How effective is continuing education (CE) for maintaining professional competencies, how should its effects be measured, and should it be mandated for licensure renewal? These and other questions were addressed in a review of the existing literature and a survey of 6,095 professional psychologists regarding their CE experiences, perceptions, and preferences. The substantial majority of respondents reported their CE experiences to be good to excellent. Overall, they reported learning a great deal that frequently translated into their practices and contributed to their more effective and ethical practice. Most also supported the idea of mandated CE, although they preferred the use of participant satisfaction ratings to knowledge or skills assessments as mechanisms for evaluating their learning. Significant differences were found between psychologists who were operating with CE mandates and those operating without mandates; mandated psychologists completed significantly more CE credits than nonmandated psychologists and were stronger supporters of CE mandates. Findings are discussed in relation to critical issues that confront the field of professional psychology and its continuing commitment to the development and documentation of professional competencies.

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How will the accelerating profusion of knowledge affect the durability of knowledge within the various specialties and proficiencies in the field of professional psychology? A Delphi Poll was conducted to examine the current and future "half-life" of professional knowledge, regarded as the time it would take, in the absence of any new leaming, for someone to become roughly half as knowledgeable as a function of the development of new knowledge in a given field. Results of the current study indicated that the overall half-life of knowledge in professional psychology was expected to decrease within the next decade from nearly 9 years to just over 7 years, with substantial variability across various specialties and proficiencies. The anticipated half-life of knowledge varied from as much as 19 years (in the specialty of Psychoanalytic Psychology) to as little as 3.3 years (in the proficiency of Psychopharmacology). The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the continuing movements toward professional specialization, on the one hand, and the maintenance of competence on the other.