A study of human behavior: The clinical psychologist.

The psychologist "has derived some benefit by the mixture of being a doctor but not being identified with the mentally ill person." By reviewing personal and cultural forces the attempt was made to establish the variety of emphases current in clinical psychology. "Nearly every adjustment pattern observed among clinicians has occurred as a result of training and experience in some university, school or clinic. As yet, no completely satisfying or dominant component of needs has been discovered for the training and role of the clinical psychologist… . But it is a backward step to discard special curricular requirements for clinical psychologists." A prime requirement for a profession is "a disciplined and recognizable training program." The public that supports us will demand "a real and inexorable service contribution that we have implicitly promised… . We evolved on the impetus of service need." A number of current conflicts of the clinical psychologist are indicated. "The only way professional psychologists can hold to a responsible place is by partial separation from the academic, basic science psychologists." Leaders in clinical psychology should "be more than 80% in real clinical work with ill patients." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist of the future: Scientist, professional, or both.

A familiar issue in psychology is the "relation between our science and its applications." As the goal of doctoral training, the present explicit model of the psychologist as the combination scientist-professional is considered. 3 alternative conceptions are considered: (a) to train psychologists exclusively as scientists; (b) exclusively as professionals; (c) to "train two brands, one for scientific work only, the other for professional work only." Each proposal is considered. Criteria proposed "lead me to prefer our present models for training psychologists to any of the alternatives available." Major topic headings are: the scientist-professional conception of the psychologist in practice, alternative conceptions of the psychologist, re-examination of the scientist-professional model, training the scientist-professional, the psychologist of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology in Britain: A laboratory for the American psychologist.

"The present status of the clinical psychologist in Britain may permit perspectives on problems relating to standards and curricula of graduate training in university departments and the question of legal, and therefore public, status for the practicing psychologist—chiefly the clinician." In Britain: "Conditions of appointment, standards of training, and promotion for clinical psychologists have been outlined in a series of official memoranda dating from 1951." A number of problems for the psychologist in Britain are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate training for community clinical psychology.

"In this paper we will review some of the basic principles which seem to underlie the training of psychologists for professional careers in the field of mental health, examine these principles in relation to the developments that have occurred in this field since World War II, explore the implications of these factors for graduate training in psychology in general and clinical psychology in particular, and describe a training program in which we are attempting to apply these principles." The program at the University of Nebraska "has developed over the last 13 years." In it there has been a shift from "teaching psychological tests to teaching the use of psychologist tests as an aid to understanding people's problems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling psychology.

"This paper is a proposal to establish counseling psychology as a functionally unique pattern of practice." Three hypotheses are proposed, one of which holds that "… counseling psychologists resemble industrial psychologists to a greater extent than they do psychotherapists." Eight points are made in summarizing "… a relatively unique pattern of function for the counseling psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Curiosity, compassion, and doubt: The dilemma of the psychologist.

Persons "tend to gravitate to those occupations which fit in with their preferred ways of seeking gratification and minimizing anxiety." Certain elements are common to all psychologists: curiosity, compassion, and doubt. Psychology training programs "should have maximum flexibility so as to facilitate each student's following the program which represents his optimal mix of research and application… . The research psychologist must be more accepting of the practicing psychologist's more direct expression of compassion, perhaps by being less conflicted about his own need to doubt; and, similarly, the practicing psychologist must relinquish the attitude that doubting represents being unfeeling, or even pathological." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proposals for state department of education certification of school psychologists.

"School psychologists are dually oriented professionals who need to be well educated in both psychology and education… . The development of competencies needed by a fully qualified school psychologist requires at least the education represented by a doctoral degree or 3 years of graduate training." Suggested standards for full ceritfication and for provisional certification are outlined. The requirements for a certified psychological assistant are also specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinically and Statistically Oriented Psychologists Split Our Profession.

Year after year articles appear presenting evidence that the well-known tools of the clinical psychologist fail to measure up to the statistical respectability which rigorous science demands. What is their impact on our profession? The data offered in these articles are viewed by the psychologist steeped in diagnosis and therapy with an indifference that borders on disdain. These same articles elicit a quite different reaction from the statistically oriented psychologist. He is furious that people who are called "psychologists" are discrediting his profession by their complacent indifference to objective evidence. To understand these reactions, factors are examined that include the personalities of the psychologists and the nature of evidence itself. However, the author notes that the time has come for psychologists to realize that they cannot forever remain a divided profession. Perhaps it would help if psychologists could admit that "truth has many faces." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survey of civilian psychologists in the Federal Government.

"In order to investigate the problem associated with the recruitment and retention of civilian psychologists by the United States Government, a questionnaire was sent in the Spring of 1962 to 49 ranking psychologist-administrators in 43 governmental organizations… . The overall response rate was 88%." 9 tables indicate types of psychologists employed, psychologist vacancies, and psychologist losses by federal departments and by type and grade as well as summarizing reasons for psychologist losses and problems in obtaining and maintaining psychologists. The "survey covered about 1500 or 90% of civilian psychologists employed by the federal government." Most reporting organizations were in 3 major departments: Defense, HEW, and the VA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Toward a Contemporary Psychology of Intuition: A Historical, Theoretical, and Empirical Enquiry.

Reviews the book, Toward a Contemporary Psychology of Intuition: A Historical, Theoretical, and Empirical Enquiry by Malcolm R. Westcott (1968). The dust jacket of this volume tells us that, "This is the first book by a psychologist devoted to a detailed study of intuition." If true, and I have not been able to find an exception to the statement as yet, then two points should be made. First, Westcott is to be admired for tackling a subject which other psychologists have apparently found difficult, and his work must be allowed some of the weaknesses which a "first" volume in any field faces. Second, it is a sad commentary on either the positivist-behavorist influence on psychology or on the ingenuity of psychologists, or both, that an experience as phenomenologically apparent as intuition had to wait so long for an intensive scientific treatment by a psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' concept of their role in institutions housing the "criminally insane."

Institutions in 48 states housing persons legally defined as "criminally insane" were sent questionnaires; 89% were returned. The ratio of patients per psychologists varies greatly—from 5 to 2000 per psychologist. "41% of the psychologists are full-time, while 56% of the units have only part-time psychologists." Major activity of psychologists is psychodiagnosis and secondarily psychotherapy. Medical administrations "have strongly favorable attitudes toward psychologists performing psychotherapy and… as a whole psychologists working with the 'criminally insane' are fairly well satisfied in their relations with their administration." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is psychologists' involvement in the prescribing of psychotropic medication really a new activity?

How involved in the process of prescribing psychotropic drugs is the average practicing professional psychologist today? The answer is "far more than most people realize." Five hundred ninety-six practicing psychologists responded to a survey reporting the types of professional activities in which they regularly engage. Virtually all responding psychologists reported they were involved in making recommendations for medication evaluations, consulting with physicians about which medications to use with specific patients, and discussing medication-related issues with patients. A generally agreed-on model of psychopharmacology training for professional psychologists should emerge over the next 5 to 10 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military psychology in the United States of America.

"Between World War I and World War II, there was almost no interest of American psychologists in military problems, perhaps because there was almost no interest of the military in gaining the assistance of psychologists." The 1948 APA Directory identifies 98 psychologists as working for the Departments of Defense, Army, Air Force, or Navy. "This represents about 2% of the 5,047 members of the APA at that time. In the 1957 APA Directory, I have counted 729 psychologists who are listed as working for agencies of the military departments." This represents "almost 5% of the 15,000 members listed in the 1957 APA Directory." Various branches of military psychology within the Army, the Navy, and the Air Forces are indicated "to give appropriate emphasis to the great diversity of uses to which psychologists are put and to the consequently great variety of projects these agencies must, by their very titles and associations, engender." It also provides a statement "about how military psychology is organized within the Armed Forces in the States." The roles of the psychologist in military personnel management and in weapons development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist as an expert witness in court.

"An important problem in psychology today is the legal status of the psychologist and his relationship to the courts; and of special importance in the position of the psychologist as an expert witness… . There is considerable evidence of the use of psychologists in court cases in the federal courts… " as well as in state courts. "There is… conflicting evidence as to state court opinions on the expertness of testimony given by psychologists… . Once an adequate definition of a psychologist is established by legal authorities… [the problem of the position of the psychologist as an expert witness]… will be much nearer to a solution." Certification or licensing legislation seems to be desirable. 29 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

At random: Sense and nonsense.

"It is often said that psychologists are captivated by the magic of words." One example of this is the epidemic use by psychologists of the word 'design.' " "Despite glib talk about using factor analysis to test hypotheses, practically no users of factor analysis ever test hypotheses." A psychologist may "trudge off weighted down with a box full of statistical tools in search of a research problem that permits him to display skill with his tools." Most psychologists "without intentional eavesdropping know that occasionally their theory oriented colleagues simply discard all data of an experiment as bad data if not in agreement with the theory, and start over. The theory is, of course, always good." The theorist who has the one and only approach and solution to all, or nearly all, psychological problems "tends to lure those among us who have a low tolerance for the ambiguity that flourishes in psychology." This "model business is nothing more than a new name for old hat stuff… . The question of the usefulness of mathematical models and, to a certain extent, the value of high powered statistical techniques is debatable." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity for Clinical Training Programs.

Comments on the L. H. Levy article (see record 1963-04084-001) which discusses publication statistics among a group of 781 clinical psychologists. Levy's finding that that close to 30% of the 1948-53 graduates of studied clinical psychology programs have yet to publish suggested to Levy that a redefinition of clinical psychology is in order. The definition ostensibly accepted by Levy is one selected from a report in 1947 of the APA Committee on Training in Clinical Psychology, i.e., a clinical psychologist is a "research-oriented professional person." Interpretations of this thesis are discussed, and it is noted that there is a strategy which might be implied in Levy's article, and which is clearly championed by many faculty members of training universities. This is the basic research strategy. In essence, it is proposed that university psychology departments should contribute to the mental health field only by doing research and by training researchers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional education in industrial psychology: A statement of policy.

"The industrial psychologist should be a broadly trained psychologist… . Education in industrial psychology should provide grounding in psychological theory… . The curriculum should provide knowledge of the problem areas of industrial psychology… . Education in industrial psychology should include knowledge in other areas important in business and industry… . The student should become familiar with a very wide variety of research tools, methods, and procedures… . The education of an industrial psychologist should be realistic… . The education of industrial psychologists should include discussion of the ethical problems likely to arise in industry." The stated principles "should be interpreted in a flexible rather than a rigid fashion." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rehabilitation of the institutionalized mentally retarded.

"In order to determine the present status of psychology in state institutions, a questionnaire was sent to 101 institutions in the United States and Canada… . Replies were received from 72% of the total sent. Thirteen reported that they have no psychologists… . The 72 institutions which replied have 109,010 patients served by 143 full-time and 14 part-time psychologists—approximately 725 patients per psychologist." In general, the functions of psychologists in these institutions are very similar. The "role of the department of psychology, as with other services in an institution, should not be as an autonomous unit with separate function, but as an integral part of a patient-centered team." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explorations in ecological psychology.

The "great diversity of coupling between psychologists and psychological phenomena can be divided into 2 types which produce data of crucially different significance for the science of psychology." (1) Psychologists as Transducers—T Data: The psychologist transforms data and in effect is a translating machine. (2) Psychologists as Operators—O Data: The psychologist "achieves control which allows him to focus upon segments and processes of particular concern to him, via data that refer to events which he, in part, contrives." Psychologists "as operators and as transducers are not analogous, and… the data they produce have fundamentally different uses within science. A central problem of our science is the relation between ecological events (the distal stimuli) at the origin of E-O-E [environment-organism-environment] arcs and the succeeding events along these arcs." There "are a number of reasons for avoiding the role of transducer in psychological research… . The skills and personality attributes required of a successful transducer are different from those of a successful operator… . The techniques of the transducer are in many respects more difficult than those of the operator." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Committee on the Scientific and Professional Aims of Psychology: Preliminary Report.

"This report concerns some of the issues involved in the increasing diversification of psychology." Focus was "on problems of professionalization in clinical psychology in order: (a) to deal with the problems involving the largest number of psychologists, and (b) to make it possible to speak more specifically about issues." The "training of clinical psychologists for the practice of psychotherapy should be established as a new doctoral program within the university." Interdisciplinary training is encouraged. "Generally we favor awarding a degree other than the PhD at the end of such doctoral training." "None of the present models for training of psychotherapists, whether within clinical psychology, medicine, or social work, are satisfactory means for developing competent practitioners able to meet the needs or expectations of society." Guidelines for legislation are suggested. It was suggested that "perhaps as much as 50% of the [APA Convention] program should be composed of invited talks and papers which would be either integrative in their nature or which would open up new areas in which significant advances are being made." The Committee has proposed suggestions rather than solutions to problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)