Report of the One
Hundred and Second Annual Meeting
The One Hundred
and Second Annual SSPP meeting was held April 15-17, 2010, at the Peachtree
Westin Hotel in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Ken Aizawa (Centenary College of
Louisiana) managed local arrangements.
Dr. Daniel
Weiskopf (Georgia State University) chaired the philosophy program
committee. The philosophy program consisted of 58 papers, 42 with
commentaries, in 22 sessions with 6 invited sessions. 68 colleges,
universities, and other institutions were represented.
Dr. Lauren
Taglialatela (Kennesaw State University) chaired the psychology program
committee. The psychology program consisted of 54 papers in 17 sessions
with 4 invited sessions and 2 Key Barkley Symposia on the History of
Psychology. 36 colleges, universities, and other institutions were
represented.
The President’s
Invited Speaker was Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett (Boston College). Her talk was
“Mapping Mind to Brain.” The Society’s annual business meeting was a
plenary session.
Each year, the
SSPP bestows the Richard M. Griffith Memorial Award to members or applicants
for membership who are doctoral candidates or have received the doctoral
degree within the last five years. The Griffith Award Committee selects the
philosopher and the psychologist who give the papers of highest merit. Dr.
Ken Aizawa (Centenary College of Louisiana) chaired the Griffith Committee
for Philosophy, which recognized Theodore Bach (University of Connecticut)
for his paper, “The Objects of Pretense.” Dr. Hajime Otani (Central
Michigan University) chaired the Griffith Committee for Psychology, which
recognized Justin Couchman (University of Buffalo, SUNY) for his paper
“Beyond Stimulus Cues and Reinforcement Signals: A New Approach to Animal
Cognition.” The award carries a $300 cash prize and commemorative
paperweight.
Graduate Student
Travel awards in philosophy were given to Victor Kumar of the University of
Arizona for his paper, “Does the Evidence of Psychopathy Support Internalism?”
and Serife Tekin of York University for his paper, “Self, Narrative, Mental
Disorder.” Graduate Student Travel awards in psychology were given to
Estella Liu of the University of Buffalo, SUNY for her paper (co-authored
with Barbara Church, Itzel Orduña & Eduardo Mercado), “Behavioral and
Electrophysiological Effects of Progressive Training on Auditory
Discrimination,” Jonathan Phillips of Yale University for his paper “Moral
Responsibility and Third-Party Intentions,” (co-authored with Alex Shaw),
and Matthew Wisniewski of the University of Buffalo, SUNY for his paper
(co-authored with Barbara Church and Eduardo Mercado), on “Temporal Dynamics
of Learning-Related Shifts in Generalization.”
Council
recommended approval of 6 applicants for full membership, 1 emeritus, and 8
applicants for associate membership in Philosophy. These applications were
approved unanimously. Council recommended approval of 2 applicants for full
membership and 4 applicants for associate membership in Psychology. These
applications were approved unanimously.
Secretary,
Treasurer, and Committee Reports were presented. Ken Aizawa announced that
the site of the 103rd Annual SSPP Meeting in 2011 will be in New Orleans,
Louisiana at the Hotel Monteleone.
The following
officers were elected at the 2010 business meeting: Dr. David Smith
(University of Buffalo), President-Elect; Dr. Lori Schmied (Maryville
College), Secretary; Dr. Nicholas Von Glahn (California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona), Council for Psychology, and Dr. Carrie Figdor
(University of Iowa), Council for Philosophy.
Continuing
officers are Dr. John Monahan (Central Michigan University), Past-President;
Dr. Thomas Polger (University of Cinncinnati), President; Dr. Michael Beran
(Georgia State University), Treasurer; Dr. Chase Wrenn (University of
Alabama), and Dr. Gualtiero Piccinini (University of Missouri, St. Louis),
Council for Philosophy; Lauren Taglialatela (Kennesaw State University) and
Leslee Pollina (Southeast Missouri State University), Council for
Psychology; Dr. Kenneth Aizawa (Centenary College of Louisiana), Philosophy
Archivist, and AAAS representative; and Dr. James Pate (Georgia State
University), Psychology Archivist and AAAS representative. Dr. Michael
Beran is current Webmaster.
Retiring officers
are Dr. Ken Aizawa (Centenary College of Louisiana), Past-President; Dr.
Carl Gillet (Northern Illinois University), Council for Philosophy, and Dr.
William McDaniel (Georgia College and State University), Council for
Psychology.
Research Grant
Announcement
Big Questions in Free
Will:
Grants offered through Florida State
University supporting work on the nature, extent, and limits of free will in
three areas: philosophy, science (especially neuroscience and social
psychology), and theology.
The
Big Questions in Free Will Program offers funds for philosophical,
scientific, and theological investigations of free will. Science proposals
may be for up to $600,000 for a two-year grant. Grants in philosophy and
theology are for one year.
For
information about the project and the application process, go to
www.freewillandscience.com.
Recent Books Published by SSPP Members
Fred Adams and
Ken Aizawa published The Bounds of Cognition
(Wiley-Blackwell; 2008).
Nicholas
Georgalis published
The Primacy of the
Subjective: Foundations for a Unified Theory of Mind and Language
(MIT Press, 2006)
David A. Washburn
edited Primate Perspectives on Behavior and Cognition (APA Books;
2006).
Duane
Rumbaugh and David Washburn published Intelligence of Apes and Other
Rational Beings (Yale University Press; 2003).
Southern
Society for Philosophy and Psychology 
