Character and Fitness Requirements for Professional Psychologists: An Examination of State Licensing Application Forms.

How do state licensing boards currently evaluate candidates for licensure along the dimensions of moral character and psychological fitness? An examination of application materials from all 50 states and the District of Columbia revealed marked heterogeneity with respect to explicit screening for character and fitness indicators. There appears to be minimal consensus regarding those elements of a candidate's previous experience that should be scrutinized prior to licensure. The authors highlight the frequency of character and fitness items across applications and ancillary licensure materials and conclude with several recommendations for licensing boards, national associations, and directors of training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Specialty" Licenses in Psychology.

The author discusses his concerns over the consequences of the licensing of psychologists trained in nonclinical academic specialties who present themselves to the public as licensed psychologists with the specific intention of practicing clinical psychology. Wiens and Menne (April 1981) address this issue and dismiss it by reference to a false analogy. The author states that until we face the issue of non-qualified licensed psychologists, we will be justifiably vulnerable to both consumer groups and non-psychological clinicians. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Articulation of values."

This article clarifies several research issues raised in a recent article by Krieshok, Arnold, Kuperman, and Schmitz concerned with repertory grid methodology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Creativity and confidence: price of achievement?": Comment.

Comments on the article by C. Martindale (see record 2001-00625-007) which discussed Thomas Young. The author supports the views of Martindale and gives his own insight on the subject of creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Letter to the Editor and a Response.

A response by Judy Hall to some of the challenges that Arlene Carsten enumerated in her Forum letter of November 1978 concerning the licensing exam for psychology. I am pleased to see consumer representatives on a licensing board for psychology take such an active interest in the exam. However, it appears that serving on such a board has not sensitized her to the need for interpretation of her scores. Being psychologists, the Executive Committee of AASPB and the professional members of state boards are painfully aware of any imperfections in test construction methods available to date. Knowing that there are no easy, available answers to some of Carsten's challenges makes us proceed carefully and do what we are best at doing-systematically collect data in order to answer the questions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Corporal punishment": Comment.

Comments that A. Maurer (see record 1975-00027-001) commits 2 errors in her discussion of the exceedingly complex issues of corporal punishment. One concerns the basic psychological concept of behavior modification. The other error arises from the seemingly simplistic answers she gives to the ethical problems involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Facilitating creativity by regulating curiosity": Comment.

Comments on the article by C. Martindale (see record 2001-00625-007) which discussed the intellect of Thomas Young. The current author discusses creativity as it relates to curiosity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Understanding Psychiatrists": Comment.

Comments on the article by Richard Jenkins (see record 1955-03339-001), which discusses the relations between and the responsibilities of psychologists and psychiatrists in the light of two premises: (1) the medical responsibility of the psychiatrist, and (2) the inseparability of somatic and psychic illness. Because of a depth of concern for the welfare of his patient, the psychiatrist may at times feel that a more complete understanding of him would be facilitated by calling upon other individuals, such as psychologists, for their opinions. In such a case, the psychiatrist would retain final responsibility. Regarding the therapeutic competence of psychologists, it is our firm belief that this would best be determined by a board composed of psychologists of recognized standing, since they would be best qualified to judge the adequacy of psychological training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Comment on summary report of journal operations": Comment on Roediger.

Comments on an article by H. L. Roediger III (see record 1990-58906-001) concerning the number of subscribers to APA journals. Roediger concluded that most APA members feel no need to keep up with the work in the primary journals. Blackman points out that many people keep up with journals by reading in university and hospital libraries, by sending for reprints of studies abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, and by other literature review methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Striving for competence in the assessment of competence: Psychology's professional education and credentialing journey of public accountability.

The history of psychology's development as a licensed profession is traced over the past 60 years through the evolution of the profession's quality control practices in education and credentialing. These two essential features of a profession began at about the same time, but evolved quite independent of one another for the first 30 years. Shaped by events of the 1970s and 1980s, however, there has been a gradual convergence of focus by those responsible for professional education and credentialing on how best to assess the quality of professional education programs and their graduates who apply for licensure. Although at first this focus was predominantly on the content of curriculum taught and the knowledge examined, increasingly over the past decade there has been a shift of emphasis to the broader, more complex construct of competence to practice for which examination of knowledge is a necessary but insufficient assessment. The article describes the events and structures that led to this outcome and concludes with comments about the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Right-wing authoritarianism."

Canadian scholarship has recently been honoured in that Bob Altemeyer's book, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right wing authoritarianism (see record 1988-98419-000) received the 1988 prize for behavioural science research, awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The book has also received a number of favourable reviews. Ray feels that some comments on the limitations of the book are needed to balance the account, and submits that, in fact, the book is a complete failure as far as achieving what it set out to achieve is concerned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Therapist Multicultural Competency: A Study of Therapy Dyads": Correction.

Reports an error in "Therapist Multicultural Competency: A Study of Therapy Dyads" by Jairo N. Fuertes, Thomas I. Stracuzzi, Jennifer Bennett, Jennifer Scheinholtz, A. Mislowack, Mindy Hersh and David Cheng (Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 2006[Win], Vol 43[4], 480-490). The fifth author's name should be spelled as follows: Alexa Mislowack. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-23019-010.) This study examined the role of therapist multicultural competence (TMC). Fifty-one therapy dyads completed measures of therapist multicultural competency, working alliance, and their satisfaction with therapy. Clients also completed measures of therapist attractiveness, expertness, trustworthiness, and empathy. Results showed strong associations between clients' ratings of TMC and ratings of the working alliance, therapist empathy, and satisfaction. Clients' combined rating of therapist expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were not associated with their TMC ratings but were significantly associated with therapists' self-appraised TMC ratings. Therapists' ratings of their TMC were associated with their ratings of the working alliance and satisfaction with their work. Results are discussed in the context of the relevant literature, as are implications for training and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treating "the Poor"--Classism or a Rigid Loyalty to Theory?: Comment.

Comments on "Psychotherapy, classism, and the poor: Conspicuous by their absence" by Laura Smith (see record 2005-11834-002). Smith suggested that social psychology theories might explain how a negative attitude toward the poor has reduced the interest of practitioners in poor patients. The current author was impressed by Smith's comments when she left the literature and began to describe her own experiences. However, the current author was not convinced that social psychology and the varieties of classism explain the phenomenon described. The current author believes that many practitioners avoid the poor because they do not enjoy failure. In this comment, the author discusses personal experiences that support this position. It does not elaborate a history of either a dislike of or class avoidance of the poor. Instead, it suggests that psychologists are trained to overgeneralize findings and to look down on less rigorously collected findings and observations. Thus, psychologists overlook information that might allow theories to be further formulated in more accurate and generalizable forms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Child maltreatment: An ecological integration": Comment on Jay Belsky.

Argues that J. Belsky's (see record 1980-12117-001) ecological framework of child maltreatment (CHM) and his search for necessary and sufficient conditions for CHM are based on several erroneous assumptions, including the beliefs that CHM is a discrete entity, that all CHM results from the same causative process, and that statistical techniques that improve prediction should be emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overview or "underview"? Comment on Satz and Fletcher's "Emergent trends in neuropsychology: An overview."

Argues that P. Satz and J. M. Fletcher (see record 1982-05864-001) ignored research contradicting their dismissal of evidence of the greater plasticity and recovery from damage of the infant than adult brain as "myths." It is also argued that their overview also failed to consider critical complications that may limit or reverse patterns of recovery and overlooked accumulating evidence of principles not only underlying the pathogenic mechanism in earlier or later disorganizations of cerebral functions and principles of their organization but especially their reorganization following brain insults in infants and adults. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical Psychologists Revisited: Comment.

In 1946 the VA, beginning its training program in clinical psychology, sponsored a program of research designed to increase the effectiveness of the procedures used to select trainees. The primary purpose of this five-year research project, which was directed and coordinated through the University of Michigan, was the evaluation of a variety of procedures as predictors of later success in graduate training and professional functioning in clinical psychology. In 1947 and 1948, several hundred college graduates seeking admission to or just entering the four-year VA training program in some 40 universities were evaluated by a wide variety of techniques, and predictions were made concerning their probable success in training and future professional competence. One of the most frequent comments after publication of this work was the concern that our criterion measures were obtained too early in the professional lives of the assessed trainees. In a sense this mirrors our own concern when we stated at that time that, "It is, of course, entirely possible that predictors which look unpromising at this time may have greater validity for predicting later criteria of professional accomplishment and vice versa." In an effort to extend our knowledge we are beginning a follow-up study of the approximately 1,200 persons who participated in some way in the original research. In addition to the original prediction problem, this follow-up stage will also be concerned with attempting to tease out the kinds of variables (personality or situational) which determine whether a clinical psychologist will devote himself primarily to therapy, research, diagnosis, teaching, or administration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Creativity as a decision": Comment.

Responds to the comments by T. B. Kashdan and F. D. Fincham (see record 2002-12932-014), J. C. Kaufman (see record 2002-12932-016 and J. Raven (see record 2002-12932-015) on the articles that discussed creativity in the April 2001 issue of American Psychologist. The current author does not disagree with any of the comments made. He states that although creative people differ in an astonishing number of ways, there is, in fact, one key attribute that they all possess, an attribute consistent with the original articles in American Psychologist's special section on creativity and consistent with these new commentaries as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evolution and "evolutionary behavorism": Comment.

Comments on W. R. Woodward's (see record 1982-30310-001) article on the discovery of social behaviorism and social learning theory from 1870 through 1980. The article suggests that within several concepts that are related to social behaviorism and social learning theory, the same "discovery" has been made to account for an important part of behavioral variance. This involves a functional feedback model with internal variables and some kind of selection via symbolic processes that are termed "evolutionary." The present author raises concern for Woodward's use of the biological evolutionary theory in this context. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Discovering imago relationship therapy": Comment.

Comments on the original article by J. J. Zielinski (see record 1999-03629-009) regarding imago relationship therapy. The author argues that the very features that make imago relationship therapy successful (e.g., its thoroughness) also present certain drawbacks. The author notes that imago relationship therapy may only be appropriate for a small, elite population, and therapists who are sufficiently trained in the method may also be relatively few. Slate suggests that further research may be helpful in determining ways in which aspects of this type of therapy may be adapted for other uses, e.g., premarital counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School psychology: A specialty of professional psychology with distinct competencies and complexities.

School psychology at the doctoral level is recognized as a specialty of professional psychology by the American Psychological Association, with corresponding licensure as a psychologist granted by state boards of psychology. School psychology also is regulated by state boards of education; they set the credentialing standards for professional practice in public schools. The intent of this article is to enhance the understanding of this distinct and multiply influenced specialty. The need for psychological services in schools is highlighted, followed by a discussion of multiple influences and licensing/credentialing issues. Next, the specialty is delineated, its distinctiveness highlighted, and competencies for practice in the public schools elaborated. Finally, education/training models and mechanisms for program accreditation are described, as are the major professional organizations in school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)