ABSTRACT
The knowledge generated by theory and research in the behavioral sciences is often applied in attempts to solve practical problems. Psychotherapies are developed from theory and research on abnormal psychology, workplace interventions derive from theory and research in industrial and organizational psychology, and educational reforms are based on theory and research on the teaching-learning process. Some interventions are directed at bringing about change in individuals or in small groups of people. Other programs are intended to have a broader impact on the general social framework of a city, state, or country. Such broad-based programs include Project Head Start, designed to improve preschoolers’ readiness for our educational system, educational television programs, such as Sesame Street, designed to enhance young children’s basic cognitive and social skills, and school desegregation programs, designed to improve the educational opportunities of minority group students.
