Department of Psychology
Societies
Australian Psychological Society
The basic requirement for becoming registered as a psychologist in NSW is a four-year university degree in psychology plus two years supervised experience or a two-year postgraduate degree. For admission to membership of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), which amounts to recognition of full professional status, six years of academic training (a four-year university degree plus a two-year postgraduate degree) is required.
The undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered at Macquarie provide the academic training for qualification as a professional psychologist.
Some societies of interest to psychology students
This listing was actually produced as a booklet dated June 1996. Some facts such as fees and addresses are likely to be out of date now.
The following lists some scholarly societies that psychology students may wish to know about. The information given is the name of the society, a contact address, how much the annual subscription is (if I know this), and a brief description. In Australia alone, there are hundreds of societies participating in scholarly or professional activity; the list here is a small sample only.
At present, entry into fourth years of study accredited by the Australian Psychological Society is pretty competitive, and some students are very disappointed when they are not accepted. One reason for compiling this information was to broaden students' perceptions of the possible specialisations and careers open to them - there are many in which psychology is useful!
There are two main types of scholarly society.
- Some societies are open to more or less anyone with a serious interest in the subject. To other people, being a member demonstrates that you have that interest (but it doesn't do any more than that).
- Other societies either set examinations themselves or accredit examinations set by universities. In this case, membership of the society becomes regarded as a qualification, in much the same way that a university degree is.
Some societies have both a general grade of membership (for anyone), and a professional grade (only for those who are properly qualified). In all types of society, it is common for students to be offered a reduced subscription rate.
What are the usual activities of scholarly societies? Some societies have only a few dozen members and are run by volunteers, others have tens of thousands of members and a large full-time staff. The range of activities they can provide for their members varies accordingly. But a typical list of activities would include: a monthly lecture meeting; an annual conference; a newsletter; a journal; committees and working parties on specialist issues. Even quite a passive member benefits through the interest aroused by the newsletter and the people met at meetings, and a member who actively contributes benefits still more.
As implied already, this booklet does not aim to do more than give an indication of the range of societies that exist. How can one find out about others? There are several directories that list many more societies; for example: Directory of Australian Associations, Australian Directory of Academic and Research Associations, Encyclopedia of Associations, Yearbook of International Organizations, The IUPsyS Directory: Major Research Institutes and Departments of Psychology, and British Qualifications. Also, one can search the World Wide Web. A listing of web pages of scholarly interest is at: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/overview.html. And a listing of webpages of specifically psychological ones is at http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/psychol_soc.html or http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/psy.html
I apologise for any mistakes and omissions. If you would like to tell me how this information could be improved, please contact me at the address below. Finally, I would like to thank Ms. A MacKenzie for her help in making enquiries of the societies, and the societies themselves for responding.
T P Hutchinson
Department of Psychology
Macquarie University
Sydney, N.S.W. 2109
Australia
Email: phutchin@bunyip.bhs.mq.edu.au
Alzheimer's Association N.S.W.
P O Box 42, North Ryde, N.S.W. 2113, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $10.
Offers support services to people with dementia and their carers. Members are mainly family carers of a person with dementia, plus a number of health care professionals whose interests are in this area.
Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Dr. K Warburton, Department of Zoology, University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia.
This society is said to be very friendly to students.
Australian Association of Speech and Hearing
212 Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia.
Membership (p.a.): $125 ($50 for students taking an approved undergraduate course of training in speech pathology).
The national scientific and professional standards body for the speech pathology profession.
Australian Entomological Society
Dr. G Taylor, Department of Crop Protection, University of Adelaide (Waite Campus), Glen Osmond, S.A. 5064, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $50 ($25 for students). Membership is open to both professional and amateur entomologists and acarologists.
Australian Institute of Training and Development
P O Box 1446, Chatswood, N.S.W. 2057, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $140 ($70 for students).
For people in the training and human resources development professions, whether this involves detailed technical instruction or analysis of evaluations from a programme. Members may be employed with private consultants, government, large corporate bodies, universities, and so on.
Australian Music Therapy Association
18 Collins Street, Box Hill, Victoria 3128, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $48.
For health professionals, educators, etc. interested in music therapy. Also, a professional grade of membership for Registered Music Therapists. (Music therapy is the planned and creative use of music to attain and maintain health and well-being.)
Australian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs
P O Box M53, Missenden Road, Camperdown, N.S.W. 2050, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $115 or $75, depending on your income.
For those with a professional involvement in the field of alcohol- and drug-related problems.
Australian Psychological Society
P O Box 126, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $225 ($56.25 for students).
This is the main organisation representing the science and profession of psychology in Australia, with more than 10500 members. Psychologists normally have a minimum of four years tertiary academic training plus a further two years of supervised experience. This is the requirement for registration by most state/territory Registration Boards throughout Australia, and also for full membership of the APS. Most employers advertising for Psychologists require them to be eligible for either State Registration or full membership of the APS. Increasingly, postgraduate study is being required for most specialisations of psychology. The APS has extended the training component required for full membership to a six-year sequence effective from 1 January 2000. Pass degree graduates are not eligible to register or practice as Psychologists, but they may have a number of employment options where their range of skills is useful - for example, in research, interviewing, human resources, and administration.
Among the specialisations within psychology are the following:
- Clinical psychologists are concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of a wide range of psychological and general health problems involving adults, children, and families.
- Clinical neuropsychologists specialise in the assessment and diagnosis of brain impairment and how this affects thinking skills, emotions, behaviour, and personality. They are also involved in the rehabilitation and management of the effects of brain impairment.
- Community psychologists are mainly concerned with community issues and with creating social change to prevent or ameliorate human problems.
- Counselling psychologists provide assessment, counselling, and therapy to individuals, couples, families, groups, and organisations.
- Educational and developmental psychologists provide assessment, intervention, and counselling services relevant to the management of developmental and educational issues across the lifespan. Specialisations include: life span transitions, early intervention, disability, problems of learning and adjustment in schools, career and family development, and ageing.
- Forensic psychologists apply psychological knowledge to assessment, intervention, and research in the context of the legal and criminal justice system.
- Organisational psychologists are concerned with people functioning effectively in relation to their working environments. Their areas of expertise include recruitment and selection, training, appraisal and review, vocational guidance and career development, industrial relations, occupational health and safety, planning technological and organisational change, organisational behaviour, ergonomics, job redesign, and marketing.
- Sport psychologists provide psychological assistance to people involved in sport and exercise at all levels, who are seeking to function more effectively through enhanced achievement, enjoyment, and social interaction.
- And there are academic psychologists and research psychologists, also.
Australian Quadriplegic Association
P O Box 397, Matraville, N.S.W. 2036, Australia.
Provides a number of services to people with severe physical disabilities.
Australian Society for Operations Research, Sydney Chapter
Mr. R Tse, P O Box 409, Gordon, N.S.W. 2072, Australia.
Broadly, operations research is the application of mathematical and scientific tools to problems met in industry, commerce, and the public services. ("Management science'' refers to much the same thing.)
Australian Society of Hypnosis, N.S.W. Branch
P O Box 725, Newtown, N.S.W. 2042, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $140.
Membership is only open to registered psychiatrists, medical practitioners, dentists, and psychologists. They join as associate members; full membership is achieved after successful completion of a three-stage examination, full members being then awarded the Diploma of Clinical Hypnosis by the Society. A member would utilise hypnotherapy, when appropriate, for the treatment of a range of disorders and problems. These include smoking cessation, pain management, anxiety disorders, phobias, relaxation, weight control, habit control, PTSD's, and performance enhancement.
Australian Society of Indexers
G P O Box 1251, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Membership (p.a.): $40 ($20 for students).
Indexers are information professionals. They create back-of-book indexes, database indexes, magazine indexes. They work closely with publishers and authors. It is a fairly specialised job which requires lots of concentration and a quick hand at editing and choosing good terminology for a topic. Often indexers work alone. AusSI helps create links between these professionals.
British Society for Developmental Disabilities
5 Handsworth Drive, Birmingham B43 6ED, U.K. Membership (p.a.): £15.
For people having an interest in any aspect of developmental disabilities.
Colour Society of Australia, N.S.W. Division
B Powell, P O Box 272, Artarmon, N.S.W. 2064, Australia.
Membership of the Society is open to anyone having an interest in any aspect of colour. The N.S.W. Division meets at the Powerhouse Museum in the evening of the first Tuesday of each month (February-November, inclusive). These technical meetings cover all aspects of colour, including the physics, physiology, and psychology of colour in art, industry, and science.
Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration
P O Box 17301, Auckland 1130, New Zealand. Membership: N.Z.$65.
For school leaders, those who administer educational systems, and those who research/teach/write about educational management and administration.
Ergonomics Society of Australia
Canberra Business Centre, Bradfield Street, Downer, A.C.T. 2554, Australia.
Ergonomics integrates knowledge derived from the human sciences to match jobs, systems, products, and environments to the physical and mental abilities of people. ("Human factors'', "human engineering'', and "engineering psychology'' all mean much the same thing.) The emphasis in the early days of civilian ergonomics was on human productivity and work physiology; a little later, other objectives such as the provision of safer, healthier, and better quality working environments received emphasis. Today, ergonomics encompasses a diversity of interests, including: cognitive science, human-computer interaction, organisational design, and management. Ergonomics has contributed to the development of industrial workplaces, transportation, aerospace systems, office design, computer hardware and software, and consumer products. The ESA has special interest groups on: computer-human interaction, education, occupational rehabilitation, product ergonomics, and screen-based equipment.
Ergonomics Society of Singapore
Dr. Lim Kee Yong, School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798.
European Health Psychology Society
Dr. L Valach, PUPK, Murtenstrasse 21, 3010 Bern, Switzerland. Membership (p.a.): 400 Finnish marks (120 Finnish marks for students).
Health psychologists apply psychological principles to health promotion, management of illness, and the delivery of health care. Their work identifies concepts and strategies which can be used to intervene to maintain health (e.g., preventing the transmission of the HIV virus), manage illness (e.g., reduce anxiety before medical procedures, thus speeding recovery), and identify barriers to health care delivery (e.g., reasons why patients delay seeking treatment for symptoms of heart attack or cancer). Interventions are tested and incorporated into routine practice when proven effective. Health psychologists also teach psychological principles to other health professionals, e.g., doctors and physiotherapists. Full membership of the EHPS is available to all qualified psychologists whose work is in health psychology; student subscribership is available to postgraduate students of psychology.
Hong Kong Psychological Society
Mrs. C C Lu, Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
Has Divisions of Clinical Psychology and of Educational Psychology.
International Association for Cognitive Education
Dr. A F Ashman, Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre, University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$70 (U.S.$35 for students).
"Cognitive education'' refers to areas such as information processing mechanisms, higher cortical processes and functions, metacognition, planning and decision-making, the assessment of cognitive functions, the impact of injury or disease on cognitive performance, mediated learning in its various forms, and the social and personality aspects of cognitive functions. Psychologists involved in cognitive education cross many speciality areas. Some work as school or counselling psychologists in regular or special education. Some are teachers and researchers in universities and colleges. Others work in human services areas such as personnel, rehabilitation, medical, clinical, ageing, and therapy services. All are interested in promoting effective assessment and/or educational practices in the learning and problem-solving domains. Members have qualifications in disciplines such as psychology, education, speech pathology, occupational therapy, and medicine.
International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
Dr. J C Naidoo, Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo N2L 3C5, Canada. Membership (p.a.): Between U.S.$6 and U.S.$25, depending on your income.
Aims to facilitate communication among those interested in cross-cultural psychology.
International Association for the Study of Pain
909 NE 43rd Street (Suite 306), Seattle WA 98105-6020, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): Between U.S.$110 and U.S.$175, depending on your income (U.S.$40 for trainees).
Aims to encourage research of pain mechanisms and pain syndromes, and to help improve the management of patients with acute and chronic pain by bringing together basic scientists, physicians, and other health professionals. Regular membership is open to scientists, physicians, dentists, psychologists, nurses, physical therapists, and other health professionals actively engaged in pain research/diagnosis/treatment. The IASP has special interest groups concerned with: central pain; pain in childhood; clinical-legal aspects of pain; pain and the sympathetic nervous system; rheumatic pain.
International Association of Word and Image Studies
Prof. D Scott, Department of French, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland. Membership (p.a.): 50 Dutch guilders.
Aims to be an international forum where literary and art historians, and also psychologists, artists, educationalists, and design and publicity specialists, can meet and exchange ideas about the way the visual and the verbal work and interact, in the past and in the present, bringing to bear past and contemporary perspectives.
International Institute of Risk and Safety Management
National Safety Centre, Chancellors Road, London W6 9RS, U.K.
For those who have an interest in safety, risk management, and occupational health. Promotes the worldwide advancement of professional standards in these areas. The IIRSM is the examining body for British Safety Council training programmes.
International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling
H Z Hoxter, 7 Merlins Eyot, 11 Old Church Street, London SW3 5DL, U.K.
An international forum for the exchange of ideas, research findings, and professional experience in counselling. Themes of recent conferences have included: Counselling - the profession and the community, Counselling the disabled in their social environment, Student counselling in higher education, Counselling in the family, and Counselling and tolerance.
International School Psychology Association
Hans Knudsens Plads 1A (1st Floor), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Membership (p.a.): Between U.S.$40 and U.S.$70, depending on your income (U.S.$40 for students).
Promotes the use of sound psychological principles in education. Encourages cooperation among school and educational psychologists.
International Society for Applied Ethology
Dr. J Eddison, Department of Agriculture and Food Studies, University of Plymouth, Newton Abbot TQ12 6NQ, U.K. Membership (p.a.): £ 10.
Aims to encourage basic and applied research into the behaviour of animals as related to the use of animals by humans. This includes domestic, laboratory, zoo, pest, captive, and managed wild animals. The Society encourages links between applied animal behaviour science and other disciplines, and actively promotes the teaching of animal behaviour and welfare in courses of veterinary, agricultural, and companion animal studies. It also provides advice to various national legislative bodies on behaviour and welfare issues. Members of the Society work in various occupations, the majority being found in universities or research institutes; the range of research is very diverse, both in terms of species and topic (from the neuroendocrinological basis of behaviour to very applied field studies). Claims to be "a very friendly society that encourages student participation''.
International Society for Clinical Biostatistics
P O Box 25, 3480 Fredensborg, Denmark. Membership (p.a.): £15 (£7.50 for students).
Aims to stimulate research into the principles and methodology used in the design and analysis of clinical research, and to increase the relevance of statistical theory to the real world of clinical medicine. Membership is open to all with an interest in biostatistics.
International Society for Human Ethology
G E Weisfeld, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit MI 48202, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$25 (U.S.$10 for students).
Aims at promoting ethological perspectives in the scientific study of humans worldwide; encourages empirical research in all fields of human behaviour using the full range of methods developed in biology and the human behavioural sciences, and operating within the conceptual framework provided by evolutionary theory; aims at promoting the exchange of knowledge and opinions concerning human ethology with all the other empirical sciences of human behaviour.
International Society for Humor Studies
D L F Nilsen, Department of English, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ 85287-0302, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$60 (U.S.$50 for students).
The ISHS is for those who study any aspect of wit, satire, irony, and humour. All you need to join is an interest in humour studies.
International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development
C B Kopp, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles CA 90024-1563, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$72 (U.S.$32 for students).
Promotes the discovery, dissemination, and application of knowledge of human developmental processes at all stages of the life span - infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and old age. The Society has a particular interest in promoting the application of findings from behavioural development research to the improvement of the lives of people at all stages in the life span. Membership is open to persons who have completed postgraduate training in one of the biological, behavioural, or social sciences, and who are actively engaged in behavioural research on human developmental processes; there is also a student membership grade.
International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships
Ms. A Barbee, Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, Louisville KY 40292, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$40 (U.S.$34 for students).
Aims to stimulate scholarship and research on personal relationships, and to improve worldwide communication between researchers engaged in scientific study in this field. Members are from a wide range of disciplines, including communications, counselling, education, family and child development, gerontology, human sciences, psychology, anthropology, history, and sociology.
International Society of Political Psychology
Prof. G E Marcus, Department of Political Science, Williams College, Williamstown MA 01267, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$65 (U.S.$25 for students).F or those having a scientific interest in the relationship between politics and psychological processes - members include psychologists, political scientists, psychiatrists, historians, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, journalists, and government officials.
Motor Neurone Disease Association of NSW Inc
Concord Hospital, Hospital Road, Concord NSW 2139. Telephone 02 9743 5872
Assists people with Motor Neurone Disease and their families and carers by providing quality specialist support and other services, including hire of equipment. Also promotes research and community education.
Multiple Sclerosis Society of N.S.W.
Private Bag Q1000, Q.V.B., Sydney, N.S.W. 2000, Australia.
Assists people with multiple sclerosis (or allied neurological conditions), and their families and carers, by promoting research and community education, and by providing quality specialist support and other services.
New Zealand Ergonomics Society
W Simmers, 33 Monaghan Avenue, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand.
New Zealand Psychological Society
Dr. W Whittaker, P O Box 4092, 1 Edward Street, Wellington, New Zealand.
Public Health Association of Australia
G P O Box 2204, Canberra, A.C.T. 2601, Australia. Membership (p.a.): Depends on your income ($45 for those earning less tham $25000).
Members of the PHA are employed in a wide range of occupations - they include psychologists, social workers, epidemiologists, environmental scientists, health administrators, and librarians. Membership of the PHA, and involvement in its activities, provides an excellent opportunity for significant input into the development of policies on public health and related matters, both nationally and internationally.
Risk Engineering Society
K Foster, Consultel Australia Pty Ltd, P O Box 110, Yarralumla, A.C.T. 2600, Australia.
This is part of the Institution of Engineers Australia - but membership is open to nonmembers of IEAust, as well as to members.
Rural Sociological Society
R J Burdge, Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana IL 61801-4723, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$35 (International Associate) (U.S.$25 for students).
Promotes the study of rural life. Membership is open to anyone interested in the problems and issues confronting rural people and communities around the world. Many members are employed in universities, industry, government, and private agencies; there are also many student members. There are a number of special interest groups, including: family and household; health; racial and ethnic minorities.
SIGCHI
(Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction). ACM Member Services, 1515 Broadway (17th Floor), New York NY 10036-5701, U.S.A.
The focus of SIGCHI is on how people communicate and interact with computer systems, and it serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas among computer scientists, human factors scientists, psychologists, social scientists, systems designers, and end users.
Social Research Association
116 Turney Road, London SE21 7JJ, U.K. Membership (p.a.): £25 (£7 for students).
Aims: to provide a forum for discussion and communication about social research activity in all its areas of employment; to encourage the development of social research methodology, standards of work, and codes of practice; to review and monitor the organisation and funding of social research; to promote the development of training and career structures for social researchers; to encourage the use of social research for formulating and monitoring social policy. Membership is open to anyone interested in social research, including those in central and local government, higher education, market research, independent institutes, and those who are freelance consultants. Members' research interests are similarly wide-ranging, and include both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and subject areas as disparate as health, education, housing, media and communications, criminology, and employment.
Society for Judgment and Decision Making
Dr. I Levin, Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City IA 52242, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$20 (U.S.$5 for students).
This is an interdisciplinary organisation dedicated to the study of normative, descriptive, and prescriptive theories of decision.
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
H Reis, Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester NY 14627, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): U.S.$28 (U.S.$14 for students).
Fosters interaction among psychologists working in personality and/or social psychology.
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
P O Box 1248, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1248, U.S.A. Membership (p.a.): Between U.S.$12 and U.S.$75, depending on your income (U.S.$10 for students).
The Society provides an important avenue through which social scientists can apply their knowledge and insights to the critical problems of today. The membership includes social scientists with interest in applying psychological knowledge to social issues, along with psychologists and professionals from related disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics.
South-East Asian Ergonomics Society
Dr Guat-Lin Tan, Department of Building Science and Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Malaysia.
Statistical Society of Australia, N.S.W. Branch
Ms. J Kelly, AGB McNair, P O Box 507, North Sydney, N.S.W. 2059,Australia.
Membership (p.a.): $75 ($37 for students).
Many important decisions rely upon good numerical information. Knowing how to collect and interpret this - that's where the statistician can help. The SSA welcomes to its membership all those interested in statistics; it is considering proposals to introduce a professional grade of membership, similarto the Chartered Statistician grade in the "Royal Statistical Society."
Stress and Anxiety Research Society
Dr. D Hocevar, School of Education, University of Southern California, Los
Angeles CA 90089-0031,
U.S.A.
Membership (p.a.): U.S.$60.
For researchers interested in stress, coping, and anxiety.