Metaphorical analysis of psychiatric classification as a psychological test.

In this taxonomic article we explore the metaphor of comparing a psychiatric classification to a psychological test. Structurally, diagnostic criteria are like test items; diagnostic categories are like scales; and classifications are like tests. Analytically, the ideas of reliability and validity are the primary concepts invoked in the empirical evaluation of both classifications and tests. However, when the metaphor is explored in more detail, the differences between classifications and tests become clear. These differences are discussed in terms of the structural and analytical relations between tests and classifications. This metaphorical analysis of classifications as tests suggests that certain issues that have been discussed in regard to psychological tests, particularly reliability and validity, may require modification when applied to psychiatric classification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applying cluster analysis in counseling psychology research.

As a research technique that has grown rapidly in applications in many scientific disciplines, cluster analysis has potential for wider use in counseling psychology research. We begin with a simple example illustrating the clustering approach. Topics covered include the variety of approaches in clustering, the times when cluster analysis may be a choice for analysis, the steps in cluster analysis, the data features, such as level, shape, and scatter, that affect cluster results, alternate clustering methods and evidence indicating which are most effective, and examples of clustering applications in counseling research. Although we make an attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of major issues, the reader is encouraged to consult several good recent publications on the topic that are especially relevant for psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Chabot case. Assisted suicide from the psychiatric viewpoint

The international discussion on physician-assisted dying as well as the recent development in North Australia and Oregon point to a growing tendency to favour assisted suicide as against killing on request--last not least for reasons of public acceptance. The decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands in a case of suicide assisted by a psychiatrist gives the opportunity to discuss the problem from the psychiatric point of view.     

Formal classification of research information: An empirical test of the McGrath-Altman approach and an illustrative case.

The classification of data generated by empirical research is presented as an important but generally neglected problem facing contemporary psychology. This problem is approached in 2 ways in this article. First, the J. E. McGrath and I. Altman (1966) approach to formal classification is empirically tested with a sample of 66 studies from the least preferred co-worker (LPC) literature. This classification of LPC research provides strong empirical support for the principle of operational concordance, the theoretical concept on which the McGrath and Altman system is based. Second, the classification of LPC research is presented as a case study in formal classification. The methods, results, limitations, and utility of a formally classified set of research findings are considered in light of this particular case. It is concluded that formal classification can facilitate conceptual developments. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing the impact toughness of rails

Ural Scientific-Research Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy (UralNIIchermet). Nizhnii Tagil Metallurgical Combine (NTMK). Translated from Metallurg, No. 12, p. 29, December, 1988.     

Decision rules for phenomenological classification of psychiatric patients.

Used cluster analysis and related numerical taxonomy methods to identify 8 distinct phenomenological types in the psychiatric population, and prototype patterns for the types are described in terms of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) profiles. Numerical methods are provided for classifying individual patients based on similarity to the prototype patterns. Patients can also be classified operationally by simple decision rules involving 2-point code typing of BPRS profile patterns. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of clinical pharmacists on psychiatric patients

BACKGROUND: Studies of population biology are scarce in Mediterranean striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) mostly because of the lack of samples. Until now, studies of physical maturity, growth, and development of the flipper bones were not available for this species in the Mediterranean. METHODS: The osteological features and metric characters of the pectoral limbs of Mediterranean striped dolphins were analyzed with radiological techniques. Measurements were made directly on the radiographic films. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We found five carpal bones arranged in a proximal row of three and a distal row of two, although one or two additional osseous elements were occasionally observed. The phalangeal formula (excluding metacarpals) was established as 1-2:8-9-10:6-5-7:3-2:1-2. In metacarpals, epiphyseal ossification centers matured at the same time at both ends. As a general rule, the ossification of the epiphyses in the flipper bones showed a decreasing gradient in the proximodistal direction, confirming the pattern previously described in other species. Phalangeal epiphyses were not useful as indicators of skeletal maturity, and grading epiphyseal maturation of the distal radius and ulna is proposed as the more straight-forward and precise method for assessing bone maturation. In females, maturity of the flipper was achieved between 5 and 6 years of age and 160-175 cm of body length, whereas this maturation occurred between 8 and 9 years of age and 170-181 cm in length in males. Prediction of gender through examination of flipper structure was not feasible.     

Fundamental neuroscience and the classification of psychiatric disorders

Non-Darwinian views of evolution of nervous systems (e.g., Jacksonian evolution) conceive the present structure of the human brain as composed of a series of additive layers representing successive phylogenetic stages in evolution, layers which remain static after their emergence. In contrast to this view, recent allometric studies clearly show that limbic structures scale with the growth of the human brain (i.e., they do not remain stable but reach the size expected for the brain of a primate with the weight of a human brain). Data also show that limbic structures are significantly involved in cognitive functions such as memory and attention. Hence overlap of lesions in similar brain loci, especially in limbic regions, in both manic-depression and schizophrenia should come as no surprise. In the psychobiological sphere, the need for cognitive perceptual evaluation of the external world and internal state for emotional experience, further to the necessary visceral arousal, leads to a breakdown of the platonic, essentialist position, emotion vs. cognition at the psychological level, a problematic issue for the Kraepelinean view. Neural networks operation depend upon multiple nonlinear processes at the cellular, synaptic and network levels. Afferent input may serve not only to activate, but also to configure them into one of several circuit modes. These networks have been named polymorphic and can, at least to a measure, account for commonalities in lesion sites, in both affective and schizophrenic diseases. It is proposed that fundamental neuroscience should serve as one of the bases for the classification of psychiatric disorders.     

The causal generalization paradox: The case of treatment outcome research.

Data from psychological experiments pose a causal generalization paradox. Unless the experimental results have some generality, they contribute little to scientific knowledge. Yet, because most experiments use convenience samples rather than probability-based samples, there is almost never a formal justification, or set of rigorous guidelines, for generalizing the study's findings to other populations. This article discusses the causal generalization paradox in the context of outcome findings from experimental evaluations of psychological treatment programs and services. In grappling with the generalization paradox, researchers often make misleading (or at least oversimplified) assumptions. The article analyzes 10 such assumptions, including the belief that a significant experimental treatment effect is likely to be causally generalizable and the belief that the magnitude of a significant experimental effect provides a sound effect size estimate for causal generalization. The article then outlines 10 constructive strategies for assessing and enhancing causal generality. They include strategies involving the scaling level of outcome measures, variable treatment dosages, effectiveness designs, multiple measures, corroboration from observational designs, and the synthesis of multiple studies. Finally, the article's discussion section reviews the conditions under which causal generalizations are justified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The economic impact of biomedical research: a case study of voluntary institutions in the New York metropolitan region

This study estimates the economic significance of biomedical research for a geographic region. Through a survey of nonprofit biomedical research institutions in the metropolitan New York region and an analysis of research budget data obtained from the area's six largest research institutions, estimates were made of the spending effect of biomedical research on the region. Biomedical research undertaken by the voluntary institutions in metropolitan New York accounted for almost $1.15 billion per year in direct spending in 1991. When the indirect and induced ripple effects of this spending on the regional economy were considered, the total annual spending impact was over $2.3 billion. Sponsored biomedical research directly generated 19,816 jobs per year in the host institutions. The indirect and induced job creation in the region amounted to an additional 12,773 jobs per year for a total of almost 32,600 regional jobs per year. As economic development becomes more competitive locally, regionally, and internationally, the biomedical sciences that have always been intrinsically valued gain extrinsic value. Therefore, techniques for estimating their economic impact are becoming increasingly important.     

Coping strategies in psychiatric clinical research.

Suggests that classical and elementary approaches to design and analysis of research frequently are based on expectations of the behavior of Ss and of measures of response that are unrealistic in the context of psychiatric clinical research. A broad range of strategies in sampling, measurement, design, execution, implementation, and analysis are examined, and specific strategies are suggested that tend to be successful in the real world of psychiatric clinical research. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence estimation and validation of new instruments in psychiatric research: An application of latent class analysis and sensitivity analysis.

Prevalence and validation studies rely on imperfect reference standard (RS) diagnostic instruments that can bias prevalence and test characteristic estimates. The authors illustrate 2 methods to account for RS misclassification. Latent class analysis (LCA) combines information from multiple imperfect measures of an unmeasurable latent condition to estimate sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of each measure. With simple algebraic sensitivity analysis (SA), one uses researcher-specified RS misclassification rates to correct prevalence and test characteristic estimates and can succinctly summarize a range of scenarios with Monte Carlo simulation. The authors applied LCA to a validation study of a new substance use disorder (SUD) screener and a larger prevalence study. With a traditional validation study analysis in which an error-free RS (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis I Disorders [SCID]; M. H. First, R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, & J. Williams, 1990) is assumed, the authors estimated the screener had 86% Se and 75% Sp. Validation study estimates from LCA were 91% Se, 81% Sp (screener), 73% Se, and 98% Sp (SCID). SA in the prevalence study suggested the prevalence of SUD was underestimated by 22% because SCID was assumed to be error-free. LCA and SA can assist investigators in relaxing the unrealistic assumption of perfect RSs in reporting prevalence and validation study results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The importance of heritability in psychological research: The case of attitudes.

Differences in response heritability may have important implications for the testing of general psychological theories (i.e., responses that differ in heritability may function differently). For example, attitudes higher in heritability are shown to be responded to more quickly, to be more resistant to change, and to be more consequential in the attitude similarity attraction relationship. The substantive results are interpreted in terms of attitude strength and niche building. More generally, the implications of heritability for the generality and typicality of treatment effects are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The phenomenological method in psychiatric nursing research

The author approaches some ideas about phenomenology, general lines of phenomenological research and some considerations about phenomenology and psychiatric nursing, as an attempt to allow a profounder view of these themes. He makes a reflection about this area of work, descrying possibilities for caring the human being with psychiatric suffering, based on the comprehension of this individual.     

The impact of attributions in marriage: A longitudinal analysis.

In this study, we investigate the longitudinal relation between attributions for relationship events and marital satisfaction. Thirty-four couples were assessed at two points separated by approximately 12 months. Causal and responsibility attributions for marital difficulties and negative spouse behaviors were strongly related to concurrent marital satisfaction. For wives, later marital satisfaction was predicted by both causal and responsibility attributions after the effects of earlier satisfaction were removed. For husbands, attributions did not predict later marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction did not predict later attributions for either husbands or wives. Marital satisfaction and the two types of attributions were related to concurrent unrealistic relationship expectations, but these expectations did not predict later marital satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of a possible causal relation between attributions and marital satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of scientific progress: The case of research on the risky shift.

Reviewed the literature on the risky shift phenomenon during 1961-1971 and conducted interviews with the major investigators in this area. The intellectual and social factors that facilitated and inhibited progress in this line of investigation are considered. T. S. Kuhn's concept of "paradigm" is employed to account for specific characteristics of the research and its current state of crisis. Results of the present analysis are related to the general problem of evaluating an entire field of research as opposed to the more limited work of a single investigator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)