Statistical power and parameter stability when subjects are few and tests are many: Comment on Peterson, Smith, Martorana, and Owens (2003).

Comments on the original article "The impact of chief executive officer personality on top management team dynamics: One mechanism by which leadership affects organizational performance", by R. S. Peterson et al. (see record 2003-08045-002). This comment illustrates how small sample sizes, when combined with many statistical tests, can generate unstable parameter estimates and invalid inferences. Although statistical power for 1 test in a small-sample context is too low, the experimentwise power is often high when many tests are conducted, thus leading to Type I errors that will not replicate when retested. This comment's results show how radically the specific conclusions and inferences in R. S. Peterson, D. B. Smith, P. V. Martorana, and P. D. Owens's (2003) study changed with the inclusion or exclusion of 1 data point. When a more appropriate experimentwise statistical test was applied, the instability in the inferences was eliminated, but all the inferences become nonsignificant, thus changing the positive conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive profile analysis: A shared professional myth.

Comments on articles by S. I. Pfeiffer et al (see record 2001-16379-001), C. A. Riccio and G. W. Hynd (see record 2001-16379-002), D. A. Pritchard et al (see record 2001-16379-003), J. A. Naglieri (see record 2001-16379-004), and H. C. Stanton and C. R. Reynolds (see record 2001-16379-005) on profile analysis in IQ tests. Consistent with the largely negative research literature, detailed analysis found the cognitive profile reports presented in these studies to be lacking reliability, validity, or diagnostic utility; even cognitive profiles composed of composites were psychometrically weak. These results were not surprising because ipsative methods are inferior to normative methods in cognitive assessment. Given this consistent failure of empirical validation, belief in the utility of cognitive test profile interpretations was likened to a shared professional myth and it was recommended that psychologists eschew the application of cognitive test profiles for differential diagnosis and remediation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When selective adaptation and contrast effects are distinct: A reply to Diehl, Kluender, and Parker.

Two alternative conceptualizations of selective adaptation with speech have recently received attention: the adaptation level theory (AL) outlined by R. L. Diehl (see record 1981-05067-001) and a 2-stage model outlined by the 1st author and P. Jusczyk (see record 1982-00351-001). Diehl et al (see record 1986-05428-001) reported evidence of streaming in selective adaptation and claimed that their results provide a counterdemonstration to recent studies that have argued against the AL approach. It is shown how the Diehl et al results can be accounted for by both the 2-stage model and AL theory. Results are presented from a study with 74 undergraduates that compared adaptation and paired-comparison procedures. These results are precisely as predicted by the 2-stage model, but they cannot be accounted for by AL theory. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial contiguity, not cue-to-consequence, is the issue in taste-potentiated noise-illness associations: Comment on Holder, Bermudez-Rattoni, and Garcia (1988).

M. D. Holder et al (see record 1988-28622-001) allege to have failed to corroborate findings from our laboratory (S. R. Ellins et al and Ellins and S. von Kluge; see PA, Vols 73:3082 and 74:24095) that taste-potentiated noise–illness associations can be established under conditions of spatial contiguity. We maintain that Holder et al have provided additional experimental support for our contention that spatial contiguity is an important factor in the taste-potentiation of nongustatory stimuli. In addition, we take issue with their conclusion that the results of our research are incompatible with the conditioning principle of cue-to-consequence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetic influences on job satisfaction: A reply to Cropanzano and James.

Responds to the points made by R. Cropanzano and K. James (see record 1991-00462-001) concerning the article by R. D. Arvey et al (1989). The authors acknowledge that the Arvey et al study is based on a single design, makes use of a small and special sample, and, as such, is vulnerable to threats of internal and external validity. Nevertheless, after providing a more comprehensive conceptual and empirical context for the study, and after reviewing a number of the issues raised by Cropanzano and James, the authors conclude that it is not premature to accept the idea that work attitudes are partially genetically influenced. Indeed, the authors use behavioral genetic theory, together with data gathered in the Arvey et al study, to make specific point predictions regarding the outcomes of an array of studies that easily can be undertaken. Finally, the authors acknowledge that the comments and issues raised by Cropanzano and James, along with the interchange, can offer directions for future research in this important area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mexican Americans' initial preferences for counselors: Research methodologies or researchers' values? Reply to Atkinson and Wampold (1993).

D. R. Atkinson and B. E. Wampold's (see record 1993-26416-001) assessment of the available methods to study counselor preference failed to consider the limitations of the judgment and multidimensional approaches and the strength of the single-dimension choice approach, the method used by S. R. López et al (see record 1992-06260-001) in their research. In recognizing that each method has its respective strengths and weaknesses, it is important that researchers use multiple methods to assess counselor preferences. Naturalistic studies of counseling will ultimately determine which method or methods are most valid. It is suggested that the emphasis placed on a given method and the interpretation of given findings may reflect the degree to which researchers value the role of ethnicity and culture in counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Peterson and Berenbaum.

Discusses the issues raised by R. A. Peterson and S. A. Berenbaun (see record 1982-26998-001) in their critique of the present author's (see record 1981-24709-001) paper on coping strategies in psychiatric research. The focus is on identifying concurrence where possible and clarifying issues underlying disagreements. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Happiness, flow, and economic equality.

Replies to comments by D. Belle et al (see record 2000-02781-018), S. Reiss (see record 2000-02781-019), T. B. Smith (see record 2000-02781-020), and J. R. Sink (see record 2000-02781-021) on the article by M. Csikszentmihalyi (see record 1999-11644-003) on materialism and the flow experience as an explanation of happiness. Csikszentmihalyi addresses the concerns of each author. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Plasticity, person-context relations, and cognitive training in the aged years: A developmental contextual perspective.

Developmental contextualism focuses on changes in fused relations between developing people and their changing contexts. The presence of these relations means that human development is characterized by the potential for systematic change—for plasticity—across life. Research on training cognitive functioning in the aged years provides evidence about plasticity because such investigations attempt to alter developmental trajectories by introducing a revised regimen of person–context relations into people's lives. Moreover, when research is conducted with people in their advanced adult years, it is often interpreted as constituting a conservative test of plasticity. J. I. Campbell and N. Charness (see record 1991-06940-001), P. Gratzinger et al (see record 1991-07064-001), R. Kliegl et al (see record 1991-06962-001), and S. L. Willis and C. S. Nesselroade (see record 1991-07074-001), in the 4 studies reported in this special section, provide evidence that supports developmental contextual ideas about plasticity and about procedures and policies that might create conditions promoting enhancement of cognitive functioning among the aged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practitioner training: A model with rationale intact.

Responds to S. C. Hayes's (see record 1986-25647-001) comments on the work of D. R. Peterson (see record 1986-10245-001) on practitioner training in psychology. The present author argues that practitioner-oriented training in psychology occupies an important niche in the doctoral training system and that its rationale is embodied in its institutional priorities. One purpose of practitioner-oriented training is to develop a culture that is respectful of the clinical enterprise and that treats research primarily as an educational tool and a means to an end rather than as an end in itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Profile patterns: Research and professional interpretation.

Comments on articles by S. I. Pfeiffer et al (see record 2001-16379-001), C. A. Riccio and G. W. Hynd (see record 2001-16379-002), D. A. Pritchard et al (see record 2001-16379-003), J. A. Naglieri (see record 2001-16379-004), and H. C. Stanton and C. R. Reynolds (see record 2001-16379-005) on profile analysis in IQ tests. The articles include 2 methods for identifying profile patterns: configural frequency analysis and modal profile analysis. These methods are briefly compared with each other and additional methods. Although the remaining articles provide some support for the validity and reliability of patterns, they do not fundamentally challenge the conclusion that in research to date, subtest profile patterns on the existing generation of intelligence tests have modest reliability and weak relationships with achievement and diagnostic categorizations. When subtest interpretations are made, they are heavily based on professional judgment, they should be made with caution, and they should be made only in the context of other information about the student. Future research and test development should be concerned about the reliability of patterns and their association with more meaningful, homogeneous diagnostic categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science or ideology?

Responds to the comments by D. McKay (see record 2011-02175-008); B. D. Thombs, L. R. Jewett, and M. Bassel (see record 2011-02175-009); M. D. Anestis, J. C. Anestis, and S. O. Lilienfeld (see record 2011-02175-010); and W. W. Tryon and G. S. Tryon (see record 2011-02175-011) on the current author's original article, "The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy" (see record 2010-02208-012). The academic psychology literature is filled with pronouncements about psychodynamic theory, often stated in authoritative tones, that present a picture of psychodynamic treatment that is unrecognizable to me and to other contemporary psychodynamic practitioners. Several of the comments about my article perpetuate this tradition and, I am sorry to say, introduce disinformation into the pages of the American Psychologist. Before addressing some specifics, I want to say a few words about my understanding of how such misrepresentations can find their way into scholarly academic journals. Three of the four comments on my article appear to have the intent of reasserting the master narrative by creating a smokescreen of doubt and confusion (Anestis, Anestis, & Lilienfeld, 2011; McKay, 2011; Thombs, Jewett, & Bassel, 2011). Two of the four comments (McKay, 2011; Tryon & Tryon, 2011) cite a metaanalysis indicating that there is no empirical support for the concept of “symptom substitution.” Two of the comments (Anestis et al., 2011; Thombs et al., 2011) note that the effect size from the meta-analysis by Leichsenring and Rabung (2008)—one of eight meta-analyses showing substantial benefits for psychodynamic therapy reported in my Table 1 (Shedler, 2010)—has been the target of criticism and reflects a computational error. Three of the comments (Anestis et al., 2011; McKay, 2011; Thombs et al., 2011) imply that the methods used in empirical studies of psychodynamic therapies are somehow inadequate relative to studies of other evidence-based therapies. Unlike the other comments, the comment of Tryon and Tryon (2011) appears to be a sincere effort to engage with my arguments. What disturbs me about the three other comments is not that the authors disagree with my conclusions but that they portray themselves as objective investigators who desire only to promote good science. While Anestis et al. (2011), McKay (2011), and Thombs et al. (2011) imply or explicitly state that I am the one who marshals evidence selectively, from my angle of vision they appear to value only evidence that supports an a priori agenda while ignoring, dismissing, or attacking evidence that does not. If so, this is not science, but ideology masquerading as science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus-feedback feeding sequence: Reply to Ellins, von Kluge, and Cramer (1990).

Taste-potentiated noise aversions have been demonstrated in rats (S. R. Ellins et al, Ellins and S. von Kluge, and M. D. Holder et al; see PA, Vols 73:3082, 74:24095, and 75:28622, respectively). However, these aversions are apparently less readily established than taste-potentiated odor aversions suggesting that all exteroceptive stimuli are not equally well potentiated by taste (Holder et al). Despite the claims of Ellins, von Kluge, and R. E. Cramer (see record 1990-19032-001), we replicated their findings and see no inconsistency between our findings and theirs. Both sets of results are explained by a common theory of conditioning (J. Garcia, 1989; Garcia & Holder, 1985). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Hunger, semistarvation, and ill health": Comment.

Comments on the article by J.P.J. Pinel, S. Assanand and D.R. Lehman (see record 2000-02781-002) which argued that because of the scarcity and unpredictability of food in nature, humans and other animals have evolved to eat to their physiological limits when food is readily available, so that excess energy can be stored in the body as a buffer against future food shortages. The current authors give both support and criticism to Pinel et al's findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioning history and the reinforcing effects of drugs: Comment on Alessi, Roll, Reilly, and Johanson (2002).

Drug reinforcement plays a central role in drug abuse. Drugs of abuse are unconditioned reinforcers whose functional effects are mediated through neuropharmacological mechanisms. The role of conditioning has received attention, but the focus has been on associations between environmental cues and unconditioned drug stimuli. Recent studies by C.-E. Johanson, A. Mattox, and C. R. Schuster (see record 1996-10361-001) and S. M. Alessi, J. M. Roll, M. P. Reilly, and C.-E. Johanson (see record 2002-12827-002) have demonstrated that drugs can also acquire functional control over human behavior through conditioning processes. Given the potent effects that conditioned reinforcers (e.g., money) can have on human behavior, studies by Johanson et al. and Alessi et al. should engender further examination of conditioning processes and drug reinforcement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary on two articles concerning generalized and specific cognitive deficits.

This is a commentary on essays in this journal issue by M. E. Strauss (see record 2001-17627-002) and R. A. Knight and S. A Silverstein (see record 2001-17627-003) on research methodology for studying cognitive deficits. Concentrating mostly on Knight and Silverstein's article, the authors review the psychometric issues in the matched-task design, analyze Knight and Silverstein's "process-oriented" objections to that design, and scrutinize their methods for studying cognitive deficits, examining 2 of their empirical studies as examples of those methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex bias and the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

Criticizes D. Becker and S. Lamb's (see record 1994-29756-001) paper reporting that women are more likely than men to be diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Results from the previous research of D. A. Adler et al (see record 1991-15353-001), K. A. Henry and C. I. Cohen (see record 1984-06917-001) and M. R. Ford and T. A. Widiger (see PA, Vol 76: 26071), indicate that the gender of a client does not have a statistically significant effect on whether the client is given a diagnosis of BPD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalized social phobia versus avoidant personality disorder: A commentary on three studies.

The findings of J. D. Herbert et al (see record 1992-27377-001), C. S. Holt et al (see record 1992-27380-001), and S. M. Turner et al (see record 1992-27401-001) are largely consistent. Avoidant personality disorder and generalized social phobia appear to be overlapping constructs that have only minor differences with respect to severity of dysfunction. This commentary addresses the implications of the findings with respect to the validity of the categorical distinction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III—Revised (DSM-III—R) between avoidant personality and generalized social phobia, revisions of their respective diagnostic criteria, and their reclassification as either an anxiety or a personality disorder. Methodological and substantive suggestions for future research are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Revealed, concealed, congealed, curdled: A reply to Pomichalek, Lamb, and Denner.

Replies to M. Pomichalek's (see record 1992-19269-001), S. Lamb's (see record 1992-19263-001), and B. Denner's (see record 1992-19257-001) remarks on P. Cushman's comments (see record 1991-17982-001) on D. Stern's (1985) study. Cushman defends constructionist research by maintaining that it can acknowledge and interpret ideology and thereby the moral framework in which the study is embedded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selected views of family assessment: A commentary.

Comments on articles concerning family assessment by H. D. Grotevant (see record 1990-12120-001); R. B. Hampson et al (see record 1990-12122-001); D. C. Bell and L. G. Bell (see record 1990-12106-001); C. I. Carlson (see record 1990-12110-001); and T. L. Huston and J. K. Rempel (see record 1990-12126-001). It is suggested that theory needs to be related to research and practice more consistently. It would be useful to identify the principle theories in family science and critically examine the unique assessment issues raised by each perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)