Review of Handbook of Indian psychology.

Reviews the book, Handbook of Indian psychology, edited by K. Ramakrishna Rao, Anand C. Paranjpe, and Ajit K. Dalal (see record 2008-09634-000). The importance and development of indigenous perspectives in psychology are well-documented in recent years, and many volumes have appeared that focus on specific cultural regions. The present volume is a welcome addition to this line of work, particularly as it is just the inaugural volume in a series entitled the “Indian Psychology Book Project.” After an introductory chapter, the volume is organised into three general parts devoted to “Systems and Schools,” “Topics and Themes,” and “Applications and Implications”. The first part is largely concerned with broad cultural and theological influences on Indian psychology. The second part includes topics that are typical of western psychological approaches, including motivation, personality, cognition, emotion and consciousness, all cast within an Indian cultural perspective. In the third part, authors seek to apply specific knowledge from these domains of Indian psychology to areas of practise such as meditation and health, and organisational effectiveness. This volume presents an exceedingly rich set of materials. Those interested in comprehending human beings in all their diversity should be prepared to spend hours with this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Cambridge handbook of situated cognition.

Reviews the book, The Cambridge handbook of situated cognition edited by Philip Robbins and Murat Aydede (see record 2009-00004-000). This Handbook begins with three chapters that orient the reader to some of the key ideas that define the study of situated cognition. The next seven chapters comprise the “Conceptual Foundations” section of the Handbook and have critical implications for psychology and cognitive science, which is one reason that this book is important to read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advancing “the boldest model yet”: A commentary on psychology, religion, and spirituality.

Following O’Donahue’s (1989) consideration of the psychologist as metaphysician-scientist-practitioner, Jones (1994) proposed, “the boldest model yet” in which “religion could participate as an active partner with psychology as a science and as an applied discipline” (p. 184). Lisa Miller goes a step farther in her call for a spiritual psychology, which extends “a map of human experience beyond the material” and offers “the vast possibility of the science of psychology...to generate new methods beyond materialism” (see record 2010-09501-001). Each of the articles in this section illustrates what can be gained in reaching beyond materialism to meaning. Len Sperry (see record 2010-03251-006) advocates for a holistic, postmaterialist perspective to health, which de-emphasizes pathology and symptom reduction as the singular focus. Embedded in his thesis is the intricate connection between mind and body, yet he resists the unified model of scientific naturalism on the grounds that it “represents a biologization of spirituality.” The final article in this special section calls into question the fundamental assumptions of materialist psychology. Bruce Greyson’s study (see record 2010-03251-005) of near-death experiences challenges the assumption that the mind and the brain are identical and that psychological phenomena can be readily explained by existing physiological models. Will such challenges be embraced and will more fundamental questions be taken up, though it means that certain truth claims may need to be put aside? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice.

Reviews the book, The handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice by Kirk J. Schneider, James F. T. Bugental, and J. Fraser Pierson (see record 2001-01409-000). Over 30 years ago Abraham Maslow (1971) envisioned a 3rd force psychology that would bring about “a change of basic thinking along the total front of man’s endeavors, a potential change in every social institution, in every one of the ‘fields’ of intellectual endeavor, and in every one of the professions.” Schneider, Bugental, and Pierson must have been guided by a similar vision as they edited the Handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice. The breadth of the handbook is impressive with chapters addressing everything from psychotherapy, pedagogy, medicine, and spirituality to ecology, literature, social action and the workplace. The editors have successfully recruited authors from a variety of disciplines—including psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, education, and politics—who are well respected both inside and outside humanistic circles and who are exceptionally qualified to address their topics. Fortunately, despite this far-reaching breadth, the editors have not spread the handbook too thin. In fact, in areas where it seems especially needed (e.g., methodology) there is a much welcome depth and detail that is far from typical of other handbooks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Against the grain: “Matter” and “spirit”.

Comments on the original article, "Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology," by B. Greyson (see record 2010-03251-005). Although I will only comment on the paper by Greyson (2010), my initial thoughts pertain to the whole section, which explicitly framed itself as a repudiation of materialism and a defense of spiritual psychology. I find neither of these positions palatable or fair to the nature of reality, which seems to scoff at our pedestrian attempts to tame it, whether by crass materialism or spiritualism. Both “spiritual materialism” and “crass materialism” are but different manifestations of the same maladies: The refusal to consider data that do not fit preconceptions (i.e., that one’s beliefs, whether spiritual or “scientistic” may be wrong or, at least, incomplete), methodological poverty (i.e., that one’s method of knowledge, whether experiential or experimental is the only or the best way to apprehend all of reality), and philosophical shallowness (e.g., the “secret” that we attract what happens to us, which is an insult to the countless victims of genocides and brutalities throughout history, or the pronouncements that consciousness has been “explained” when we have no idea even how electrochemical impulses become experiences). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Desire, self, mind and the psychotherapies: Unifying psychological science and psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Desire, self, mind and the psychotherapies: Unifying psychological science and psychoanalysis by R. Coleman Curtis (see record 2008-14956-000). It seems that the current drumbeat of attack against psychoanalysis and its contributions has, as Paul Stepansky (2009) states, put psychoanalysis “at the margins.” It is this question that has become the sine qua non. And it is this question that R. Coleman Curtis attempts to answer in her new book. For many years, Curtis has dedicated her work to the integration of psychoanalysis with other disciplines within psychology and psychotherapy. In her book, Curtis hypothesizes that advances in psychoanalysis and in the broader field of psychology make it possible to achieve common ground between disciplines. The goal of integration is clearly a passion for her, and she infuses the book with a hope that there can be mutual recognition of the contributions of psychoanalysis with the rest of the field of psychology in a way not possible before two major trends: the “affective revolution” and the recognition across disciplines of unconscious processes. She argues that this is necessary for both disciplines. Curtis’ work is an elaborate and impressively researched volume that carefully lays out the argument that psychoanalysis must abandon dated ideas and instead must present relevant science to support key suppositions. For psychology in general, she argues that acknowledging seminal findings regarding unconscious motivation and emotional processing will make the field more dynamic and relevant to people’s lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Near-death experiences: Out of body and out of mind?

Comments on the original article, "Implications of near-death experiences for a post-materialist psychology," by B. Greyson (see record 2010-03251-005). Greyson (2010) has argued that complex consciousness (i.e., near-death experiences, or NDEs) under conditions such as cardiac arrest and general anesthesia challenge “materialist reductionism” and require a revised psychology anchored in 21st-century quantum physics that includes consciousness in its conceptual formulation. Unfortunately, Greyson fails to specify how quantum mechanics or a holistic approach can (a) enlighten our understanding of NDEs and (b) pave a foundation for a “new scientific conceptualization of the interface between mind and brain (Greyson, 2010, p. 43).” We agree with Greyson that NDEs are fascinating phenomena, and we further recognize that quantum mechanics undergirds chemistry, and so surely plays some as-yet- undefined role in mental processes. However, we sharply disagree that it is necessary to “expand models of the mind” on the basis of quantum mechanics “before we can progress in our understanding of consciousness and the brain (Greyson, 2010, p. 43).” We do not wish to duel with Greyson regarding if and when the brain is “completely disabled” during NDEs, but instead argue that the future is bright for understanding NDEs in terms of the everyday workings of the brain, and suggest important avenues of inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health psychology at the crossroads.

Reviews the books, Handbook of psychology and health, volume I: Clinical psychology and behavioral medicine: Overlapping disciplines, edited by R. J. Gatchel, A. Baum, and J. E. Singer (see record 1985-97683-000); Handbook of psychology and health, volume II: Issues in child health and adolescent health, edited by A. Baum and J. E. Singer (1982); and Introduction to medical psychology by J. C. Norton (1982). The conflict between the traditional medical model and the biopsychosocial model threatens to prevent the establishment of health psychology's principles and identity. This conflict clearly characterizes the volumes presently under review. James C. Norton's Introduction to medical psychology aims to introduce mental health professionals to medicine, to teach behavioral treatments for disease, and to address issues of health promotion. The Handbook of psychology and health is a much more ambitious attempt to meet the same goals. The volumes are "intended for investigators, clinicians, teachers, and both graduate and undergraduate students." Given tradition, simplicity, inertia, and existing status structures, the traditional medical model has an almost overwhelming allure. Unfortunately, the traditional medical model also is inadequate, and its deficiencies cannot be remedied by forcing psychological and behavioral problems into its mechanistic clutches. By carefully reviewing and evaluating complex issues in health psychology while simultaneously endeavoring to prescribe clinical and medical treatments, the volumes under review delineate the dilemma facing health psychology; but they do little to resolve it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Press coverage of the new psychology by the New York Times during the Progressive Era.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 14(3) of History of Psychology (see record 2011-16916-003). In Table 1, under the “General” column, the Total should have been 40. Additionally, on page 114, paragraph 3, line 3 should have read, “Between 1885 and 1919, they published 40 articles about the new experimental psychology, 100 stories reporting on applied psychology, 19 stories dealing with psychoanalysis, 38 accounts of psychology’s interest in spiritualism, and 25 articles on the Emmanuel movement (Table 1).” The online version of this article has been corrected.] Press coverage of psychology by the New York Times was examined for the Progressive Era. Following a period in which psychology was associated with spiritualism, psychoanalysis, and the Emmanuel movement, the Times gave editorial preference to reports about psychology's applications. Reaching an audience that was both affluent and influential, the topics emphasized by the Times included the lie detector, psychological applications in the work place, mental tests, and child psychology. These areas reflected issues of social concern to Progressives, publicized the rise of the psychologist as expert, and aided psychology in its challenge to common sense. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of emotion regulation.

Reviews the book, Handbook of emotion regulation edited by James J. Gross (see record 2007-01392-000). The purpose of this edited volume is to bring the reader and the scientific community up-to-date on the burgeoning field of emotion and particularly how it is regulated. The book comprises 30 chapters divided amongst seven traditional sections within psychology: foundations, biological bases, cognitive foundations, developmental approaches, personality process and individual differences, social approaches, and clinical outcomes. Gross very nicely captures the range of topics and issues surrounding the topic of emotion and emotion regulation in this edited volume. Gross is to be congratulated for taking on the task of editing such a timely and important volume for the field. Given the scope of the volume, it should have wide appeal to researchers as well as graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the areas of personality and social psychology, human development, child clinical psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive and affective neuroscience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Deemer, Thomas, and Hill (2011).

Reports an error in "Measuring students' perceptions of faculty competence in professional psychology: Development of the Perceived Faculty Competence Inventory" by Eric D. Deemer, Donna Thomas and Candi L. Hill (Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 2011[Feb], Vol 5[1], 38-47). There were errors in Table 1 and Table 4. In Table 1, the factor loading of “-22.00” in Column 4 should have read “-22” In Table 4, under “Variance” in the “Program level PFCI” row, “.00” is not a significant value and therefore should not have asterisks after it. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-04456-006.) This paper documents the development of a measure designed to assess doctoral students' perceptions of the professional competence of faculty in clinical, counseling, and school psychology. Study 1 yielded 33 items via principal components analysis that accounted for over 72% of the variance in the data across 5 domains: (a) Professionalism/Ethics; (b) Clinical Supervision; (c) Research; (d) Multicultural Competence; and (e) Advising/Mentoring. A confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 provided support for the construct validity of the 5-factor model. Multilevel modeling was also used in Study 2 to demonstrate concurrent validity as aggregated group-level scores on the Perceived Faculty Competence Inventory were shown to explain significant variation in individual-level counselor and research self-efficacy. Implications for training and research in professional psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Dennis (2011).

Reports an error in "Press coverage of the new psychology by the New York Times during the Progressive Era" by Paul M. Dennis (History of Psychology, 2011[May], Vol 14[2], 113-136). In Table 1, under the “General” column, the Total should have been 40. Additionally, on page 114, paragraph 3, line 3 should have read, “Between 1885 and 1919, they published 40 articles about the new experimental psychology, 100 stories reporting on applied psychology, 19 stories dealing with psychoanalysis, 38 accounts of psychology’s interest in spiritualism, and 25 articles on the Emmanuel movement (Table 1).” The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-09245-001.) Press coverage of psychology by the New York Times was examined for the Progressive Era. Following a period in which psychology was associated with spiritualism, psychoanalysis, and the Emmanuel movement, the Times gave editorial preference to reports about psychology's applications. Reaching an audience that was both affluent and influential, the topics emphasized by the Times included the lie detector, psychological applications in the work place, mental tests, and child psychology. These areas reflected issues of social concern to Progressives, publicized the rise of the psychologist as expert, and aided psychology in its challenge to common sense. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The International Handbook of Creativity.

Reviews the book, The International Handbook of Creativity by James Kaufman and Robert Sternberg (Eds) (see record 2006-05841-000). The International Handbook of Creativity, edited by James Kaufman and Robert Sternberg, provides global perspectives on conceptions of creativity. An edited volume with 35 international contributing authors of 17 chapters, this handbook achieves the goal stated on its back cover of "present[ing] a truly international and diverse set of perspectives on the psychology of human creativity." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring students' perceptions of faculty competence in professional psychology: Development of the Perceived Faculty Competence Inventory.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 5(2) of Training and Education in Professional Psychology (see record 2011-09655-004). There were errors in Table 1 and Table 4. In Table 1, the factor loading of “-22.00” in Column 4 should have read “-22” In Table 4, under “Variance” in the “Program level PFCI” row, “.00” is not a significant value and therefore should not have asterisks after it.] This paper documents the development of a measure designed to assess doctoral students' perceptions of the professional competence of faculty in clinical, counseling, and school psychology. Study 1 yielded 33 items via principal components analysis that accounted for over 72% of the variance in the data across 5 domains: (a) Professionalism/Ethics; (b) Clinical Supervision; (c) Research; (d) Multicultural Competence; and (e) Advising/Mentoring. A confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 provided support for the construct validity of the 5-factor model. Multilevel modeling was also used in Study 2 to demonstrate concurrent validity as aggregated group-level scores on the Perceived Faculty Competence Inventory were shown to explain significant variation in individual-level counselor and research self-efficacy. Implications for training and research in professional psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Performance psychology in action: A casebook for working with athletes, performing artists, business leaders, and professionals in high-risk occupations.

Reviews the book, Performance psychology in action: A casebook for working with athletes, performing artists, business leaders, and professionals in high-risk occupations edited by Kate F. Hays (see record 2009-05799-000). Kate Hays has accomplished an admirable task in bringing together a collective of prominent performance practitioners to illustrate the diverse applications of performance psychology. Drawing on specific client examples from across a variety of performance domains, the authors use a case study approach to illustrate the process of helping clients work through a range of performance issues. In doing so, the book offers its readers the privileged opportunity of being a fly on the wall, placing them in the room with the performance practitioners and their clients. In addition, readers also benefit from the running commentary offered by each of the authors as they elaborate on their client assessments and chosen courses of action. In terms of scope, the book explores four performance domains: sports, performing arts, business, and high-risk occupations. The book is practical in nature, providing a snapshot of the practise of performance psychology. I would not, however, call this a “how-to” book. Rather, it is an illustration of how one can apply the principles of performance psychology when working with a varied clientele. Regarding its place in an academic setting, I would recommend that the book be used as a companion to texts that are more heavily weighted in theory and research. Paired with such texts, this book could serve to bridge the science–practise gap and also to demystify the intervention process for psychology students. Because the book presumes prior knowledge of therapeutic principles, it may be more suited to practitioners who are curious about performance psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rediscovering differential psychology?

Comments on the original article, "Many forms of culture," by A. B. Cohen (see record 2009-04471-003). Cohen offered an eye-opening review of how culture means much more than ethnicity within a nation or differences between nations. After developing a much-expanded definition of culture, he concluded, “I have lamented the fact that psychology has focused on some important cultural differences, but not others” (Cohen, 2009, p. 202), and he went on to explain how deeply this expanded definition can impact our psychological research. Without naming it, Cohen (2009) apparently rediscovered the now-forgotten concept of “differential psychology,” which actually surpasses his own expanded definition of culture. Anastasi (1937) defined differential psychology simply as “the scientific study of differences between groups” (p. 59). One look at her book’s table of contents shows that this definition goes far beyond race and ethnicity, to include all sorts of group differences based on gender, social class, education, religion, age, and family. These all qualify as cultural differences under Cohen’s (2009) expanded definition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sources: The UFMG archives of the history of psychology in Brazil.

This article discusses the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Archives of the history of psychology in Brazil. The Archives were originally established in 1997, in the Helena Antipoff Room at the Central Library of the UFMG. The team responsible for today’s archive operations has grown to include psychology and education archival specialists, as well as personnel trained in conservation and restoration techniques and consultants who provide advice on the organization of the material. As psychology in Brazil is profoundly related to the history of education, above all to the history of educational thinking and the systems of teaching, the collections also constitute material of interest to education historians. Thus, in institutional terms, the UFMG Archives of the History of Psychology in Brazil are connected both to the postgraduate programs in psychology, “History of Psychology and Sociocultural Context,” and education, “Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Education,” at the UFMG. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recurrence in major depression: A conceptual analysis.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 118(4) of Psychological Review (see record 2011-23298-002). An incorrect version of Figure 2 was published, and Figure 3 was published in color instead of Figure 4. Also, in Table 1, the acronym “(FLED)” should not have been included in the Recurrence section, under Confusion to avoid, following “Not to be confused with a first lifetime recurrence.” All versions of this article have been corrected.] Theory and research on major depression have increasingly assumed a recurrent and chronic disease model. Yet not all people who become depressed suffer recurrences, suggesting that depression is also an acute, time-limited condition. However, few if any risk indicators are available to forecast which of the initially depressed will or will not recur. This prognostic impasse may be a result of problems in conceptualizing the nature of recurrence in depression. In the current paper we first provide a conceptual analysis of the assumptions and theoretical systems that presently structure thinking on recurrence. This analysis reveals key concerns that have distorted views about the long-term course of depression. Second, as a consequence of these theoretical problems we suggest that investigative attention has been biased toward recurrent forms of depression and away from acute, time-limited conditions. Third, an analysis of how these theoretical problems have influenced research practices reveals that an essential comparison group has been omitted from research on recurrence: people with a single lifetime episode of depression. We suggest that this startling omission may explain why so few predictors of recurrence have as yet been found. Finally, we examine the reasons for this oversight, document the validity of depression as an acute, time-limited disorder, and provide suggestions for future research with the goal of discovering early risk indicators for recurrent depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)