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)     

The future of animal studies in psychology.

Responds to the assertion of J. Benedict and M. Stoloff (see record 1991-28687-001) that animal research is likely to continue to be an important part of undergraduate education in psychology. It is suggested that the future of animal studies is less certain than Benedict and Stoloff indicate chiefly because undergraduates seem increasingly reluctant to undertake such work due to concern about animal suffering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Discussion 1.

Discusses the three articles by Meyers (see record 1989-17318-001), Phillips (see record 1989-17118-001), and Genshaft and Wiesniewski (see record 1989-17107-001) that comprise the symposium on the challenges and opportunities inherent in the future of social psychology, which centers on the linkages between psychological theories and research and school practice; the implications for the current state of knowledge and practice for professional education and training, especially the evaluation of professional preparation components; and finally, the ultimate effect that these new directions will have on credentialing and licensing standards, statues, and regulations. This is an important session for school psychology because we now enter a phase in our professional history where there are more than 10,000 practitioners identified with the field, more than 40 APA-accredited school psychology programs, a recently adopted set of policy statements for the joint accreditation of doctoral-level school psychology programs by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and standards for professional practice promulgated by these two organizations that share common elements and emphases. Moreover, national attention to the state of education at the elementary and secondary levels as well as precollege preparation, in combination with longstanding concerns for exceptional individuals, the handicapped, and the gifted, place psychology and school psychology in an advantageous position to contribute significantly to the education of all children as well as to the promotion of mental health and social role functioning of children, youths, and adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing genuine and simulated suicide notes: Response to Diamond et al. (1995).

G. M. Diamond et al.'s (see record 1995-25469-001) critique of S. T. Black (see record 1993-45704-001) is based on an inflexible and unnecessarily limited model of scientific psychology as a purely theory-driven enterprise. There is more than one way to legitimately contribute scientific knowledge in psychology. This article includes a discussion of the problems associated with their view and a response to methodological and logical criticisms. Research on suicide notes may yet be fruitful and ought not be abandoned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ominous problem.

Discusses a problem in the educational system in terms of W. R. Looft's (see record 1972-02727-001) concept of the "psychology of more." "More" has been accepted as the criterion of quality in education (i.e., more students and more information). It has been forgotten that information without understanding is as useless as analysis and evaluation without information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on my critics.

Allan R. Buss responds to Bavelas' and Macdonald's criticisms of Buss's article (see record 1976-26634-001) on the evaluation of Canadian psychology departments. Buss says that Bavelas' (see record 2007-04411-001) criticisms are, in the main, important, insightful, and fundamentally correct and that Macdonald's (see record 2007-04410-001) criticisms are, in contrast to Bavelas', highly original, unimportant, and fundamentally incorrect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military are essential.

In his outburst against Meredith Crawford's (1970) article on military psychology (see record 1970-17677-001), M. J. Saks (see record 1990-56844-001) quotes from the APA's Ethical Standards: the psychologist "protects the welfare of any person who may seek his service . . . ." He then claims that "military psychology is clearly in conflict" with this principle. Saks is, of course, entitled to his personal opinion. But evidence is amply at hand to indicate that he does not represent the overwhelming majority of his fellow citizens who believe that the military are essential for the defense of their welfare in the present-day world. In their opinion, military psychology would further, rather than violate, the above-quoted principle. It would seem wise, therefore, to express gratitude to Crawford and military psychology for the aid they give in making our armed forces more efficient in protecting the welfare of the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Towards More Assertive Advertising Practices: An Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary, Step Forward.

We presented arguments in favour of loosening self-imposed restrictions on advertising by psychologists (see record 2004-14467-001). Dr. Koocher's commentary (see record 2004-14467-002) on our paper suggested that these practices may, in fact, be viable. We view the implementation of these strategies as part of an evolution in advertising within the field of psychology, rather than a revolution that aims to encourage extreme business practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On "The Negro psychologist in America.'

Comments that some aspects of the article "The Negro Psychologist in America" by L. Wispé et al (see record 1969-08899-001) are misleading. Some statements leave a more negative impression of the training of Black psychologists than the data warrant. The article should have been devoted to suggestions about how to reduce racial barriers within the psychology profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological perspectives on political change.

Presents a reply by the authors to comments by Sullivan (see record 2007-14606-016) and Webster (see record 2007-14606-017). Both of these comments help to place our article on the red states versus blue states metaphor (Seyle & Newman, see record 2006-11202-001) into a broader context. In particular, both comments make valuable points about the potential for collaboration between psychology, political science, and political action. Sullivan made two points that address this collaboration directly. First, he pointed out that we failed to acknowledge a book by Morris Fiorina and his colleagues. Second, Sullivan disagreed with our claim that psychologists cannot change the system. Webster argued persuasively that we let the Electoral College off too easy. To support his indictment of the Electoral College, he drew on two compelling sources of evidence. First, because of changes in population distribution, electoral votes appear to play more of a role in the outcome of elections than they have at any time in the past. Second, the weighting system used to determine a state's number of electoral votes has the consequence of underrepresenting minority populations. However, we are less optimistic than Webster that this approach might "eliminate red- blue labeling" (p. 703). Thus, we repeat our original suggestion that the best short-term solution for improving political discourse is to encourage the use of the "purple America" approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An intended response to Danish and Smyer.

Responds to S. J. Danish and M. A. Smyer's (see record 1981-33472-001) discussion of education and credentialing in psychology (PSY). Danish and Smyer's conclusions about licensing in private practice PSY vs public practice do not consider budgetary constraints; their analysis of a proposed National Commission on Education and Credentialing in PSY is inaccurate and misleading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On "Psychology and mental retardation" position statement.

Comments on a statement that appeared in the March 1970 American Psychologist article entitled "Psychology and Mental Retardation" (Anonymous; see record 1970-15620-001). Part of the present commentary reads as follows: "I am not in agreement with the statement that educational psychological personnel are likely to provide the "most productive approaches" in dealing with the problems of mental retardation. This position simply places educational psychology in the same untenable bind that other disciplines, including medicine, psychiatry, education, and sociology, have achieved in the past when they claimed exclusive domain to serving the mentally retarded. Educational psychology should be devoting its efforts to working together with other disciplines rather than to making exaggerated claims of its superiority." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Folk psychology or semantic entailment? Comment on Rips and Conrad (1989).

L. J. Rips and F. G. Conrad (see record 1989-24843-001) reported a puzzling but consistent result from a series of experiments designed to study folk beliefs about the mind. For example, subjects accept both "Dreaming is a kind of experiencing" and "Experiencing is a part of dreaming." Because this pattern is not observed for objects—"A hammer is a kind of tool" is acceptable, but "A tool is part of a hammer" is not—Rips and Conrad suggested that their results provide clues to differences between folk and scientific psychology. An alternative interpretation developed here holds that their results are not peculiar to terms denoting mental processes and shed no new light on folk theories of the mind; instead, they are quite general and follow from treating verbs as if they were nouns. (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)     

Toward an emancipatory psychology.

Responds to comments by W. Mieder (see record 1991-03996-001), K. L. Dion (see record 1991-03991-001), and K. J. Gergen (see record 1991-03993-001) on T. B. Rogers's (see record 1991-03999-001) examination of the role of proverbs in psychology. It is argued that theory is important for the critical social functions it serves, rather than just for the quest for truth. Also, consideration of an emancipatory psychology is recommended, in which psychology is viewed as a socially embedded discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

And whither the undergraduate major?

Supports T. R. Scott's (see record 1992-06990-001) idea of reorganization of academic psychology departments and asserts that the label of a particular department derives from more than the specialized knowledge that its faculty creates and communicates. However, Scott fails to address the consequences for undergraduate education under his proposed reorganization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When Enough Is Not Enough.

Looft (see record 1972-02727-001) presented an excellent examination of the "belief in much today and more tomorrow" of the "more-is-good philosophy" so common in our culture. He cited invidious comparisons based upon "moreness" and suggested a "radical change away from the psychology of more toward a psychology of enough." What Looft's presentation lacks is emphasis on the clearly quantitative-versus-qualitative dimension perhaps implicit in his discussion. "Enough" is still based upon "muchness" rather than "goodness." In place of a psychology of more, in short, is needed a psychology of better. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)