American psychology in the eighties: Who will buy?

Presents a planning model for American psychology (AP) that leads to 9 concrete action proposals. AP is viewed as a nonprofit business whose products involve the creation, application, and dissemination of scientifically and technologically derived information about the human mind and behavior. Investigation of the present status of these knowledge bases finds psychology wanting and strongly suggests 3 disquieting conclusions: (a) Potential achievements of basic research are being undermined by a misdirected incentive system of publication criteria that disregards many of this field's basic precepts; (b) psychological problem solution can be served by a technological research paradigm qualitatively different from that of basic research; and thus (c) if AP is to compete successfully for future public support, the technological paradigm must be much better articulated, expanded, and integrated into the organization of the discipline. (75 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of life research in patients with rectal cancer: traditional approaches versus a problem-solving oriented perspective

The present paper critically appraises two recent overviews of the literature on rectal cancer and quality of life (QL). These reviews focus on the Anglo-American literature, largely neglect research from other countries, and provide little stimulus regarding future research directions. As an alternative perspective we propose the concept of problem-solving oriented QL research. The major theme is that the QL concept must be integrated into the clinical arena. To begin with, QL researchers must make themselves understandable. We outline several ways in which this can be achieved: (a) placing QL in a broader concept together with outcomes that are more familiar to clinicians; (b) depicting individual patients in the form of QL profiles; (c) clarifying the psychosocial/clinical correlates of particular QL scores of interest; and (d) conducting studies with a definitive practical goal in mind and integrating practitioners and patients into the study group. We illustrate the feasibility of such a research program by performance data from our Marburg-Biedenkopf field trial. Pursuing an ambitious research strategy that integrates experimental and applied research, the QL movement will have the chance to show that it is not merely l'art pour l'art, but indeed is beneficial to society.     

The "I," the "we," and the "when": A meta-analysis of motivational primacy in self-definition.

What is the primary motivational basis of self-definition? The authors meta-analytically assessed 3 hypotheses: (a) The individual self is motivationally primary, (b) the collective self is motivationally primary, and (c) neither self is inherently primary; instead, motivational primacy depends on which self becomes accessible through contextual features. Results identified the individual self as the primary motivational basis of self definition. People react more strongly to threat and enhancement of the individual than the collective self. Additionally, people more readily deny threatening information and more readily accept enhancing information when it pertains to the individual rather than the collective self, regardless of contextual influences. The individual self is the psychological home base, a stable system that can react flexibly to contextual influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Laboratory research on self-control: Applications to administration.

Administrators must sometimes choose between a less delayed but ultimately less valued outcome (impulsiveness) and a more delayed but ultimately more valued outcome (self-control). Which choice is made can affect the long-term health of an administrator's organization. Self-control laboratory research and analysis can be useful in understanding and possibly modifying these choices. This article describes some of the extensive basic laboratory research and analysis concerning self-control and applies this information to specific situations in administration, particularly higher education administration. It discusses the various factors that affect self-control and examines choices between negative, as well as positive, outcomes. Laboratory and nonlaboratory investigations can benefit from attending to information obtained from the other domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dialogical self: Beyond individualism and rationalism.

There is growing awareness among psychologists that the individualistic and rationalistic character of contemporary psychological theories of the self reflect an ethnocentric Western view of personhood. In opposition to this view, it is argued from a constructionist perspective that the self can be conceived of as dialogical, a view that transcends individualism and rationalism. A comparison of 3 contructionist forerunners (G. Vico [1966], H. Vaihinger [1935], and G. A. Kelly [1955]) suggests that to transcend individualism and rationalism, the embodied nature of the self must be taken into consideration. Moving through space and time, the self can imaginatively occupy a number of positions that permit mutual dialogical relations. The classic Jamesian distinction between the I and the Me is translated in a narrative framework. The implications for 3 areas of psychological research (attribution theory, moral development, and the individual differences paradigm) are briefly discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incremental Validity in the Psychological Assessment of Children and Adolescents.

Incremental validity in the process of psychological assessment of children and adolescents is explored. The authors highlight the dependence of the incremental validity of assessment information on factors such as goal of assessment, other information available, base rate of the problem or outcome, age or gender of the child, and type of problem being assessed. The authors discuss the incremental validity of assessment information from alternate sources, methods, and constructs. In view of the limited number of studies directly relevant to incremental validity in child clinical assessments, the authors call for more clinically relevant research. To have the greatest impact on child and adolescent services, this research must be readily generalized and immediately relevant to actual clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional uncertainty and social comparison.

An experiment was run to test an assumption, basic to social comparison theory, that evaluational uncertainty regarding some aspect of the self, such as an emotional experience, produces a desire to compare one's self with others. Under threat of a strong shock, 2 levels of uncertainty were induced. Cross-cutting this induction were treatments in which information about others due to undergo the same experience was manipulated. Following Schachter, the desire for comparison information was measured by the strength of S's affiliation tendency. The findings suggest that: (a) uncertainty does produce a desire to compare one's self with others, (b) the individual's uncertainty relative to available comparison persons will determine his comparison tendency, and (c) a discrepancy in position (in this case, emotionality) reduces the desire to compare. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning from the basics: Clinical implications of social, developmental, and cross-cultural study of the self.

This article serves as an introduction to a series aimed at informing psychotherapists about the current state of theory and research on the self across different domains of basic psychological science (i.e., social, developmental, and cross-cultural). The authors highlight several gaps in integration that continue to exist both within the field of psychotherapy, and across psychology as a whole and argue that such chasms serve to limit the applied utility of an abundance of scholarly work. The self is then presented as a potentially unifying construct that may begin to address such chasms. The overarching goal of this special series is to attempt a direct stimulation of science and practice, as well as cross-discipline integration, by presenting the clinical implications of the highly diverse study of the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on structural analysis of social behavior.

The structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) model dissects interpersonal and intrapsychic events into 3 underlying dimensions: (a) focus (on other, on self with other, and on self with self); (b) affiliation (love vs. hate); and (c), interdependence (enmeshment or dominance–submission vs. differentiation or emancipate–separate). Accompanied by predictive principles (similarity, opposition, complementarity, introjection, antithesis), the model can operationalize important aspects of a wide range of psychological events. Questionnaires, coding systems, and software permit the SASB model to be applied in a wide array of clinical and research contexts. It has been used by people of divergent theoretical persuasions including the interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, psychoanalytic, expressive, family, and group approaches. In this article, the model and its predictive principles are reviewed, along with examples of research, clinical, and theoretical applications. The articles in this section provide examples of especially creative and appropriate uses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Epilogue: Bridging the gap between research on attachment and psychopathology.

Clinicians and researchers are beginning to acknowledge the importance of integrating a developmental perspective into the understanding of clinical disorders. The application of findings from basic attachment research to this understanding of psychopathology is a prototype for interdisciplinary research. However, major gaps continue to exist between basic research on attachment processes and clinical issues of assessment, classification, and treatment of mental disorders from infancy through adolescence. This epilogue highlights the importance of more integrative research. As a reflection of growth in this direction, National Institute of Mental Health funding patterns are reviewed, and promising areas for future research are suggested. The field is well positioned for conceptual advancement if more integrative approaches are used. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chronic physical illness and sexual behavior: Psychological issues.

States that the impact of chronic physical illness on sexual behavior is often overlooked in clinical care and research and that psychological adaptations of patients and their partners are often ignored as contributing to sexual difficulties. A model of sexual behavior and chronic illness must take into account the mutual feedback mechanisms between biological and psychological disease-related processes. Chronic physical illness threatens basic personal resources—sexual identity and self-esteem, personal control over body functions, intimacy, and generativity—that affect sexual behavior after diagnosis. Psychological processes of cognitive appraisal, emotional expression, and coping strategies that are triggered by chronic disease play a vital role in sexual adaptations. Psychologists have a critical role to play in assessments and interventions as well as in providing guidance for other professionals in more effectively and sensitively meeting the sexual needs of seriously ill persons. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of client-centered group play therapy on self concept.

V. M. Axline's (1969) basic principles for client-centered play therapists direct the therapist to create an environment in which clients are granted the basic freedoms that V. Satir (1976) has delineated as necessary for self concept enhancement. This relationship between client-centered play therapy and self concept enhancement is evident when comparing their histories. This study investigated the effects of client-centered play therapy on self concept in a 10 session client-centered play therapy group involving 3 male and 3 female 6-9 yr olds with a variety of clinical problems. Two individual case studies from the group are presented which indicate that client-centered group play therapy enhances self concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communicating violence risk assessments.

This Current Issues section of the American Psychologist examines recent advances in violence risk assessment, especially communications about risks of violence. Assessments of violence risk are required of most clinical psychologists. As research on violence begins to make possible more reliable estimates of risk, clinicians must have ways to use and communicate that information effectively. The three articles in this section identify and explore how we can begin to meet this challenge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family therapy training: Quo vadis?

Family therapy training programs have proliferated in recent times, without guidelines or much research. The clinical skills and personal characteristics that supervisors look for in trainees are a strong sense of the self, the ability to form systemic concepts at complex levels, and responsible clinical judgment. Personal training and experience outweighs the importance of professional background. A prior foundation in the social sciences and consolidation of basic professional training are emphasized. Concerns about superficial training at brief workshops are discussed. Defining competency and ensuring minimum standards are essential to protect the public and the credibility of family therapy. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The need for research that is designed to support decisions in the delivery of mental health services

M.E.P. Seligman (1995) argued that traditional approaches to mental health services research fail to provide useful information to consumers and practitioners, particularly in an environment increasingly dominated by managed care. The authors recommend 4 guidelines for designing a research program so that the results can support the decisions of the major stakeholders (clients-families, practitioners, service managers, and policymakers): (a) Research must be targeted and programmatic and encompass a strategy of complementary efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness studies; (b) study design and measure selection must be sensitive to describe who, and in what context, is best served by which intervention; (c) the design must inform stakeholders as to the type and amount of effort that is required to achieve a behavioral criteria; and (d) the strategy should inform researchers how information should be formatted to best support the decisions of the key stakeholders.     

The MMPI-2 considered in the contexts of personality theory, external validity, and clinical utility.

The MMPI-2 promises to be a substantial improvement over its predecessor and is a major contribution to the field of personality assessment. Much of the former research and the clinical experience that one has accumulated over the years will continue to be applicable to the MMPI-2. The author is somewhat surprised that the revision of the basic scales was not a more substantive one. Based on the research literature, psychometric considerations, and clinical needs, a more fundamental revision may have been appropriate. Improvements in and possible limitations in the MMPI-2 are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)