Newsletter
Volume 29 | 2006 | Number 1
APA Division 33: Behavioral Science and Practice in Developmental Disabilities
By James A. Mulick, Ph.D., Division 33 Representative
to the APA Council of Representatives
Division 33, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities endeavors to advance psychology, based on scientific inquiry and high standards of practice in the treatment of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The Division has six special interest groups: autism spectrum disorders, behavior modification and technology, dual diagnosis, early intervention, aging and adult development, and making the transition into adulthood. Members receive the newsletter Psychology in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities three times per year. Members learn about funding and other opportunities through the division’s listserv. It was founded and recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA) as a Division in 1973.
The description above is adapted from the APA Division 33 Web site at http://www.apa.org. The divisions of APA represent the specialty interests of psychologists and are a part of the governance structure of the Association. Originally considered one of the “science” divisions of APA because members were primarily involved in the study of mental retardation, division interests became more diverse with the emergence of behavioral treatment approaches. Behavioral approaches emerged as the dominant mode of teaching, habilitative training, therapy for behavior problems, and now early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI). The membership of the division correspondingly shifted to include more licensed psychologists actively providing clinical and behavioral services on a full- or part-time basis to people with developmental disabilities and their families and consulting with schools and related service agencies. At present, APA considers Division 33 both a science and a practice division, and the Division maintains active liaisons with both the Science and the Practice Directorates of APA. Nevertheless, many members of the division remain full-time researchers and teachers, especially in areas of psychopharmacology, cognitive and behavioral development, neurodevelopmental processes, family and social processes, clinical psychology, and educational psychology. This makes for a rich set of perspectives in which to consider the many aspects of functioning that are affected by, and that might be causally related to, mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.
Donald K. Routh (1998), a past President of Division 33, wrote a succinct history of the Division in the third volume of an official APA history series. He traced the emergence of mental retardation-related research from the very beginnings of psychology as a professional discipline, beginning with the first prototype clinical internship in psychology established by Henry H. Goddard at the Vineland Training School in New Jersey, to its early focus on cognitive and behavioral growth and its measurement, through the importance of students of mental retardation in the formation of earlier Divisions, including those prominent in Division 12 (Clinical), Division 7 (Developmental), Division 16 (School), Division 22 (Rehabilitation), and Division 25 (Behavior Analysis). Beginning in the mid-1980s, individuals prominent in behavioral psychology began to assume the leadership of Division 33, including Stephen R. Schroeder, Donald K. Routh, Johnny L. Matson, Travis L. Thompson, Richard M. Foxx, Brian A. Iwata, James A. Mulick, John W. Jacobson, Judeth E. Favell, Michael F. Cataldo, and Bruce L. Baker. The highest award presented by Division 33 is the Edgar A. Doll Award, given for outstanding contributions to the field of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Recipients have included many who are equally familiar to students of behavior, including Alfred A. Baumeister, Nathan H. Azrin, O. Ivar Lovaas, Stephen R. Schroeder, Donald M. Baer, Todd R. Risley, and Travis Thompson.
In recent years, Division 33 has co-sponsored paper sessions and symposia with Division 25 (Behavior Analysis). There is a long history of inter-divisional collaboration with behavior analysts actively engaged in other APA divisions. Perhaps the most important collaborative achievement has been the sponsorship by Division 33, in collaboration with ABA, AABT, Division 25, and other interested parties in the recognition of a specialty in Behavioral Psychology as a professional specialty area (i.e., like Clinical, Counseling, Industrial/Organizational, and School Psychology, the so-called BIG FOUR professional specialties). This recognition permits graduate programs and internship programs to seek accreditation as “APA Approved” training programs in Behavioral Psychology. John W. Jacobson was the lead officer for Division 33 and authored the first draft of the enabling resolution. James A. Mulick, the Division’s Council Representative, took the finished resolution to the APA Council of Representatives, where it was finally approved.
Looking to the future, a recent APA Monitor article noted that Division 33 has launched a membership drive to draw more members and graduate students interested in autism spectrum disorders to the division. “Some of the most exciting, creative research happening anywhere is happening in autism,” says Division 33 Past-President Sara Sparrow, Ph.D., of the Yale University Child Study Center. “Psychologists who work with autism need a forum at APA and…we should be it.”
With diagnosis of autism rising at increasing rates — some sources estimate diagnosed cases are increasing at a rate of 10 to 17 percent per year — more psychologists are working in the area. Professor Sparrow asserted in the Monitor article that she’d like to see all psycologists working in autism, whether it’s in genetics, neuroscience, psychopharmacology, clinical research, or behavioral intervention, add their expertise to Division 33. To accomplish their goal, division officers, members, and graduate student members are reaching out to potential members and showcasing autism research in the convention programs. In related activities, Division 33 is also highlighting its members’ roles in shaping social policy. Qualified members are providing expert opinion in court cases that involve adults and children with autism, mental retardation, and other developmental disabilities.
Reference
Routh, D. K. (1999). A History of Division 33 (Psychology in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) (pp. 117-142). In D. A. Dewsbury (Ed.), Unification through division: Histories of the divisions of the American Psychological Association (Vol. III). American Psychological Association: Washington, D.C.