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Applied Psychology Center

The Applied Psychology Center

The Applied Psychology Center (APC) is a non-profit organization within the Department of Psychology whose mission is to foster applied research addressing important social problems.  Founded in 1986 by a grant from the Ohio Board of Regents, the APC is maintained through extramural grant support awarded to department faculty.

The APC is founded on the belief that psychological science can make a special contribution to society.  Psychology can aid our understanding of the interaction between people and social institutions, identifying how individuals learn and develop, how they confront and are affected by demands across the lifespan, and how they sustain physical and mental health.  Psychology can aid our understanding of multicultural processes and gender issues and can help support individuals within families, work, and society at large.

The APC seeks to promote these efforts through its involvement in three major kinds of activities:

1. Providing critical resources to faculty and students who are engaged in state-of-the-art applied research.
2. Fostering ongoing collaborative relationships between the University and the community.
3. Making a positive impact on the University and the community by providing consultation and expertise on social problems and issues.

Kent Psychology Forum

The APC sponsors the annual Kent Psychology Forum, which brings together international experts and key community members to discuss topics of important social concern.  Each forum culminates in the publication of an edited volume.  These forums place the Applied Psychology Center and the Department of Psychology into an international leadership role in the advancement of the science and practice of psychology.

Past APC forums have culminated in the publication of the following books:

• Akamatsu, T. J., Stephens, M. A. P., Hobfoll, S.E., & Crowther, J.H. (Eds.) (1992). Family Health Psychology. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
• Ben-Porath, Y., Graham, J. R., Hall, G. C., Hirschman, R. D., Zaragoza, M. S. (Eds.) (1995).  Forensic Applications of the MMPI-2.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Contreras, J. M., Kerns, K. A., & Neal-Barnett, A. M. (Eds.) (2002).  Latino Children and Familes in the United States: Current Research and Future Directions.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
• Crowther, J. H., Tennenbaum, D. L., Hobfoll, S. E., & Stephens, M. A. P. (Eds.) (1992).  The Etiology Of Bulimia Nervosa: The Individual And Familial Context.  Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
• Danks, J. H., Shreve, G. M., Fountain, S. B., & McBeath, M. K. (Eds.) (1997).  Cognitive Processes in Translation and Interpreting.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Delahanty, D. L. (Ed.). (in preparation). PTSD Across the Lifespan.
• Fountain, S. B., Bunsey, M. D., Danks, J. H., & McBeath, M. K. (Eds.) (2001).  Animal Cognition and Sequential Behavior: Behavioral, Biological, and Computational Perspectives.  Springer.
• Kerns, K. A. & Richardson, R. A. (Eds.). (2005). Attachment in Middle Childhood. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
• Kerns, K. A., Contreras, J. M., & Neal-Barnett, A. M. (Eds.) (2000).  Family and peers: Linking Two Social Worlds.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
• Levin, D., (Ed.). (2003). Visual Metacognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Neal-Barnett, A. (Ed.). (in preparation). Identity, Discrimination and Well-being.
• Neal-Barnett, A. M., Contreras, J. M., & Kerns, K. A. (Eds.) (2001).  Forging Links: African American Children Clinical Developmental Perspectives.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
• Stephens, M. A. P., Crowther, J. H., Hobfoll, S. E., & Tennenbaum, D. L. (Eds.) (1990).  Stress And Coping In Later Life Families.  Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
• Wildman, B. G. & Stancin, T., (Eds.). (2004). New Directions for Research and Treatment of Pediatric Psychosocial Problems in Primary Care. Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing.
• Zaragoza, M. S., Graham, J. R., Hall, G. C., Hirschman, R., & Ben-Porath, Y. (Eds.) (1994).  Memory and Testimony in the Child Witness.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.