Measuring the strength of the effect of violent media on aggression.

Responds to comments made by Block and Crain (see record 2007-04834-015) to the current author's original article (see record 2001-17729-001). In their critique of our article, Block and Crain claimed, "There is no data transformation that converts an odds ratio or relative risk into a correlation". They further stated that our transformation method is "wrong" and "faulty". They are incorrect. In fact, there are many different methods for transforming an odds ratio or relative risk into a correlation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is emotion regulation a useful construct that adds to the explanatory power of learning models of anxiety disorders or a new label for old constructs?

Replies to comments made by Olatunji et al (see record 2007-04834-019) on the current authors' original article (see record 2006-00920-002). Olatunji et al noted that we addressed factors that are likely to potentiate fear and anxiety conditioning but did not address the questions of how, when, and why potentiated fear leads to an anxiety disorder. We thank them for raising these issues so that we have an opportunity to address them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Focusing on weight is not the answer to America's obesity epidemic.

Current authors respond to two comments on their article Medicare's Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer (see record 2007-04834-008). The two comments state opposing views of the validity and novelty of the articles conclusions. In his comment, Applebaum (see record 2008-03389-008) claimed that our conclusion is "provocative and unproven" (p. 200), whereas Herman, Van Strien, and Polivy (see record 2008-03389-009) generally agreed with our findings but stated that "this conclusion is hardly new" (p. 202). Research on obesity treatment often leads to polarizing views, and our aim was to present a dispassionate analysis of the methodological issues in the long-term studies of diets. We believe we accomplished this goal, and the conclusions we presented were based on this analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity and leadership.

Comments on the six articles contained in the special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) devoted to leadership, written by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record 2006-23492-006); and R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman (see record 2006-23492-007). The current authors express concern that the special issue failed to include attention to issues of diversity and intersecting identities as they pertain to leadership. A Special Issue Part II on Diversity and Leadership is being proposed to (a) advance new models of leadership, (b) expand on existing leadership theories, and (c) incorporate diversity and multiple identities in the formulation of more inclusive leadership research and theory. The goal of this special issue will be to revise our theories of leadership and our understanding of effective leadership to include gender, racial/ethnic minority status, sexual orientation, and disability status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transforming odds ratios into correlations for meta-analytic research.

Comments on an article by Block and Crain (see record 2007-04834-015) in which they stated, "There is no data transformation that converts an odds ratio or relative risk into a correlation. One needs more data". The purpose of this comment is to explain how an odds ratio or relative risk can be transformed to approximate a product-moment correlation. Such transformations have important applications in meta-analytic research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reviewer's response.

The present author replies to Therese Spitzer's rejoinder (see record 2007-04031-001) to the present author's review (see record 2007-04428-001) of Spitzer's book Psychobattery. The preesent author maintains that Spitzer's central premise remains the stereotyped matching of psychology with epithets like "unproved treatments by unqualified personnel". May such anachronistic divisiveness between psychology and psychiatry be a last nostalgic twitch in the moribund combat of their mutually checkered past. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership and attachment theory.

Comments on the six articles contained in the special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) devoted to leadership, written by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record 2006-23492-006); and R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman (see record 2006-23492-007). The current authors opine that the inclusion of attachment theory in the study of leadership could strengthen leadership theories as a whole. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Special issue on leadership falls behind.

A special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) was devoted to leadership. The six articles, by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record 2006-23492-006); and R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman (see record 2006-23492-007), were written from an "industrial" perspective that places primary emphasis on positional leaders and their actions. Some readers of this series might conclude that the industrial model best explains leadership. It does not. The ecological perspective offers an alternative that deserves consideration. It is time to end the dominance of the industrial perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Gargiulo (2007) and Mills (2007).

Replies to comments made by G. J. Garguilo (see record 2007-16468-013) and J. Mills (see record 2007-16468-014) on the current author's original article (see record 2007-00135-012). The author responds to her critics, who feel she was accusing them of being unethical and even immoral by having a home office. She clarifies that at no time did she use any of this language, nor was this her intent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undereating or eliminating overeating?

Comments on an article titled Medicare's Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer, by Mann et al (see record 2007-04834-008). The current authors state that on the basis of their review of studies of long-term outcomes of calorie-restricting diets, Mann et al. concluded that dieting does not lead to lasting weight loss. Although this conclusion is hardly new--see Stunkard's (1975, p. 196) famous verdict: "Of those who do lose weight, most will regain it"--it is still valuable in view of recent more optimistic claims that "the success rate for long-term weight loss is closer to 20%" (Fletcher, 2003, p. 822). Mann et al.'s (2007) indictment of dieting as a treatment for obesity seems warranted, but that indictment ought not to extend to efforts to eliminate overeating. No one denies the benefits of exercise, for which Mann et al. (2007) are strong advocates. An exercise regimen, however, does not address overeating tendencies and therefore may be ineffective or even counterproductive (insofar as exercise may "justify" overeating). Further, we must acknowledge that exercise may improve health without necessarily lowering weight. Muscle weighs more than fat does, so losing fat is not necessarily the same as losing weight. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why diets fail--expert diet advice as a cause of diet failure.

Comments on an article titled Medicare's Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer, by Mann et al (see record 2007-04834-008). The current author states that this article offers the following broad, sweeping conclusion: "The benefits of dieting are simply too small and the potential harms of dieting are too large for it to be recommended as a safe and effective treatment for obesity" (p. 230). This statement is provocative and unproven in the text. According to the laws of thermodynamics, which appear to apply everywhere in the known universe, anytime one consumes fewer Calories than one burns, there will be weight loss (Brooks, Fahey, & Baldwin, 2005, p. 22), despite the claims of some diet gurus and MDs (Cruise, 2005, p. 55; Katz, 2005). Any and every diet must work so long as a person voluntarily sustains a condition of fewer Calories in than out for a sufficient duration. Yet the article's conclusion denies this simple universal truth. This is a failing. Since the laws of thermodynamics are likely to remain operational on this planet for the foreseeable future and all episodes of fewer Calories in than out will always result in weight loss, the better approach to analyzing why diets fail is to look to expert diet advice as the primary cause. (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)     

"Parental licensure": Rejoinder.

Responds to comments by R. E. Redding (see record 2002-08415-038) and by the American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Psychologists and Social Workers et al (see record 2002-08415-039) on the present author's original article (see American Psychologist, 2001, Vol 56, 885-894) which advocated parental licensing, a process requiring prospective parents to meet legislatively defined criteria before they could conceive or adopt children. Redding argued the unconstitutionality of this proposal, and the American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Psychologists and Social Workers et al took issue with Lykken's statement that persons "incapacitated by physical or mental disorder" be required to submit to a special dispensation by the family court to be licensed. The author responds that other legal scholars support the proposal of parental licensure, while they note that under the current judiciary, such measures would confront many obstacles. The author also explains his use of "incapacitated" with reference to the disabled with the intent to reflect the inability to perform basic and necessary parental functions as a consequence of mental or physical disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clarification on Psychological Treatments and Psychotherapy.

In this article, the author responds to a set of comments (see record 2005-11834-009; 2005-11834-010; 2005-11834-011) on his original article, "Psychological Treatments" (see record 2004-21168-001). The author responds to each comment. Hal Arkowitz (2005) misread the proposed distinction between "psychological treatments" and "psychotherapy" by presuming that the author was implying that the former is evidence based and the latter is not. Kwekkeboom et al. (2005), representing the nursing profession, noted quite correctly that nurses often deliver psychological treatments on the frontlines of primary care and are independently licensed to provide nursing services, including many approaches that could be categorized as "psychological." Ahmed and Boisvert (2005) agreed that psychological treatments are a core strength of psychology and also go on to provide additional interesting examples and to identify other areas of practice in which psychologists may be uniquely qualified. Overall, the author notes that only certain well-defined pathologies will be included in any health care system, and treatment for these conditions will increasingly need to be based on evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further comments toward a dimensional classification of personality disorder.

Responds to the comments by H. N. Garb (see record 2007-19520-012) and A. M. Ruscio (see record 2007-19520-013) on the current authors' original article "Plate tectonics in the classification of personality disorder: Shifting to a dimensional model" (see record 2007-01685-001). Unable to respond to all of Garb's and Ruscio's concerns given space limitations, the current authors attempt to respond to key points regarding their article on integrating the classification of personality disorder with a dimensional model of general personality structure. These points include: clinical judgments; feasibility; communication; thresholds; and validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anonymous ethical investigations?

Comments on the article by Anonymous (see record 1995-33982-001) which, in presenting the hidden benefits of managed care, offers a spoof on the managed care debate. The current author contends that this same material has been previously presented in the Fall issue of Division 42's newsletter, The Independent Practitioner (B. Arnold, 1994). It therefore appears that either Anonymous (1995) has plagiarized Arnold (1994), or that Arnold has engaged in inappropriate duplicate publication under the assumed name of "Anonymous." In light of these facts, the current author wonders if and how the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Office will investigate this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evolving profession of psychology: Comment on Lowe Hays-Thomas's (2000) "The silent conversation."

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 31(4) of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (see record 2007-17397-001). On page 346 in the author note, Louisiana Southern University was given as the university where Tommy T. Stigall received his PhD. The correct university is Louisiana State University.] The authors comment on R. Lowe Hays-Thomas (2000; see record 2000-03894-016). The article begins with a few comments about the master's-degree issue and then examines the evolution of professional psychology in relationship to the master's issue over the past 50 years and into the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to commentaries: Raising a new vision of higher education: Psychology and social issues.

Replies to the numerous comments (see cases 2007-09070-001, 2007-09071-001, 2007-09072-001, 2007-09073-001, and 2007-09074-001) made on the current author's original article (see record 2007-09069-001). The crisis in higher education is far more about psychology than it is about education, and appropriately so. "Crisis" is, after all, a term from personality and clinical psychology. Our interventions must be more akin to the cognitive restructuring of psychotherapy than to the experimental or scientific analysis of a substantive issue. We already understand well enough the education part. We have not yet acknowledged the psychological part and unleased the power of action-research that allows us to combine living and knowing in way which does not make them a mutually exclusive choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Consciousness and the voices of the mind": Response to the discussants.

In planning the McMaster University Brain and Behaviour Research Programme's 1983 Bauer lecture, it was deemed that a topic in the area of cognitive neuroscience might be suitable, preferably one of a general nature that would be of interest to several disciplines. Consciousness, one of the most perplexing of human issues, requires that we question how the living material of the human brain results in the subjective awareness humankind experiences. Julian Jaynes was asked to present the lecture, which was entitled "Consciousness and the voices of the mind" (see record 2007-08986-001). In this article, Jaynes responds to comments on his lecture by Daniel Dennett (see record 2007-09336-002), Jonathan Miller (see record 2007-09336-003), and George Ojemann (see record 2007-09336-004). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)