American Psychological Association (APA)

The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the world, with nearly 130,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. According to the APA website (www.apa.org), their mission is to, “advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives” (American Psychological Association, 2014). APA is divided into 54 interest groups organize and administered by members of APA. Some of these groups include subdivisions of APA (e.g. social, experimental, clinical), while others concentrate on social areas of psychology (e.g. trauma, aging, ethnic minorities) (American

They work closely with APA's Science and Education Directorates. Their membership includes people who do basic and applied research concerning both humans and non-humans on topics covered by the five versions of the Journal of Experimental Psychology (General; Animal Behavior Processes; Applied; Human Perception and Performance; Learning, Memory, and Cognition). They enthusiastically welcome members who do experimental work in any area of psychology. Their members are employed in a variety of settings, including universities, colleges, government, and industry and are united by their commitment to the development of experimental psychology as a science. Division 3 provides strong leadership in APA Council, representing members' views on training and federal funding, and on APA journal and publication policy, (Division 3: Experimental Psychology,

They can work in a variety of settings. These can including universities, research centers, the government and private businesses. The exact type of research an experimental psychologist performs may depend on many things, including his or her educational background, interests and area of employment. Quite often, psychologists with training in experimental psychology work in different subfields, using scientific research to provide insights that improve teaching and learning, create safer workplaces, and promote healthy child development, to list a few examples (Persuing a Career in Experimental Psychology,