December 2020: What is Systemic about Systemic Racism?
In addressing the United States’ entrenched racism, APS President Shinobu Kitayama reflects on the social institutions that undergird it and the pioneering researcher who fought for the cause of documenting and understanding Black lives.
October 2020: Psychological Science in the Era of Infectious Disease
Amid the continuing spread of COVID-19, APS President Shinobu Kitayama argues that three collective level dynamics—risk assessment, selfish versus prosocial motivations, and interpersonal relationships—powerfully influence the spread of the virus.
Read or listen to a virtual roundtable discussion of this topic, which includes panelists Robert Roy Britt, Wendy Wood, and Shinobu Kitayama.
September 2020: The Open-Access Model of Journal Publishing
APS President Shinobu Kitayama explores the benefits and ideals of the open-access model, the two main prototypes of open-access journals, and the very real costs and other challenges associated with producing them.
Read or listen to a virtual roundtable discussion of this topic, which includes panelists Ayse Uskul, Daniel Simons, Susan Fiske, and Yoshi Kashima.
July/August 2020: Open Society and Open Mind
In his first column as APS President, University of Michigan Professor Shinobu Kitayama lays out three steps toward creating a truly open psychological science and enabling the field to play a more significant role in addressing the urgent issues facing society.