Undergraduate grades and the Miller Analogies Test as predictors of graduate success.

Ss were "124 students who entered the graduate program at the University of Michigan during the years 1951 through 1955… . Information available on each applicant at the time of entrance included the following measures": total undergraduate grade point average (GPA), undergraduate GPA in science and mathematics, undergraduate GPA in psychology courses, MAT score, objective comprehensive examination in psychology. Measures of "success" included: GPA in graduate courses, marks on doctoral preliminary examinations, faculty ratings of potential professional contribution and potential scientific contribution. 6 tables of results are presented. The best predictor of marks in graduate courses was undergraduate GPA in science courses; it also best predicted preliminary examination grades. "The MAT significantly predicted graduate course grades and was the best predictor of potential scientific contribution of the student." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate Students' Perspectives of Academic Positions in School Psychology.

An increasing number of vacancies in school psychology academic positions and the reduced number of applicants seeking to enter academia have created projected shortages in academe. The purpose of the current study was to determine perspectives of academia held by current school psychology graduate students, who are in line to become the next generation of trainers. Based on information yielded from focus groups conducted with graduate students at two major doctoral school psychology training programs, a 42-item survey was designed to assess students' beliefs regarding benefits and drawbacks of an academic position, possible incentives that would encourage one to apply for an academic position, and past and current likelihood of applying for an academic position. Doctoral students from 98 school psychology graduate programs were invited to participate in the study; a total of 236 students returned completed surveys. Results indicated a significant trend toward increased consideration of an academic career as students progress through graduate school. The highest-ranked benefits of an academic career involved roles and activities inherent to the position, as opposed to potential benefits such as salary or prestige. Regarding perceived drawbacks to academia, job stress was ranked as the most significant deterrent, while the area of least concern involved current preparation to assume an academic position. Finally, respondents agreed on several incentives that would be helpful in overcoming hesitancy in applying for an academic position, including reducing politics in the tenure process, increasing salary, and increased availability of academic positions that emphasize applied work. Implications for current trainers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undergraduate training for psychologists.

"The chairmen of the psychology departments of the 167 institutions listed in the December 1956 issue of the American Psychologist as offering graduate work in psychology were surveyed as to their opinions regarding an ideal undergraduate curriculum for prospective graduate students. One hundred and forty-nine (89%) of the questionnaires were returned… . A large majority of the chairmen (85%) agreed that the best undergraduate major would be psychology." Biological science and mathematics were listed most frequently as the best minor. Tables are presented of the preferred undergraduate nonpsychology courses for graduate training applicants and preferred undergraduate psychology courses for graduate training applicants. The preferred nonpsychology courses listed by at least 70% of all the chairmen were algebra, anthropology, physics, physiology, and sociology. Preferred psychology courses were beginning statistics and experimental psychology (indicated by 96% and 95% of the chairmen, respectively). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test Scores for Admissions to Colleges of Veterinary Medicine.

From the standpoint of test validation, veterinary medicine provides both a unique context in which to study the validity of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) test scores and a singular opportunity to address the shortcomings typical of many GRE validity studies. This article documents a study of the validity of the GRE General Test for predicting 1st-year grade averages in a comprehensive sample of veterinary medical colleges. For each of 16 veterinary medical colleges, statistical corrections were applied to correct for the effects of range restriction in the predictors and unreliability of the criterion. When fully corrected for both range restriction and unreliability, the resulting validity coefficients were, on average, .53 for the combination of all 3 GRE General Test scores, .59 for undergraduate grade point average, and .71 for GRE scores and undergraduate grade point average together. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test anxiety and intellectual performance.

High school students were administered 2 anxiety scales, the Test Anxiety Scale and a Need for Achievement scale. Scores on these tests were related to scores on the School and College Ability Test (SCAT). Test anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with SCAT scores. The negative correlations obtained tended to be larger for female than for male Ss. The Need for Achievement scale showed only a slight tendency to correlate negatively with SCAT scores. The results were interpreted as being consistent with the conception of anxiety as an interfering nonintellectual influence on intellectual performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Selecting Psychology Graduate Students: Validity Evidence for a Test of Tacit Knowledge.

This study provides initial evidence for the criterion-related validity of tacit knowledge (TK) as an alternative measure for selecting psychology graduate students and adds insight to the construct of TK by evaluating its factor structure, assessing convergent relationships with other variables, and exploring alternative reasons for why TK predicts performance. TK provided incremental validity beyond GRE scores, undergraduate GPA, and 7 personality dimensions in predicting graduate school performance. Moreover, TK scores computed from experts at different universities yielded nearly identical criterion-related validity coefficients, thus strengthening the generalizability of the predictor. Although the results of the present study demonstrate convergent relationships between TK and conceptually related variables, factor analyses conducted on the TK measure did not support the subdimensions proposed by the authors of the scale. Limitations of the present study, issues involving revision of the TK measure, and recommendations for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety in academic achievement situations.

Scales of general anxiety (Taylor, Welsh, and Freeman) and of anxiety specific to academic situations (Mandler-Sarason, Achievement Anxiety Test) were administered to college freshmen. Academic achievement included verbal aptitude, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, overall grade-point average, and performance in psychology courses. The 2 tests of specific anxiety were seen to be measuring something different than the more general tests and were differentially related to academic performance. "Facilitating" vs. "debilitating" anxiety was distinguished. Results are related to the general body of knowledge in area. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between n Achievement, Test Anxiety, and curricular choices.

A model of motivation proposed by Atkinson was considered appropriate for the generation of hypotheses about the curricular choices of college students. The selections of areas of concentration by honors and nonhonors students, tested as freshmen, were obtained when the students were seniors. Their choices were related to their n Achievement scores and Test Anxiety scores. The general predictions of the model were borne out for men but not for the women, although this was not unexpected. In regard to the choices of women it was noted that women in the honors program tended to obtain teaching certificates if they had high Test Anxiety scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and intellectual performance: A partial failure to replicate.

The study tried to replicate Sarason's (1957) findings of the interfering effect of test anxiety and the facilitating effect of general anxiety on academic work. The study also tested the generality of the Taylor-Spence (1952) hypothesis of the negative effect of anxiety on behavior. A study of the effects of different types of anxiety on academic performance, Taylor, Test, and General anxiety scores, course grades and grade-point averages were obtained on private college Ss (N = 55) and state college Ss (N = 70). Results failed to demonstrate a significant correlation between Test anxiety and academic work, but confirmed the facilitating influence of general anxiety on course grade. The differential effects of anxiety were discussed in terms of the interaction between anxiety and grade level, overlearning, nature of the tasks, and intellectual ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of Psychological Help Seeking in Clinical and Counseling Psychology Graduate Students.

Psychologists are often called upon to provide supervision, mentorship, and training to graduate student therapists-in-training. In these roles, psychologists may influence whether graduate students enter personal therapy during their training. This study investigated variables (including perceived faculty attitudes about students in personal therapy) that predict psychotherapy help seeking in clinical and counseling psychology graduate students (N = 262). The findings indicated that confidentiality issues, general attitudes about therapy, and perceptions of the importance of personal therapy for professional development were important predictors of graduate student help seeking. The implications for faculty, supervisors, and mentors of therapists-in-training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic Stress Among College Students: Comparison of American and International Students.

This study compared academic stressors and reactions to stressors between American and international students using Gadzella's Life Stress Inventory (B. M. Gadzella, 1991). Five categories of academic stressors (i.e., frustrations, conflicts, pressures, changes, and self-imposed) and four categories describing reactions to these stressors (i.e., physiological, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive) were examined. The sample consisted of 392 international and American students from 2 Midwestern universities. American students reported higher self-imposed stressors and greater behavioral reactions to stressors than international students. Respondent's status (American or international) and interaction of status and stressors emerged as the 2 strongest predictors of their behavioral, emotional, physiological, and cognitive reaction to stressors. Five stressors attained statistical significance in the regression model. The findings emphasize the need to recognize cultural differences in stress management. Implications for mental health providers in the university arena are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Procedure for Nonacademic Failure of Graduate Students in Psychology.

Recently, the application of the legal concept of "due process" has been broadening. Bernard (1975) has suggested that clinical students in psychology are due a clear procedure for being judged unsuitable and dropped from their programs. At the University of Alabama, we are persuaded that these processes should also include experimental students. Certainly, there are characteristics that render people unsuitable to the profession of psychology, whether clinical or experimental. We have, therefore, adopted a procedure designed to apply at those times when faculty members feel students may be unsuitable to practice psychology: in the classroom, the laboratory, the clinic, or any other setting. This procedure is sent to students who apply to the graduate program and are under consideration for acceptance--before they commit themselves to our department. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate students and selective service.

The effect of recent selective service policies upon the production of scientists in general and psychologists in particular. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality Evaluation in the Selection of Graduate Students in Clinical Psychology.

Examined the opinions of clinical psychologists regarding the selection of graduate clinical students to include some type of formal personality evaluation, in addition to the usual academic considerations. In view of the strong feelings often expressed on both sides of this question, it was felt that a questionnaire sampling the opinions of clinical psychologists regarding it would be of professional interest and possibly of some assistance to graduate departments attempting to cope with the problem.. Brief questionnaires were sent to a randomly selected sample of 100 members of Division 12 (Clinical) of the APA. In reply to the question: "Should a formal personality evaluation be used as a criterion for selecting applicants for graduate study in clinical psychology?" 84% of those responding checked "Yes," and 16% checked "No." In assessing how extensive such an evaluation should be, the following alternatives or combinations of them were provided: thorough personality analysis, screening for obvious handicapping problems, and screening for possession of professionally "desirable" characteristics. 20% selected the first alternative, 27% chose the second, 11% checked the third, 27% combined the second and third, 2% marked the first and third, 4% indicated all three, and 9% did not reply to this question. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of ninth grade test scores to twelfth grade test scores and high school rank.

From a population of high school students who had been tested in state-wide programs at the ninth and twelfth grade levels, a sample of 2185 was used to compute correlations between performance at these scholastic levels. At the ninth grade the tests were the ACE (Highschool Edition) and the Cooperative English Test (Form Y); at the twelfth grade level the tests were the ACE (College Edition) and the Cooperative English Test (Form S). HS percentile ranks were also computed for the Ss. The correlation between different forms of the same test was .8, for each test. The correlations between ACE forms and the Coop forms were .7 or higher. HSR correlated .63 with ninth grade ACE score, .71 with ninth grade English. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Language Requirement in Graduate Education.

Reports on an informal study of academic foreign language requirements among 19 of the top-rated graduate schools offering a PhD in psychology. Results indicate that only 3 of the schools had a rigid requirement. The elimination of the language requirement seems not to signify a degrading of the graduate program, but rather a long overdue modernization which enables the would be PhD to devote more time to meaningful learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological Treatment of Musical Performance Anxiety: Current Status and Future Directions.

A comprehensive review of research evaluating psychological treatments of musical performance anxiety is provided. Studies were evaluated against key methodological criteria for psychotherapy outcome research. Available literature points to the utility of exposure and cognitive therapies, although there is no clear-cut evidence suggesting the superiority of one approach or benefits of combining the two. Past research is characterized by recurring methodological limitations, particularly overreliance on self-report outcome measures. Future investigations should consider screening out individuals who do not evidence marked dysfunction and whose anxiety results from weak technical ability, as well as including treatment manuals, multiple therapists, multichannel outcome measures, and follow-up data. Clinicians working with musicians experiencing performance anxiety may wish to incorporate exposure and cognitive restructuring in treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Stress Inoculation Training for 1st-Year Law Students.

The effects of stress inoculation training (SIT) on the anxiety, stress, irrationality, and academic performance of 1st-year law students were examined. A 2 x 3 repeated-measures crossover design was used in which the middle assessment occasion marked when control participants began receiving SIT. Compared with those in the control phase, participants initially receiving SIT showed decrements on personal, emotional, and general stress. Additional analyses indicated that all participants who received SIT displayed lower levels of anxiety, stress, and irrationality over time. Finally, the academic ranks of participants predicted to finish in the bottom 20% of their class on the basis of LSAT scores reflected conspicuous and significant improvement. SIT has promising applicability to the high levels of stress experienced by 1st-year law students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classroom Social Experiences as Predictors of Academic Performance.

A model linking children's peer acceptance in the classroom to academic performance via academic self-concept and internalizing symptoms was tested in a longitudinal study. A sample of 248 children was followed from 4th to 6th grade, with data collected from different informants in each year of the study to reduce respondent bias. A path analysis supported the model; a lack of peer acceptance in the classroom in 4th grade predicted lower academic self-concept and more internalizing symptoms the following year, which in turn, predicted lower academic performance in 6th grade. An alternative path with internalizing symptoms predicting declines in peer acceptance was tested and received some support as well. Implications of the findings for schools are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Anxiety, Negative Affectivity, and Substance Use Among High School Students.

The literature regarding the relationship between adolescent social anxiety and substance use is sparse, and available studies have produced discrepant results. Similarly, negative affectivity is a mood-dispositional dimension that is infrequently considered in studies of substance use. The authors used dispositional structural equation modeling to examine the concurrent relationships of social anxiety and negative affectivity with adolescent substance involvement among 724 students in 1 southern California high school. The final model indicated that increased substance use was associated with having lower grade-point average, being male, being White, having higher levels of negative affectivity, and having lower levels of social anxiety. The findings confirm that negative affectivity is positively related to adolescent substance use, whereas social anxiety appears to be protective against substance involvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)