T E X T OF W E k C O M E A N D I N T R O D U C T r O N S BY

CARL P F A F F M A N N

Brown University, USA

Members and Guests

It is an honor a.nd privilege as Chairman of the meeting to declare the 17th Imernational Congress of Psychology open, It is also my pleasure to extend a personal welcome to everyone and to wish each of you a pro- fitable and productive week of deliberation and friendly discourse with your colleagues from the world o~er,

You might be in~erested to know how many of you there zre. At ihc last accounting, there was a total of 1902 registrants from 45 countries. Amon/g you is a group ,of sonte 23 y o w g e r psychologists from as mway countries lo whom 1 would like to extend a particular welco~ne, l"hey are here on a special Travel Fund donated by American psychologists, individually and through their professional organizations ~md societies. The International Union eethasiastically endorsed the project with a comribut~on of their ov.n. Tt~e Canadian Psychological Association joined in the enterprise by sponsoring ~:L t~, yea grant for one of their younger members. The members of the Steering Committee join me in thanking tl,~e many donors who made the Young Psychologists Project poss; ,le.

i should like ',~ow to introduce a psychologist who just recently has attained higt~ office on the official scientific scene in Washington, Dr, John T. Wilson, t'~e new Depvty Director of the Nationai Science Foundation. The Foundation is one of the more recently established agencies of the U.S. government for the support of science, having been founced in 1950 by an act of Congress. From the first, psychology as a scientific discipline has been supp:~rted by that agency in its program of projects and grants. In addition to basic research itself and education in science, the National Science Foundation supports activities which aid in the interchange and dissemination of scientific information~ Indeed, we are grateful fo~ the support of the National Science Foundation as weft as of the National ~nstitute of Mental Health and the American Council of Learned Societies that helps make this meeting financially feasible.

Dr, Wilsor,, brings to the Congress greetings from the President of the United States:

-Z-

psychology and rela~ed behav ~ -rai science f ie lds ~z'e vi tal to the solut ion of the demanddng p r o b l e m s o~ m e n t a l r e t a rda t i on ~nd m e n t a l hea l th . It is ~ ¥ deep hope t2u%t this m e e t i n g wil l be fruit/u] and produclive, not only for [he period of its dmea- ~on, but J[or the years to ~olio~;.

Sincere ly ,

/~tr, Otto Kl inebe rg 17th Interm~tionai Congress o~

Psychology A/neric~a~ Psychological Association 1333 16t21 Street, INWI. "~rashington 6, D.C.

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

August 19, 1963

D e a r Mr. K l i n e b e r g :

I t ~s a g r e a t p i e a s u z e to g r e e t the m e m b e r s of t he I n t e r n a - t i o n a l C o n g r e s s o£ P s y c h o l o g y w h o s e w o r k in t /m p a s t a n d whose professional endeavors in the future represent an opportunity fO= man to increase his capacities %~hrough self- awareness, the expansion of his intellectual abilities and an incxeased understanding of human behavior and the hu~nan ~nind.

I n o t e w i t h s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t t h a t a s e g m e n t of y o u r progran~ deals with the subject of mental retardation. The mentally retarded--victims of both intellectual and ernotionai disa- biiities, still await major contributions that the behavioral scientists can make.

There is st~ll a long way to go in the investigation of social

and ~:ultural f~ctors as possible causes of mental retarda- tion and in testing the effectiveness of special educational and voc~tional training programs for the mentally retarded.

There i:3 a vast need for the early identification of n~ental ret~rdaion a~,d of conditions leading to it. ]~he special training and orientation of the psychologist mak~=os hin~ an essential member of the clinical end research tea~=.Is re- qllired for ~She full exploration of cause and prevention fac- tors in mental, retardation,

Your d i s c i p l i n e e n c o m p a s s e s a w ide r a n g e , e x t e n d i m g f r o m the b i o c h e m i c a l b a s e s to ~he s o c i a l d e * ~ r x n i n a n t s o f b e h a v i o r . A l t h o u g h p r o g r e s s h a s b e e n made~ f u r t h e r a d v a n c e s i n

OPENING SESSION 5

founded in file administrat ion of President Lincoln, just a century ago this year, during the dark days of our Civil War ',o advise the Fe~lcral Govern- ment on matters related to science. AI the present tithe, 671 of America~s leading scientists have been elected to n-cmbership in the Academy. Psy- chology is one of the 14 official sections ~ f "he Ac,-0omy. This psychologicA section is currently composed of 24 Members :from Arneiica and 4 Foreign Associates. Those of you who have not visited Washington before may bc interested in seeing the white m a r n e building of the Academy at 2!~t Street and Consti tut!on Avenue. It has been characterized as one of the most handsome buildings of this city and is in a real ser,~e one c,¢ the grea;, centers of our Nation 's work in ;all branci~_s ol science.

This ceremony also allows me to greet you in ehc name of the Smith- sonian Institution. The Smithsonian ia the truest sense has an international basis. As our Cha i rman has said, it was founded, as you have heard, by James Smithson, a distinguished English1 scie.dist and a Fellow of the Royal Society, who bequeathed to the Insti tution what was for the time his very large for tune to establish an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. "~ 7"he members of this Congress who arc interested in animal beh:tvior will find at the National Zoological Park of the Smithsonian Institutiop one of the world's very good collections of living animals. The Naturai Hi,~tory Museum of ~he Smithsonian Institution is a large research center ai~d it also has extensive exhibits related to zoology and anthropology, There is a special exhibit now on display at the Smith- sonian which was organized in hon3r of the sixteenth International Con- gress .of Zoology, which is, as you know, meeting here simultaneously with our Congress. The members of the seventeenth International Congress of Psychology arc equally invited to thi,; exhibiL I should like to emphasize that all members and their friends of this International Congress are indeed most welcome at aty¢ part of the Smithsoniun.

1 , m especially happy that the Congress is to have a special evening at the Nat ional Galler,:' of Art on Thursday, A,dgust 22, from 9:00-1 l:()t) p.m. This great Amer ican National Gallery of Art is, we are proud to say, also a bureau of the Smithsonian. so ofqcially ti~e Smithsonian will have a part in your enter ta inment while you are here.

Psychological science, as we all know. plays a , , rge and growing role in many aspects of the operations of the ,Government of the Ui~ited States. There arc over 500 professional psychologist:~ now working in the Washing- ton area alone and many other (_iovcrnmcnt psychologists in other parts of the country. Some of these psychologists are connected with our distin- guished local universities, with our Depar tment of Defense including the Arm}', the Navy and the Air Force, with the Depar tment of Health, Education and Welfare and its great National Institutes of Health which inc]z~des the Natiom,l Institute of Ment'~l Heat*h and the Nation~l Institute

6 OP~N~G SESSION

of Neurology and Blir~dness. Many Washington: psychologL~ts are also associzaed professionally with the District of Columbia public schools, the great St. Elizabeths Mer~tal Hospital, the National Science Fout;dation, the National A,;ro'~autics and Space Agency, the National Bureau of Standards, the United States Civil Service Commission, the United States Employment Service, the United States ,Office of Education and many other Federal and non-Government agencies. These organizations and their psychological staff members join in this evening's greeting.

The scientific programs of the Congress will, l am afraid, occupy nearly .~!1 of the time of the members of the Congress, but I should like to remark tb:.:: you all will be ho~,ore~ guests if you visit any of the many important mrJs,,ums, art galleries, libr;~ri,~s and other cultural institutions of the com- mumty while your are ~,ere in other words, professional and scientific col- leagues in the study ot huma~a and animal mental life, you are most wel- cow.e here m Washington! There have been sixteen previous inLternational ¢o~gress¢':s of psychology and all of us who live and work in thi.s city want to do every',hing that we can to make this seventeenth Congress scien- tifically significant and persor~ally pleasant for each colleague in attendance!

CARL PF~FFMAN

As ~'ou know, tt;e actual ho:~t for the ~nternational Congress is the Psy- chological Association of the counti y where it facets. The host for this Con- gress is ehe American Psychc~!cgical Association, founded in the year 1892. The Steering Committee for this Congress acts as an agent of the A. P. A., whose Pr~.sident for the ,,'ea~ 1962-63 is Dr. Charles E. Osgood, pr ~fessor of psychology and Director :,f the Institute for Commun;cations Research of the U~i~ersity of Illinois.

I)r. Osgoc~d's research on communication and the ~emant~c diffe~'~ntial has led him t.~ the broad interm~tional arena for subject matter and suEiects. Some of you may have worked with him on that project., He ha2~ only iust returncd from ~. journey abroad in connection with these studies. He is iaere for this Congre,~.~ and will be at the A.P.A. convention that meets ted days hc1~ce in Philadelphia. Some of you, 1 am told, will have the enduranc~ to attend ti~at also. ~t is my great pleasure to introduce the President of the Americ:~r~ Psychok~gical Association, Dr. Charles Osgood.

(Charles Osgood's remarks not available)

CABL PFAFFMAN

Planning and orgm:,izing s~lch a meeting as this requires the dedicated help of many individuals. Art this time, I should like to acknow!edge the help of all tho~e who have assisted in ~hi.~ ~.~dert~king. I wou~d like to express appreciation to tt:~e Central Office of the A. P. A. under Dr. Arthur Brayfield, the Executive Officer, and to Dr. Jack Darley, his predecessor,

OPENING S~SSION 7

who held that position when our Steering Commit tee first began its task. The work of the Steering Commit tee would ilave been impossible wifl~oat the Secretariat under the capable direction o~ Miss Melanie Himmelszohs.

The core of any scientific meeting lies in i~s program and I would hke to acknowledge the work of Dr. Donald Marquis, his Comnaitte¢ and his excellent group of program organizers. I sho~dd like to call your attention to the Internat ional Congress of Zoology, wMch is meeting concurrently in Washington, D. C. Several of their program sessions on behavior may be of interest to you. The Program Commit tee has arranged reciprocity between the two meetings so that your badge w:il! admit you to their sessions.

I wi~h to express appreciat ion to Dr. Charles W. Bray and his Commit tee who have seen to the many details of local arrangements. Washington, besides being the center of government , has many attractions whicb we hope you may have the occasion to sample. He has arranged othe~ activities for 3'our extracarr icular pleasure and interest. We also hope tha: whatever co:nfort the local weather does not provide can be ameliorated m part by air conditioning, with which all of the meeting rooms and most public: buiklings are equipped. I should like also t:o laud the patience of Dr. Meredith Ct'awford, Cha i rman of the Finance CommiRee, who L.as kept a careful but not too jaundiced eye on our planning.

And now I should like to tm'n to the International Union of Scientific Psychology itself, for whom, in the last analysis, we have al! been workin::,,. Its President, Professor Otto Klineberg, has had a long connection with the Union. Prior to his election as Pre,,ident he served it well as i:s Szc:etarv-'General. [:or many years, he was associated with C o l m n b a University, where he served through the grades to full professor. Tbere. he was Cha i rman of the Depar tment of Social P~ychoiogy. ~'urrently, he is Professor at the Sorbonne, the University of Paris, a rare distipction for someone from this side of the Atbn t i c . Professor Kiineberg ls~ an inter- nat ional sc;entis~, not only in the subject matter of his research but in his concern for and active interest in internatiom,l scientific aftairs and their reievance for the welfare of man.

It is an h, ,nor to introduce President Otto Klineberg. President of the International Union.

(Otto Klineberg's r,.marks not available)

CARL PFAFFM AN

And now 1 have the honor to present the Honorary President of ~:hc Congress, Professor Edwin G. Boring, long-time member of the Harvard faculty and now Edgar Pierce Professor Emeritus. Professor Boring, as one of psychology's elder statesmen, was awarded the gold medal of the American Psychological Founda~.ion in 1959. I shall not enumerate all

O~'ENING SESSION

the things he has done in his distinguished career. But to turn historicali for a moment~ which might be presumptuous of me in Professor Boring'~ presence, it is interesting that his scholarly History o] Exp~'rimentai! Psychology made its first public appearance in a specially bound volume at the 9th International Congress. That Congress, you will remember, was held in t929 in the United States at New Haven, Co~ecticut, and P~°ofessor Boring was Secretary of that Congress.

In the ensuing years there flowed from his prolific pep experimental studies and scholarly works. He celebrated, in 1955, his approach to, "~Emeritus" by launching a new venture, Conteml)(rary Psycholo~.,y, the jot~rnal of reviews. And he continues now an v.c6ve editorial at d writing career..As a master of style and expo::i~9~- of the history of psychology and the p.,,ychology of history, he recalls us to our ~:.aolarly tradition. We are ho~ored tonight to have him as our Honorary President. His address bears the intriguing title, "Eponym as Placcbo."

P~esident Boring.