Negligible scholarly impact of 38-witnesses parable.

Comments on an article (see record 2007-13085-001) by Manning, Levine and Collins, which talks about the original 1964 Kitty Genovese murder 38-witness account. Brock feels there were inaccuracies that have not affected the story's scholarly impact, or lack of impact. First, the story did not launch the social psychology of helping. Second, the story itself in no way "curtailed the imaginative space of helping research in social psychology," as claimed by Manning et al. Third, Manning et al. noted that the social psychology of helping was not included in a recent litany of useful contributions of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research productivity and scholarly impact of Canadian psychology departments.

Used the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) as a data source for citation counts, which reflect scholarly impact, and publication counts, which reflect productivity. Using the SSCI data, 35 Canadian psychology departments, with a total of 1,005 faculty, were compared and evaluated in terms of scholarship. Limitations of the SSCI as a data source for scholarly impact and productivity are discussed, and it is suggested that the SSCI is useful as a crude index of scholarship. It is concluded that a disproportionately small number of psychologists had major impact. An example is given: The top 26 psychologists representing 2.60% of the sample contributed 39% of the citations and over 10% of the publications. The top 26 psychologists were primarily from Ontario universities and from McGill. Full professors contributed a disporportionately large number of the citations, reflecting scholarly maturity. Although the University of Toronto was obviously the top psychology department in Canada (with respect to research), it was clearly surpassed by Stanford, the top psychology department in the US. Although the SSCI has certain limitations, it is a useful methodological tool that can contribute to the sociology of science. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Productivity and scholarly impact: Correction for Endler et al.

Corrects an error in the calculation of mean publications for the University of Missouri-Kansas City in an article by N. S. Endler et al (see record 1979-26949-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Productivity and scholarly impact (citations) of British, Canadian, and U.S. departments of psychology (1975).

Evaluated the psychology departments at 180 universities in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the US in terms of their productivity and the impact of their scholarly research. The 1975 Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) was used as the basis for counting both citations of and publications by each of the 5,597 faculty members. Psychologists at the 180 evaluated departments received a total of 76,189 citations in 1975 (mean 13.6) and produced a total of 4,977 publications (mean .89). Data are presented for the top 100 departments: total, mean, and median number of citations of each department as well as the total and mean number of publications. The citation measures correlated more highly with reputational ranks taken on 76 American schools in an earlier study than did the publication measures. The departments of psychology at 4 universities were consistently in the top 8 on the total, mean, and median citation measures of scholarly impact: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania. 18 of the top 100 departments in terms of total citations were from either Canada or the United Kingdom. Methodological difficulties in using the SSCI and possible uses and limitations of citation counts are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of scholarly productivity among counseling psychologists.

To obtain correlates of scholarly productivity among counselors, 296 27–69 yr old full- and part-time faculty members of 44 doctoral-level counseling psychology training programs completed the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and a questionnaire with items concerning demographic data, research attitudes, and preferences for different types of environments and activities. Univariate t tests were performed for each item and each scale of the VPI, comparing those 81 Ss who fell in the top 27% of productivity for publications and those 87 who fell in the bottom 27% of productivity. Results portray the high producer as a person who has most likely graduated with a doctorate at a younger age, was interested in research while in graduate school, feels that the graduate school experience prepared him/her for the difficulties experienced in getting published, and who perceived his/her graduate program as expecting the student to produce research. In contrast, results portray the low producer as being interested in practical applications rather than theoretical aspects of research, preferring research to grow out of the counseling experience, enjoying helping individuals, and preferring to spend time in direct service than research. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the scholarly impact of health psychology: A citation analysis of articles published from 1993 to 2003.

Objective: We conducted a citation analysis to explore the impact of articles published in Health Psychology and determine whether the journal is fulfilling its stated mission. Design: Six years of articles (N = 408) representing three editorial tenures from 1993–2003 were selected for analysis. Main Outcome Measures: Articles were coded for several dimensions enabling examination of the relationship of article features to subsequent citations rates. Journals citing articles published in Health Psychology were classified into four categories: (1) psychology, (2) medicine, (3) public health and health policy, and (4) other journals. Results: The majority of citations of Health Psychology articles were in psychology journals, followed closely by medical journals. Studies reporting data collected from college students, and discussing the theoretical implications of findings, were more likely to be cited in psychology journals, whereas studies reporting data from clinical populations, and discussing the practice implications of findings, were more likely to be cited in medical journals. Time since publication and page length were both associated with increased citation counts, and review articles were cited more frequently than observational studies. Conclusion: Articles published in Health Psychology have a wide reach, informing psychology, medicine, public health and health policy. Certain characteristics of articles affect their subsequent pattern of citation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fostering scholarly productivity through academic and internship research training environments.

How can training programs foster counseling and clinical psychologists' scholarly productivity? This study examined the impact of academic and internship research training environments (RTEs) on the scholarly activity of 223 early career professionals. Results supported the construct validity of the Internship Research Training Environment scale through cross-validation and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings revealed differences in perceptions of the internship RTE and scholarly productivity as a function of academic training philosophy and internship training philosophy. Finally, results suggested that academic and internship RTEs could influence research interest and scholarly productivity indirectly by enhancing research self-efficacy and research outcome expectations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and occupational well-being.

Examined 2 questions through an investigation of 1,686 people employed in a wide range of jobs. First, is there a U-shaped relationship between age and occupational well-being, such that medium-aged workers report lower well-being than do both younger and older people? That pattern is found, in relationship to both job anxiety–contentment and job depression–enthusiasm. Second, can the observed associations between age and well-being be accounted for by 13 potentially explanatory factors, covering job position, job characteristics, work values, demographic factors, and family life cycle? After introducing these variables into stepwise regression equations, age remains significantly predictive of job well-being. Possible additional explanations of this positive association include other job characteristics, an increasingly retrospective focus, and non-occupational experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whatever happened to scholarly discourse? A reply to B. F. Skinner.

Comments that B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001) has presented an egregiously inaccurate characterization of humanistic psychology. The authors note that Skinnerian radical behaviorism emphasizes behavior, science, and technology, while humanistic psychologies emphasize human beings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and MMPI performance.

Evaluated the effects of age on MMPI scale scores with intelligence controlled. Data included MMPIs and Wechslers from 420 white hospitalized psychiatric patients. No sex differences were found in relationships among age, intelligence, and MMPI scale scores. Major findings were that T-scores on Scales 4, 6, 8, and 9 are affected by age, scores on Scales L and F by intelligence, and scores on only Scale F by both variables. Although Scale 2 T scores were not affected by age, peak-analysis showed that older patients more often have Scale 2 peaks. This results from decreases in T scores on the other scales, rather than increases on Scale 2. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the scholarly activity of counseling psychology students: A refinement and extension.

J. H. Kahn and N. A. Scott's (1997) model of scholarly activity was refined by integrating the mentoring relationship as an element of the research training environment and research outcome expectations as an additional mediator, as guided by social-cognitive career theory (SCCT). A national survey of 149 counseling psychology students was used to test the refined model. Results supported an indirect effect of the research training environment on scholarly activity through research interest and research self-efficacy; the student's relationship with his or her mentor did not predict these outcomes. In accord with SCCT, research self-efficacy and research outcome expectations mediated the relationships between students' investigative interests and perceptions of the research training environment (predictors) on research interest and scholarly activity (criteria). This model extends Kahn and Scott's work and suggests the value of integrating SCCT into models of student scholarly activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and gender differences in the impact of psoriasis on quality of life

BACKGROUND: The impact of psoriasis upon the quality of life contributes significantly to the overall morbidity associated with the disease. An older age at onset of psoriasis and being a man have been associated previously with lower psychosocial morbidity. In order to further evaluate these potentially important mitigating factors, we examined the relation of age and gender on some aspects of psoriasis-related psychosocial morbidity. METHODS: Two hundred and fifteen consenting psoriasis patients, representing a wide range of disease severity, were studied. They included 110 men and 105 women, age range 19-87 years (age: mean +/- SD: 48.0 +/- 15.9 years); all endorsed a list of 30 items (by checking a "Yes" or "No") pertaining to life events related to psoriasis that they had experienced in the previous one month. The patients self-rated the severity of their psoriasis. The patients were categorized into four age groups of 18-29 years (N = 28), 30-45 years (N = 77), 46-65 years (N = 76), and > 65 years (N = 34), respectively, for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: No age or gender differences in the severity of psoriasis were observed. Patients of both sexes in the 18 to 29 and 30 to 45 year age groups reported more frequent (P < or = 0.05) problems related to both appearance/socialization and occupation/finances, in contrast to patients in the 46-65 and over-65-year age groups. No gender differences (P < or = 0.05) were observed in the frequency of items related to appearance and socialization; however, men reported greater work-related stresses. CONCLUSION: Psoriasis has a greater impact upon the quality of life of patients in the 18 to 45 year age range and affects the socialization of both sexes equally. Men face greater work-related stresses as a result of their psoriasis.     

Age and management team performance.

180 male managers participated as age-homogeneous 4-person teams in a validated all-day decision-making simulation. 15 teams consisted of 28–35 yr old participants (young), 15 teams were in the 45–55 yrs age range (middle-aged), and 15 teams consisted of 65–75 yr old (older) persons. More than 40 objective performance measures (loading on 12–25 factors) were calculated on the basis of team decision making, planning, and other indicators. Performance by young and middle-aged teams was generally similar. Older teams made fewer decisions and were less strategic and less responsive to incoming information. Their overview of the task was less broad; action diversity and information search was reduced. However, older teams used opportunities and handled a simulated emergency as effectively as their younger and middle-aged counterparts. Alternative explanations for the obtained differences are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and semantic and phonological encoding.

Used a short-term memory release for proactive interference paradigm to examine semantic and phonological encoding in 48 18-24 yr old and 48 60-77 yr old paid females. While older Ss recalled significantly less than younger Ss, all Ss evidenced significant proactive interference release for both taxonomic category (semantic) and rhyme category (phonological) switches. Importantly, release was quite similar for both groups. Contrary to previous suggestions, results demonstrate that older Ss encoded both semantic and phonological features of verbal stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and skill in visual search.

The effects of age and experience on visual-cognitive performance were examined by administering a domain-relevant visual search task and a standard letter search task to skilled and control Ss at 2 age levels (young and middle-aged adults). In the skilled task, Ss searched for a designated item within 3-item displays using images of bacteria morphology as targets and distractors. Each target was preceded by a word prime representative of bacteria morphology that was valid, invalid, or neutral with respect to the diagnostic characteristics of the target. Skilled Ss showed an age deficit in letter search performance, but the performance of the young and middle-aged skilled Ss was not different on the domain-relevant task. Valid primes produced benefits for the young and middle-aged skilled participants, whereas control Ss were unaffected by the prime manipulation. Results were consistent with the prediction that experience serves to attenuate age-related declines in visual-cognitive performance in the skilled domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in recall and recognition.

An experiment is reported in which young and elderly adults performed cued-recall and recognition tests while carrying out a choice reaction-time task. An analysis of covariance, with recognition performance as the covariate, showed a reliable age decrement in recall. It was therefore concluded that older people perform more poorly on recall tasks than they do on recognition tasks. Performance on the secondary (reaction time) task showed that recall was associated with greater resource "costs" than was recognition and that this effect was amplified by increasing age. The results are in line with the suggestion that recall requires more processing resources than does recognition and that such resources are depleted as people grow older. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and the availability of inferences.

Investigated age differences in inference availability and memory using a speeded decision procedure and cued recall. Younger and older adults read passages that directly suggested either a target inference or an incorrect, competing inference before finally supporting the target inference. At critical points in a passage, Ss judged whether each of a series of words, including either the target or competing inference, was consistent with their current interpretation. Although both groups agreed on the final target inference, younger and older adults showed different patterns of inference availability and revision. Older adults showed broader and more sustained activation of alternative interpretations and also showed lower levels of inference recall. These findings are interpretable by a framework that proposes age-related breakdowns in inhibitory mechanisms that control the contents of working memory (L. Hasher and R. T. Zacks, 1988). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age Discrimination Spelled Out.

Many psychologists who wish to change jobs undoubtedly feel that age has become a barrier for them. Discrimination based on age may not be as readily documented as other forms of discrimination such as those involving race, sex, and type of degree. But, at least one agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, makes no bones about spelling out an age discrimination policy. Psychologists applying for a position with the Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons are told in writing that they are ineligible if they have reached the age of 35. The author's point here is simply that for the psychological profession, the elimination of age discrimination, as well as all other forms of discrimination, is a very real frontier. Reform should probably begin in the agency responsible for enforcing antidiscrimination legislation throughout the rest of the country--the Justice Department itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)