The American Psychological Association annually gives a Distinguished Scientist Award for lifetime achievement in scholarship and research. The award in most years has been presented to three individuals. The Distinguished Scientist Award has now been given for many decades, and some of the past recipients were:

 

B. F. Skinner, 1958

Leon Festinger, 1959

Henry Murray, 1961

Gordon Allport, 1964

Jean Piaget, 1969

Albert Bandura, 1980

D. Kahneman & A. Tversky, 1982

Anne Treisman, 1990

Paul Ekman, 1991

Richard Nisbett, 1991

John Cacioppo, 2002

Hazel Markus, 2008

Carol Dweck, 2011

 

The awards go to individuals from any nation and are not restricted to the USA. Each year a committee of behavioral scientists selects the award winners. The award is presented to “candidates who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology.” The awardees are selected from all areas of the psychological sciences.