Newsletter
Volume 30 | 2007 | Number 3
Funding Advocacy for the Behavioral Sciences
Since 1992, the Association for Behavior Analysis International has been a dues-paying member of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences (FBPCS). The Federation is an advocacy body of organizations interested in the behavioral sciences, located in Washington D.C. just a few miles from Capitol Hill. ABAI, jointly with 22 other scientific organizations, participates in Federation activities directly and through financial support to educate legislators and representatives from Federal funding institutes to influence legislation and encourage and promote funding for behavioral research.
ABAI supports the Federation on behalf of all of its members whose goal is to develop the basic science and to make sure that our technology has a solid scientific basis. As an example, in 2003, ABAI and the Federation co-sponsored a Forum on Research Management (FORM) on “Translating Basic Research into Application,” followed the next day by a congressional briefing “Using Science as a Basis of Behavior Change” (see Perone, 2003). ABA was represented by three NIH-funded researchers, Edmund Fantino, Kathryn Saunders, and Michael Perone, who addressed behavior analytic approaches to research to an audience that included staff representatives of Congress and Ph.D.-level scientists, many of whom with significant authority as program officers within federal granting agencies, including representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Senior Advisor at the National Science Foundation. The Federation sponsors these types of events regularly, either in cooperation with member organizations or independently; ABAI was the first Federation member to co-sponsor an event of this sort on the Hill, and looks forward to pursuing other opportunities of a similar nature.
Other advocacy efforts the Federation engages in are long-term in nature. For instance, since 2003, Congress has regularly attempted to defund peer reviewed research at the National Institutes of Health; in 2005, an amendment to a Senate bill was made instructing the National Science Foundation to direct its funding to mathematical, physical and engineering sciences and away from social and behavioral projects. Federation staff communicate directly, via mail, e-mail and in person, with congressional offices and Federal officials and agencies to protest such initiatives and educate about the importance of peer-reviewed behavioral research.
The Federation also works to keep scientists, both in academia and in the government, up to date about goings on in the field. It disseminates information to research scientists and other interested parties, as well as Federal agency representatives, about activity and opportunities on the Hill that is of interest to the behavioral community. One very regular update, available via e-mail to anyone interested, is the Federation Newsletter, which provides up to the minute information on Federation activities, funding opportunities and other relevant topics. For instance, one recent article was “NIH Seeks Info on Basic Behavioral Research: Request for Information to Solicit Input and Ideas on Priorities in Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.” This newsletter is full of the most current information about what is going on in Washington, D.C. as it relates to the field. Interested ABA members are strongly encouraged to subscribe. To do so, send an e-mail, with no text in the subject line to listserv@lists.apa.org. In the first line of text in the message, type SUB federationnewsletter Jane Doe (substituting your name for Jane Doe). The Federation also has the capability to send alerts about various critical deadlines and information about upcoming requests for proposals of interest to behavioral researchers. ABAI is currently investigating how the alert system can work most effectively for interested members.
The Federation’s annual meeting was held this past December 2-4. Kate Saunders and Maria Malott attended to represent ABAI. While in Washington D.C., participants had the opportunity to interact with representatives from other scientific organizations, among them the Behavior Genetics Association, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society, Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, American Educational Research Association, Psychonomic Society, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, and the Society for Industrial Organizations Psychology, to name just some. Speakers at the meeting included the Director of the Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education and the Deputy Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The meeting provided ample opportunity to explore ways in which science-based organizations can work together to promote behavioral and social sciences research to funding agencies and the U.S. government.
In order for ABAI to achieve advancements in the field, behavior analysis advocates need to address national policies and acquire funding for research. FBPCS is our voice in Washington, D.C., which presents ABAI’s views on issues of science policy, national support for research, and education and training in behavior analysis. We are delighted with the opportunities our association with the Federation and other member organizations affords us, and look forward to further opportunities to cooperate for the benefit of the science.