Review of Personality theory and research: An international perspective.

Reviews the book, Personality theory and research: An international perspective by Gordon L. Flett (2007). On the whole, this is an excellent textbook. It provides a balance between discussion of theory and research, both contemporary and historical, from an international and cross-cultural perspective. It makes a special effort to highlight research contributions made by researchers in Canada and countries other than the United States. The book also emphasises the science underlying personality psychology and acknowledges the practical aspects of personality theory and research. This textbook contains 14 chapters, which are well-written, focus on interesting empirical and real-world examples, and include sections that should facilitate student comprehension. This textbook provides a good introduction to personality theory and research. It makes a convincing argument that personality matters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate education in school psychology: Teaching is more than a performing art.

Discusses how learning the practice of teaching is important in its own right, and stresses that those who teach students in school psychology need to know the complexity of teaching. Traditional views of teaching are presented and teaching strategies (e.g., teaching that involves behavior analysis) are examined that could lead to improvement in graduate education. Areas in which help is needed from researchers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of psychology: The great dilemmas.

Research about the nature of psychology, its subject matter, its level of analysis, its scientific laws, its relationship with other disciplines, and its social relevance has been a matter of great concern and interest during the development of psychology. This problem can be analyzed in terms of the dilemmas of the psychological discipline, which have been choice points, crossroads, alternative decisions that bring psychologists face to face with the following issues: (a) the subject matter of psychology: psyche, mind, or behavior?; (b) the role of scientific methodology: is psychology a natural science, a social/behavioral/human science, or a part of the humanities?; (c) the universality or particularity of scientific laws in psychology: are laws universal or culture-bound and contextual?; and (d) the balance between science and profession: is psychology a basic science, a socially relevant profession, or both? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

American psychology is becoming more international.

Comments on an article by J. J. Arnett (see record 2008-14338-003) regarding the assertion that American psychology focuses too narrowly on Americans while neglecting the other 95% of the world’s population. The authors argue that while Arnett’s assessment was poignant, and his call for a more inclusive, international, and cross-cultural representation in American psychology was timely and admirable; they present data that show substantial progress has been made over the last 30 years, and we conclude that major APA journals are already becoming representative of the world’s research psychologists in some respects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a truly international psychology: Beyond English only.

It is contended that the development of a truly international psychology is obstructed at this point by the massive disregard of contributions that are published in languages other than English. The role of English as a mutually agreed-on principal medium of international communication in psychology is endorsed. At the same time, 11 suggestions are presented to overcome the linguistic isolation from the communities of psychologists in which languages other than English are used to disseminate findings and conceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a national social psychology: A review of Social psychology: The Canadian context.

Reviews the book, Social Psychology: The Canadian Context edited by J. W. Berry and G. J. S. Wilde (1972). In Social Psychology: The Canadian Context, Berry and Wilde tie their selections from journals and books to the themes of Canadian identity, dualism, and pluralism. National social psychology could turn out to be the most effective way yet conceived for individual scholars to have their pure-science cake and apply it too. Its emergence depends, in part, on continuance of the nationalism, which is sweeping Canada at present. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

International cooperation in psychological research.

"The United Nations Assembly has designated 1965, the 20th anniversary of the UN, as International Cooperation Year (ICY)." A 3 man subcommittee of the APA Committee on Psychology in National and International Affairs met with Eugene Jacobson representing the APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology and suggested "4 distinctive categories of projects on which psychologists could work." (1) Cross-National Involvement in General Psychological Problems. (2) Comparative Cross-National Research. (3) Psychological Research on Universal Human Problems. (4) Research on International Tensions. "The APA will play an active facilitating role by maintaining a directory of projects and by providing information concerning work instigated by the ICY." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Readings in social psychology: Classic and Canadian contributions.

Reviews the book, Readings in social psychology: Classic and Canadian contributions edited by Brian Earn and Shelagh Towson (1986). Earn and Towson argue that students should know that social psychology is an active discipline with significant contributions from their own nation, that there are areas of research of particular relevance to the Canadian context, and that they should be able to gain from incidental learning about their own society. The format of the book is rather conventional. Readings are grouped into content areas: social motives (aggression and altruism), social influence, attitudes, social interactions (attraction and loneliness), attribution and cognition, ethnic relations, prejudice, and applications (TV influence, social support, law). It includes contributions by many of the most prominent social psychologists in Canada, and several "classic" papers by U.S. social psychologists. As one who has long regretted the fact that we are compelled to teach social psychology with only foreign materials, the reviewer welcomes the publication of this book. The reviewer hopes that in the second edition the editors take more seriously the purpose of a book of readings, and set out to communicate to undergraduate students what social psychological research is all about. The reviewer also hopes that the publisher is able to produce a volume that looks more professional and is easier to read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Health psychology in global perspective.

Reviews the book, Health psychology in global perspective by Frances E. Aboud (see record 1998-07478-000). Initially, the reviewer was unsure of what to expect from this book, and yet in completing it he feel humbled by the perspective it provided on international and cross-cultural health issues. The reading of this book has served to expand his definition of health psychology to include global and cross-cultural concerns. The organization of the book is logical and easy to follow. The first two chapters provide an introduction to the rest of the text. Each of the remaining seven chapters is dedicated to a specific health concern. Aboud's hope is that the reader will come to appreciate that solutions are not as simple as they might appear in the global health community and that enthusiasm must be tempered with "caution and realistic expectations." We must be careful not to stereotype other people and their problem, and recognize that health and well-being are expressed in different but entirely acceptable ways in different cultures. Courses in health psychology will benefit from the inclusion of this book. It incorporates case studies, case vignettes, and student activities along with the text in a manner that students will find challenging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Symposium on reciprocal influences in international psychology.

"The question of reciprocal influences was considered in terms of the number and distribution of psychologists throughout the world… . It was quickly conceded that, at present, influences in international psychology are not reciprocal and, perhaps, cannot be for some time to come. This problem is complicated not only by the sheer preponderance and resources of American psychology, but also by a general tendency to ignore attainments abroad, unless conveniently published in readily available English-language journals." Psychology "is an international science, to which psychologists everywhere can and do contribute… . We share a common enterprise with common goals and aspirations." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meta-analysis that conceals more than it reveals: Comment on Storm et al. (2010).

Storm, Tressoldi, and Di Risio (2010) rely on meta-analyses to justify their claim that the evidence for psi is consistent and reliable. They manufacture apparent homogeneity and consistency by eliminating many outliers and combining databases whose combined effect sizes are not significantly different—even though these combined effect sizes consist of arbitrary and meaningless composites. At best, their study provides a recipe for conducting a replicable extrasensory perception experiment. This recipe includes following a design that employs the standard ganzfeld psi methodology and uses “selected” subjects. An experiment, having adequate power and that meets these criteria, has already been conducted and failed to produce evidence for psi. Parapsychology will achieve scientific acceptability only when it provides a positive theory with evidence based on independently replicable evidence. This is something it has yet to achieve after more than a century of trying. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cross-cultural research methods in psychology.

Reviews the book, Cross-cultural research methods in psychology edited by David Matsumoto and Fons J. R. Van de Vijver (see record 2010-22491-000). The purpose of this book is to further the potential of cross-cultural psychology by helping researchers to understand the unique difficulties inherent in the field and the current methodologies used to advance quality research. Matsumoto and van de Vijver have compiled a comprehensive yet simply organized volume that speaks to the theoretical and analytic issues met by graduate students and advanced researchers alike. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Education for research in psychology.

A report of a seminar held at Estes Park, Colorado, July 28-August 22, 1958, sponsored by the Education and Training Board of the American Psychological Association. The purpose of the seminar was "to provide information which would aid institutions giving graduate degrees in psychology in examining and improving their programs for training research men." Major sections are: (a) How Research Gets Done; (b) Formal Aspects of Graduate Training (Statistics, Other Tool Subjects, Breadth of Scholarship, Role of Theory in Research, Standardization), (c) Development of the Individual (Selection, Motivation, Apprenticeship); (d) Summing Up. Research is "learned by doing and taught mainly by contagion. Research must first be going on if there is to be research training… . Apprenticeship is, we believe, the most important part of education for research in psychology; the professor who hires a graduate student as a research assistant takes on the primary teaching responsibility for that student, a responsibility which both he and his department must recognize." Opposition is expressed to standardizing training programs for research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The graduate research training environment in professional psychology: A multilevel investigation.

Very little program-level research on psychology graduate research training environments (RTEs) exists despite the RTE being a program-level (vs. student-level) construct. In the current study, the authors investigated correlates of programs' RTEs, including characteristics of the students, the faculty, and the programs themselves. Proportional stratified sampling of American Psychological Association-accredited PhD programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology yielded data from 40 programs. Students and faculty in those programs completed Internet questionnaires, and additional faculty and program characteristics were coded. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that programs with positive student-rated RTEs had faculty who also viewed the RTE as positive and had satisfying faculty–student relations. These programs also had students with higher levels of research interest and stronger advisory alliances, yet within-program student differences in the RTE explained more variance in these student characteristics than did between-programs differences. This research supports the value of examining the RTE at both the student and program levels, and it suggests that training interventions ought to occur at both levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Animal research in psychology: More than meets the eye of the general psychology student.

The general psychology course provides a unique opportunity to present the science of psychology to a wide audience. Informing the general public about the importance of animal research in psychology is especially important given contemporary concerns about animal rights and animal welfare. A study of 8 leading introductory psychology textbooks indicated that with the exception of principles of conditioning and learning, the contributions of animal research to psychology were often not explicitly acknowledged. In addition, major findings from animal research were frequently presented as if they had been obtained with humans. In obscuring the contributions of animal research, introductory psychology textbooks miss the opportunity to ensure that public policy is based on accurate information about the significance of this research to many areas of psychological science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The national flavour versus pan-culturism: A review of Social psychology: The Canadian context.

Reviews the book, Social Psychology: The Canadian Context edited by J. W. Berry and G. J. S. Wilde (1972). The title of this book is likely to evoke a positive or a negative response from the reader depending on how he feels about the need for more Canadian content. Berry and Wilde are not out to prove that Canadian psychologists are as good as any in the world. The editorial effort was directed towards "studies of social behaviour of Canadians, rather than studies done in Canada by Canadians". The first section on "The Canadian People" provides an overview by contributions from other academic disciplines. The second section on "Canadian Dualism", which comprises nearly half of the book, is about the French-Canadians versus the English-Canadians. The third section on the "Canadian Natives" concentrates on the ethnic pluralism of the Eskimos and Indians. The fourth section on "Canadian Pluralism" presents findings on a larger number of different groups. Finally, the Appendix presents five tables containing background and demographic data likely to be useful for undergraduate research on Canadian people. Suggested readings for this purpose are also included in the introduction to each section. This book is most likely to be appropriate for courses emphasizing ethnic group relationships or cultural social psychology. In conclusion, this is a handy sourcebook on the kinds of research and the techniques useful for studying ethnic groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)