Enterprise at the 2016 APA Convention

Although I am a professor of communication, not psychology, I have attended and made presentations at several American Psychological conventions. Due to Elaine Clanton Harpine's connections, it has been my privilege to appear on the same panels as some of the nation's most prominent psychologists.

One obvious difference between the APA Convention and the National Communication Association Convention is that APA features much more commercial enterprise. Here are some observations about the 2016 APA Convention.

First, the first sight when one enters the exhibit hall is a large bookstore. APA has a substantial publication program. In addition to its extensive program of research-oriented psychology journals, APA publishes books on many psychology topics. They publish reference manuals, as well as books about therapy, social issues, and career advancement. They publish a substantial list of children's books. The bookstore also sells APA shirts, APA coffee mugs, APA pens, APA portfolios, and so forth. I imagine that this enterprise is profitable; also, the Association's program helps to spread psychological knowledge and publicize the association.

Bookstore at the 2016 APA Convention

Bookstore at APA Convention

Also, the APA exhibit hall features far more vendors than the NCA Convention. Although the publishing industry's consolidation has affected it severely, APA also attracts graduate schools, recruiters, and vendors of psychological programs. 

APA Exhibit Hall, 2016

Of course, I do need to brag about Elaine Clanton Harpine's latest book, Group-Centered Prevention in Mental Health, on the Springer table.

Springer Book Table

The APA Convention was a wonderful experience, and learning the perspective of a different social science has been very enlightening. Also see my posts about Student Presentations at APA and Communication Issues at the APA Convention.

Hillary Clinton's Anti-Trump Speech in Reno

The commentators have been busy talking about Hillary Clinton's Reno speech, in which she accused Trump of building on "dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far, dark reaches of the internet." Indeed, Trump has long dabbled in various conspiracy theories, most notably the idea that Barack Obama faked his birth certificate.

This speech's power came from two sources. First, she was speaking in Nevada, where Trump enjoys substantial support. The same speech, delivered in Massachusetts or California, would have less emotional impact. Second, she gave specifics. For example, she quoted exact headlines from Breitbart.com, headlines that Trump's new campaign manager, Stephen Bannon, presumably approved, such as: "Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?" Specifics help to prove a point, raising the speaker above the exchange of "he said, she said" accusations.

This speech leads me to think about the larger question about how to evaluate conspiracy theories. Some conspiracies are real, so how does the public tell real conspiracies from imaginary ones? I'll discuss that soon.

Student Presentations at the American Psychological Convention

The American Psychological Convention encourages student presentations. Elaine Clanton Harpine and I have been working with two wonderful University of South Carolina Aiken students who made presentations at APA in 2016. They discussed research from Elaine's reading clinic for at-risk students.

Shana Ingram had a short paper and gave a mini-talk at her poster. Shana's poster:

Collytte Cederstrom also had a short paper and mini-talk. Collytte's poster:

Here's the panel from our workshop, later in the convention, "Skill-Building Session: Bringing Research to Life--Integrating Science and Practice in Real-World Multicultural Settings." This was a collaborative program highlighted in the front sections of the convention program. We talked about bullying prevention, reading instruction in groups, and reducing aggression in schools.

Front, L-R: Shana Ingram, Elaine Clanton Harpine, Dorothy Espelage
Back, L-r: Collytte Cederstrom, William Harpine, Arthur Horne, Katherine Raczynski

Communication Issues at the American Psychological Convention: Dr. Irina Feygina and Climate Change Information

I recently returned from the American Psychological Convention, where I appeared on a panel with my spouse, Dr. Elaine Clanton Harpine. I'll give various impressions about the convention over the next few days.

Researchers in persuasive communication have long understood that audiences often reject uncomfortable claims that conflict with their prior beliefs. At the APA Convention, Dr. Irina Feygina of New York University made an important presentation about making climate change relevant to the public. Examining public reactions to messages about climate change, she emphasized how motivated reasoning affects people's evaluation of climate change messages. Although people often reason and communicate in ways that bolster the present system, the status quo is, unfortunately, harmful to the environment. Her research program finds that some people have a psychological tendency to bolster their beliefs in the status quo, a tendency that, unfortunately, is correlated with resistance to climate change information.

Working with the concept of "system justification," her research program yields many insights that would greatly help us communication scholars deepen our understanding of persuasive communication. In particular, her work could be generalized to help us understand better why and how audiences may reject well-supported information. Our communication research can, of course, get stuck in a rut, and new ideas like Feygina's can help to push us out. As a professor of communication, I do, of course, wish that Feygina were citing more research from communication journals. (Yes, sorry, I needed to say that). There is communication research to help us understand how politically-motivated mass-media communication  message can insulate people from critical thinking. For example, Michael Pfau et al.'s widely cited study about "The role and impact of affect in the process of resistance to persuasion" seems to offer insight into a similar theoretical point from a different perspective. Since most climate change information passes through the mass media, communication issues are surely a factor.

Feygina's presentation did, by the way, impress me in my role as a speech teacher: she spoke extemporaneously, clearly, and persuasively.

In general, I have now attended several APA conventions (alas, 2016 looks to be the last), and the cross-fertilization of ideas stimulates me every time. I certainly learned things from Feygina that I can incorporate into my own teaching and research.