Why do names tend to be harder to recall than other words? Are more men “putting off adulthood” than before? How can therapists go beyond virtual reality to treat phobias? Why do sad people buy more junk? How does the look of a psychologist’s office affect how a client feels about therapy? Answers to these questions and more were among the insights, new research and novel ideas presented at the 2013 APA Annual Convention earlier this month in Honolulu. 

Approximately 11,000 individuals traveled to Hawai’i to network with their fellow psychology researchers, practitioners and students, as well as participate in nearly 900 programs, sessions, social hours and other events over the five-day convention. Other activities included the APA Island Luau, Ray’s Race 5k Run and Walk, speed mentoring and the PsycCareers LIVE job fair.

APA’s Office of Public Affairs promoted research presented at the convention with news releases and advisories on: 

• encouraging more children in to go into science, technology, education and mathematics; 
• helping patients with autism improve social skills; 
• Hawaiian mental health issues; 
• innovative techniques to help smokers quit; 
• teen dating violence; 
• social isolation and risky financial decisions; 
• repeat bullying and later legal consequences; 
• perceptions of multiracial people and 
• how unborn babies are affected by sugar and fat in the mother’s diet. 

Attendees received on-the-scene news and updates through APA’s convention blog.

APA President Donald N. Bersoff, PhD, JD, presented Antonette Zeiss, PhD, the 2013 APA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology for her ongoing work with and commitment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as for her research and work in geropsychology. A posthumous presidential award went to Albert Ellis, PhD, considered to be the father of cognitive behavioral therapies, marking what would have been his 100th birthday. Barry Scheck, JD, the creator of the Innocence Project, delivered a keynote address about using scientific and psychological evidence to reverse wrongful convictions and correct systematic defects in the criminal justice system.

See a selection of photos from the 2013 convention on APA’s Facebook page and watch the APA video presented at the opening session:

APA’s next convention is scheduled for Aug. 7-10, 2014, in Washington, D.C.