Report of the One
Hundred and Third Annual Meeting
The One Hundred and Third Annual SSPP meeting was held March
9–12, 2011, at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Chase Wrenn
(University of Alabama) managed local arrangements.
Dr. Robert Barnard (University of Mississippi) chaired the
philosophy program committee. The philosophy program consisted of 81 papers,
18 with commentaries, in 32 sessions with 9 invited sessions. 77 colleges,
universities, and other institutions were represented.
Dr. Nicholas von Glahn (California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona) chaired the psychology program committee. The psychology
program consisted of 52 papers in 16 sessions with 6 invited sessions and 1
Key Barkley Symposium on the History of Psychology. 39 colleges,
universities, and other institutions were represented.
The President’s Invited Speaker was Dr. Elliott Sober
(University of Wisconsin, Madison). His talk was “Parsimony and Theory of
Mind.” 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 Corey Maley
(Princeton University) for his paper, “Clarifying Guilt and Shame.” Dr. John
Monahan (Central Michigan University) chaired the Griffith Committee for
Psychology, which recognized Lisa Heimbauer (Georgia State University) for
her paper “A Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Recognizes Spoken Words
Synthesized as Noise-vocoded and Sine-Wave Speech.” The award carries a $300
cash prize and commemorative paperweight.
Graduate Student Travel awards were given to Andrew Franks
(Central Michigan University) for his paper “Mortality Salience Affects
Cooperation Strategies in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game: A Terror
Management Study,” Lisa Heimbauer (Georgia State University), for her paper,
“A Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Recognizes Spoken Words Synthesized as
Noise-vocoded and Sine-Wave Speech,” Theresa Lopez (University of Arizona)
for her paper, “Against the Evolutionary Argument for Moral Skepticism,”
Audrey Parrish (Georgia State University) for her paper, “Understanding
Economic Decision Making During Coordination Games in Humans, Apes, and
Monkeys,” and John Waterman, (Johns Hopkins University) for his paper,
“Intuitions are not a Natural Kind.”
Council recommended approval of 26 applicants for full
membership and 16 applicants for associate membership in Philosophy. These
applications were approved unanimously. Council recommended approval of 7
applicants for full membership and 5 applicants for associate membership in
Psychology. These applications were approved unanimously.
Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee Reports were presented.
Thomas Polger announced that the site of the 104th Annual SSPP Meeting in
2012 will be in Savannah, GA, at the Hilton Savannah DeSoto.
The following officers were elected at the 2011 business
meeting: Dr. Michael Lynch (University of Connecticut), President-Elect; Dr.
Chase Wrenn (University of Alabama), Secretary; Dr. Rosalie Kern (Michigan
Technological University), Council for Psychology, and Dr. Kristin Andrews
(York University), Council for Philosophy.
Continuing officers are Dr. Thomas Polger (University of
Cincinnati), Past-President; Dr. J. David Smith (University at Buffalo, SUNY),
President; Dr. Michael Beran (Georgia State University), Treasurer; Dr.
Gualtiero Piccinini (University of Missouri, St. Louis) and Dr. Carrie
Figdor (University of Iowa), Council for Philosophy; Nicholas von Glahn
(California State Polytechnic University, Pomona) 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. John Monahan (Central Michigan
University), Past-President; Dr. Chase Wrenn (University of Alabama),
Council for Philosophy, Dr. Lori Schmied (Maryville University), Secretary,
and Dr. Lauren Taglialatela (Kennesaw State University), Council for
Psychology.
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 
