Application of the CPA code of ethics: Towards integrating the science and practice of psychology.

Comments on S. Harvey's (see record 1994-43015-001) article on using the Canadian Psychological Association's Code of Ethics for psychologists in an organizational case. Harvey demonstrates that the Code of Ethics can be used as a metatheoretical framework that may lead to an integrated value system. The code must become part of the shared background of scientific activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On science, mirrors, lamps, and professional practice.

Presents a view of practical application of science that could become generic to the development of a science of practice. Two metaphors are used to describe the role of the school psychologist practitioner in applying scientific truths. In one metaphor, practitioners are passive, imitative "mirrors," and in the other, they are active, expressive "lamps" who cast their own unique light on such truths. Interpretations of the nature of practical application of science are placed within the constructionist movement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Technology, professional practice, and ethics: Survey findings and implications.

If a psychologist loses treatment records because of a computer failure, is it an ethical violation? The widespread growth of technology has outpaced the development of ethical standards for questions such as this, resulting in areas of uncertainty for psychologists. Four hundred twenty psychologists in independent practice rated the ethicality and their frequency of using 40 technologies. Technologies pertaining to the support functions of a psychologist's office are commonly used, but those technologies directly affecting clinical services are rarely used. more than half of the 40 items received equivocal ratings on ethicality, suggesting psychologists need guidelines and training for the use of technology in professional practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rehabilitation psychology practice, ethics, and a changing health care environment.

Rapid changes in the health care environment have brought about ethical and professional challenges for rehabilitation and rehabilitation psychology. The response of rehabilitation psychologists to the threats and opportunities of these challenges will have an impact on the welfare of persons with disabilities and the future of the profession. Managed care organizations have focused their efforts on the management of acute illness. Ethical concerns are being raised about patient access to care, self-determination, confidentiality, provider accountability, and marketing in managed care systems. Rehabilitation psychologists' skills in program development and outcome evaluation place them in a key position to influence the changes in the health care environment. To be effectual, however, fundamental changes must be made in research psychology practice, education and training, research focus, and professional activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The law, standards of practice, and ethics in the practice of psychology.

Reviews the book, The law, standards of practice, and ethics in the practice of psychology by David R. Evans (see record 1997-36222-000). The strength of this book, as the title suggests, is its focus on Canadian law, legal precedent, and ethical standards. The book covers, among other things, informed consent, confidentiality, assessment and treatment of children and adults, custody and access assessments, assessment of young offenders and treatment of correctional clients, the practitioner as expert witness, and malpractice. This text is destined to become a standard, and because the law is constantly changing as cases set new precedents, it will have to be revised on a regular basis. In that context, I offer some minor criticisms that are intended to be possibilities for making the text stronger in future revisions: I would suggest that an index of names be added to the present subject index, and an index of the Canadian legal cases cited. At present these cases are merely referenced after each chapter without the page numbers that one would get in an index. There are appendices after most chapters (I counted 14 separate appendices). Next time around, Evans might consider adding a list of appendices, with hints about their contents, after the table of contents. These criticisms aside, laudatory reviewers sometimes say "all psychologists (lawyers, doctors, etc.) should have this book on their shelves." In the case of this new book on legal and ethical rules concerning the practice of psychology in Canada, I can make that claim without hyperbole. For Canadian psychologists, particularly those who transact business with the public, this book is essential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized interpretation: Additional issues concerning ethics, standards, and regulation of practice.

Extends J. D. Matarazzo's (see record 1986-19878-001) discussion of computerized clinical psychological testing by discussing legal and licensing considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The practice of psychological science.

Replies to comments made by Tebes (see record 2007-12413-003) and Guyll and Madon (see record 2007-12413-004) on Sue's original article (see record 1999-15532-003), which noted the the paucity of publications and funding for research on ethnic minority populations. It is my belief that theories, models, and assessment instruments should all be rated according to adequacy with different populations. Those that have been used and found to be appropriate and applicable to many different populations should be considered as being more adequate, meeting more stringent requirements, and having greater goodness of fit to human beings than those that have been applied to only a few populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The practice and ethics of sexual orientation conversion therapy.

Sexual orientation conversion therapy was the treatment of choice when homosexuality was thought to be an illness. Despite the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness, efforts to sexually reorient lesbians and gay men continue. The construct of sexual orientation is examined, as well as what constitutes its change. The literature in psychotherapeutic and religious conversion therapies is reviewed, showing no evidence indicating that such treatments are effective in their intended purpose. A need for empirical data on the potentially harmful effects of such treatments is established. Ethical considerations relative to the ongoing stigmatizing effects of conversion therapies are presented. The need to develop more complex models for conceptualizing sexual orientation is discussed, as well as the need to provide treatments to gay men and lesbians that are consonant with psychology's stance on homosexuality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The science and practice of making decisions.

Describes Bayesian analysis, the lens model, and conflict decision theory as examples of the rational and scientific study of decision making. The nature of managerial work is discussed to set the context for a review of managerial practice in making decisions. It is stressed that decisions are made in the context of daily actions that reflect a dynamic and high-pressured collection of personal and informational demands. Decision making depends on the way in which the problem is defined, the urgency of the situation, the availability of feasible solutions, the magnitude of the consequences, and the number of persons involved. Seven recommendations are made for integrating science and practice so that better decisions result. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future of psychology practice and science.

This article reviews the 2009 APA President's initiatives and recommendations for the future of psychology practice and science. The future of psychology practice requires that we expand the focus of traditional practice; become health care providers, not just mental health providers; use evidence-based practice, assessment, and outcome measures; incorporate technology into our practices, including electronic health records; and change training and focus to meet the needs of our diverse society. The future of psychological science requires that we train and work in multidisciplinary teams, employ different methods and approaches, and shift our focus to translational science. The future of our profession requires substantial changes in graduate education to prepare our students for science and practice in the 21st century. In light of advances in science and practice that reveal the critical importance of psychosocial and behavioral factors in health and disease, I call for the creation of a department of behavioral health within the federal government. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The science of practice and the practice of science: The scientist-practitioner model in clinical neuropsychology.

Addresses the mutual leavening of, and interplay between, science and practice in clinical neuropsychology in terms of several principles that are thought to have rather general applicability. These principles concern several types of validity; mechanism and dynamics; answers vs questions; the role of insight, model building, and theory in science; and deconstructionism and other ideological fads. An example is provided of the interactions between science and practice in the case of the development of the syndrome of nonverbal learning disabilities and the "white matter" model designed to account for its developmental manifestations and dynamics. It is concluded that clinical practice and the science of neuropsychology should continue to reap considerable benefit from the principles nascent in the scientist–practitioner model. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

At the coalface--medical ethics in practice. First, do no harm

When a physician acts as both doctor and researcher conflicts can develop. When a doctor does not know whether a patient is taking active drug or placebo, any new medical problems can result in a dilemma. Is the patient's suffering a side effect of the medication or is this a new medical problem? Mrs W's case demonstrates the problem that can occur when the physician is blinded in the name of research.     

The reciprocal effects of science on practice: Insights from the practice and science of goal setting.

The hypothesis of this paper is that the science and practice of psychology are interdependent. Science drives practice which drives science. The science and practice of 25 years of programmatic research on goal setting theory in industrial-organizational psychology (I/O) is used in support of this hypothesis. I/O research on goal setting includes findings that (1) high goals lead to higher performance; (2) there is a linear relationship between goal difficulty and performance; (3) variables such as feedback, participative decision making, and competition affect performance to the extent that they lead to the setting of and commitment to high goals; and (4) mediators of goal setting are motivational and cognitive, with other variables mediating the effects of goals on performance in I/O settings. Scientists, practitioners, and scientist–practitioners alike are encouraged to work in unison in order to advance psychology for all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The science and practice of empirically supported treatments.

The impact on Canadian professional psychological treatment practices of the American Psychological Association""s Division 12 (Clinical Psychology) Task Force""s development of criteria and listings for empirically supported psychological treatments, along with other industrial efforts to standardize the identification of treatments with established efficacy is described in the article by J. Hunsley et al (see record 1999-01869-001). Here Hunsley et al extend their previous discussion and reply to other commentaries (see records 1999-01869-002, 1999-01869-003, 1999-01869-004, 1999-01869-005, 1999-01869-006) by viewing the current emphases in the Canadian health care system on accountability and empirically supported treatment (ESTs) as an unparalleled opportunity for professional psychology to deliver on its birthright. The generalizability of US experiences to Canadian contexts is discussed. Clinical practice guidelines should and will become the norm for providing evidence-based services in psychology, yet it would be impossible to develop such a guideline without empirical evidence proving that there are "best" interventions for a given problem. Canadian research issues in this light are discussed along with future challenges to professional psychology in Canada. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Animal models of human psychology: Critique of science, ethics, and policy.

Reviews the book, Animal models of human psychology: Critique of science, ethics, and policy by Kenneth J. Shapiro (see record 1998-06437-000). The principle focus of most of this text is on the present-day use of animals in psychological research. In particular, Shapiro examines contemporary animal models of eating disorders, showing how psychology came to rely so heavily on animal models in the first place and how prevalent scientific attitudes about the use of animals in the laboratory have taken shape over the past several decades. In addition, he traces the recent rise of the animal rights movement and highlights the several philosophies upon which it is based. Drawing upon certain historical and empirical analyses, as well as certain themes in contemporary sociology of knowledge, Shapiro attempts to navigate his reader through the twin minefields of impassioned rhetoric and insufficiently examined conceptual commitment to a better understanding of the core issues surrounding the role of animals in scientific psychological investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tunnel vision information: a paradox of ethics, economics, politics and science

BACKGROUND: Improvement in vision with spinal manipulation was first observed in the early 1970s. Reports of the phenomenon appeared in the 1980s in the popular press and at scientific meetings, but it was not until the mid-1990s that general discussion of the potential value of this knowledge occurred. Considering the far-reaching implications of the possible ability to improve brain function by spinal manipulation, the delay in consideration and implementation of this concept is a paradox in general terms and a total mystery in the case of the chiropractic profession. OBJECTIVE: To provide explanations for the delay in scientific assessment of the discovery that vision improves, in appropriate patients, when the spine is manipulated and to discuss the implications of this finding. This discovery is now called the "tunnel vision information." DISCUSSION: A schema of pathological hierarchy is depicted in which the level of intervention of spinal manipulation outranks other forms of treatment. The significance of this precedence is portrayed. Possible reasons for the failure to address this hierarchy in light of the tunnel vision information are discussed with reference to established protocols, medical politics, the presentation of the data, the failure of scientific editorship and the illogical aspects of the illness itself. CONCLUSION: In the future, the delay from the initial observation of the tunnel vision discovery to its free discussion in scientific literature may seem incongruous, particularly if the health benefits which it augurs are realized.     

The culture of science and the ethics of alcohol administration in research.

The failure of ethicists to develop an absolute ethical code has led to the consideration of ethics in particular contexts. In the alcohol field, such consideration has resulted in considerable controversy, because this field has been influenced by parallel cultural contexts: a scientific research culture and a layman's spiritual culture (represented by Alcoholics Anonymous). Both cultures can inform ethical decision, but for scientific decisions to be made the influence of these cultures must be disentangled. This article reviews issues pertaining to this disentangling in connection with the use of alcohol administration in research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)