A realistic approach to drawing conclusions from the scientific literature: Response to Bonanno and Lilienfeld (2008).

Replies to comments made by G. A. Bonanno and S. O. Lilienfeld (see record 2008-07318-017), which commented on the original article by D. Larson and W. Hoyt (see record #200711559-003) for what Bonanno and Lilienfeld believe are inaccurate conclusions regarding the empirical literature on grief counseling. In the brief space allotted for this response, the authors correct several mischaracterizations of our conclusions and note points of agreement between their actual conclusions, including those partially quoted by Bonanno and Lilienfeld, and their own stated views about grief counseling. The authors elaborate on their earlier discussion about how researchers and practitioners can draw valid conclusions from the empirical literature and what factors add to their confidence about these conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Without apology or fear: reflections on Hoyt and Budman (1996) and managed mental health care.

Responds to the critique of M. F. Hoyt and S. H. Burman (see record 1997-02136-001) of J. E. Pipal's (see record 1996-12808-001) original article on managed mental health care. Pipal offers a brief discussion of the forces that have shaped both the powerful face of managed care and the oft-hidden but passionate face of dissent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misperceptions of women and affirmative action principles in faculty hiring: Response to Elliott's comment on Bronstein et al.

Contends that R. Elliott (see record 1987-20068-001) misrepresented the research of P. Bronstein et al (see record 1986-20846-001) on qualifications of women applying for academic positions in psychology. It appears that Elliott did not fully understand the principles of affirmative action. These principles are outlined and explained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stemming the TIDE: A correction of Fortner (1999) and a clarification of Larson and Hoyt (2007).

In this article, the author corrects an error in his 1999 dissertation (see record 2000-95004-391), which was summarized in detail shortly after its approval and was intensely examined more recently by D. G. Larson and W. T. Hoyt (see record #200711559-003). An error in the text of the dissertation transposed the variables of the denominator of the treatment-induced deterioration statistic (TIDE). The error was limited to the text of the document, and all calculations and results reported in the dissertation are correct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpreting children's responses to ambiguous messages: A reply to Robinson and Whittaker (1985).

Responds to E. J. Robinson and S. J. Whittaker's (see record 1985-25142-001) statement that the present author's (see record 1982-05434-001) interpretation of children's responses to ambiguous referential communications could not have been due to the hypothesized performative bias. It is argued that Robinson and Whittaker did not empirically test the hypothesis and so cannot say that their results contradict it. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Calling a freeze on "stress wars": There is hope for adaptational outcomes.

Comments on the combatant styles used by R. S. Lazarus et al (see record 1986-10770-001) and B. P. Dohrenwend and P. E. Shrout (see record 1986-10765-001) in their contributions on confounded measures. It is suggested that how to go about explaining stress must be better understood and that it is essential to find principles for predicting the stress response from extant perspectives. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of grades is fleeting: A comment.

Argues that the conclusion of P. A. Mauger and C. A. Kolmodin (see record 1976-08398-001), which stated that their data did not support L. G. Humphreys's (see record 1968-19409-001) suggestion that senior college grades are much less predictable from entrance information than freshmen grades, is erroneous. Differences in methodology are attributed to the varying outcomes of the 2 studies: Mauger and Kolmodin used cumulative GPAs while Humphreys used independently computed GPAs for each of the 8 semesters of undergraduate work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Basic emotions: Can conflicting criteria converge?

Discusses some of the key points raised by P. Ekman (see record 1992-41830-001), C. E. Izard (see record 1992-41836-001), and J. Panksepp (see record 1992-41839-001) in their critiques of A. Ortony and T. J. Turner's (see record 1990-27526-001) suggestion that there are and probably can be no objective and generally acceptable criteria for what is to count as a basic emotion. A number of studies are discussed that are relevant to the authors' contention that a more promising approach to understanding the huge diversity among emotions is to think in terms of emotions being assemblages of basic components rather than combinations of other basic emotions. The authors stress that their position does not deny that emotions are based on "hardwired" biological systems. On the other hand, the existence of such systems does not mean that some emotions (such as those that appear on lists of basic emotions) have a special status. Finally, the authors note that Ekman, Izard, and Panksepp, in adopting different starting points for their research, arrive at rather different conclusions as to what basic emotions are and which emotions are basic. It is concluded that converging resolutions of these questions are improbable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whites' opposition to busing: On conceptualizing and operationalizing group conflict.

L. Bobo (see record 1984-14820-001) concluded that Whites' opposition to racial busing is rooted in their perception that Blacks pose tangible threats to their own interests, a conclusion that supports realistic group conflict theory and contradicts the present authors' (see record 1981-32636-001) conclusion that threats posed by Blacks to Whites' private lives did not spill over into opposition to racial busing. It is shown that Bobo reported results entirely consistent with those of the present authors and that he failed to distinguish group interest from self-interest, symbolic racism, or other plausible causes of opposition to busing. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seventeen authors in search of a myth: A reply to Cohen et al.

Reviews assertions made by S. Cohen et al (see record 1990-05833-001) on smoking cessation and suggests that the article's exposition did not represent a clear interpretation of the main thrust of S. Schachter's (see record 1982-30809-001) and R. Rzewnicki and D. G. Forgays's (see record 1987-16432-001) contributions. It is further suggested that all of these data are reconcilable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the pitfalls of "Ptolemaic" psychology: A reply to Sawusch and Mullennix.

In their reply to the present authors (see record 1986-05428-001), J. R. Sawusch and J. W. Mullennix (see record 1986-05440-001) proposed a counterinterpretation of the authors' results regarding conceptualizations of selective adaptation with speech and described some previously unpublished data that they took to be inconsistent with the present authors' unified adaptation-level account of selective adaptation and contrast effects. It is argued that this counterinterpretation requires a series of purely ad hoc assumptions that render the 2-stage theory of Sawusch and P. Jusczyk (see record 1982-00351-001) almost completely vacuous. It is also shown that the new data of Sawusch and Mullennix are definitely not incompatible with an adaptation-level account. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rational explanation of the selection task.

M. Oaksford and N. Chater (O&C, see record 1995-08271-001) presented the first quantitative model of R C. Wason's (1966) selection task in which performance is rational. J. St. B. T. Evans and D. E. Over (see record 83:25190) reply that O&C's account is normatively incorrect and cannot model K. N. Kirby's (see record 1995-04302-001) or R Pollard and J. St. B. T. Evans's (see record 1984-30572-001) data. It is argued that an equivalent measure satisfies their normative concerns and that a modification of O&C's model accounts for their empirical concerns. D. Laming (see record 83:25220) argues that O&C made unjustifiable psychological assumptions and that a "correct" Bayesian analysis agrees with logic. It is argued that O&C's model makes normative and psychological sense and that Laming's analysis is not Bayesian. A. Almor and S. A. Sloman (see record 83:25168) argue that O&C cannot explain their data. It is argued that Almor and Sloman's data do not bear on O&C's model because they alter the nature of the task. It is concluded that O&C's model remains the most compelling and comprehensive account of the selection task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Simultaneous and successive processing: An attempt at replication.

J. P. Das et al (see record 1975-08765-001) claim that A. R. Luria's (1966) distinction between simultaneous and successive modes of information processing provides a more fruitful way of classifying cognitive processes than (a) the hierarchical models of C. Burt (see record 1973-10531-001) and P. E. Vernon (see record 1963-03855-001), A. R. Jensen's (see record 1969-09740-001) Levels 1 and 2, or A. Paivio's (see record 1976-01839-001) dual coding system of imagery and verbal mediation. Their published factor analyses are surveyed, and shown to yield only partial support for their views. A broader battery of 14 tests was given to 91 university students, and responses were factor analyzed. Two of the obtained factors involved various kinds of rote memorizing, and thus could be regarded as successive processing. Four other factors did not yield a general simultaneous factor, but classified the tests under Number-Spatial, Verbal-Spatial, Perceptual Reasoning, and a specific Digit Memory factor. Overall, the 6 factors tend to follow a multiple-factor, or a hierarchical model, rather than a dichotomous classification. (French summary) (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Ellis and McGuire: "Cost sharing and the demand for ambulatory mental health services".

Refutes R. P. Ellis and T. G. McGuire's (see record 1985-28860-001) argument that the results previously reported by the present authors (see record 1985-28870-001) support the proposition that mental health services exhibit greater response to insurance than do medical services from both logical and empirical perspectives. It is argued that Ellis and McGuire focused only on certain results when drawing their conclusions and that this deletion of facts presents a false picture of support for their argument. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Claridge and Birchall, different forms of the P scale, and dependable moderators.

With respect to the Psychoticism (P) scale in the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), the present author agrees with G. S. Claridge and P. Birchall (see record 1979-26131-001) that because the P scale previously employed by Claridge derives from the Psychoticism-Extraversion-Neuroticism Inventory and is importantly different from the P scale imbedded within the EPI, the findings by Claridge and his colleagues have uncertain relevance for the construct validity of the EPI. The basis for previously expressed concern (see record 1978-28560-001) regarding the analysis of the G. S. Claridge and H. J. Chappa study (see record 1974-02520-001) is clarified and extended, using the moderator variable paradigm. It is concluded that psychoticism, however defined, has not yet been established empirically as a strong and generally replicable moderator of the relation between 2-flash threshold and skin conductance level. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More than one way to violate independence: Reply to Jacoby and Shrout (1997).

T. Curran and D. L. Hintzman's (see record 84-21403) analysis of nonindependence in process dissociation did not confound aggregation bias with process dependence, as L. L. Jacoby and P. E. Shrout (see record 84-21425) claimed. This reply shows that the numerical example presented as undermining Curran and Hintzman's arguments is entirely consistent with their equations and reinforces their analysis of the effect of subject–item variance in inducing aggregation bias. Process dependence and aggregation bias can be understood as distinct sources of nonindependence in data. However, process-dissociation estimates are affected by both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Got a minute? Attentional limits revisited.

Responds to comments by R. C. Tees (see record 1991-03035-001), J. G. Adair (see record 1991-03013-001), J. E. Grusec (see record 1991-03021-001), K. Danziger (see record 1991-03016-001), L. P. Mos (see record 1991-03027-001), H. J. Stam (see record 1991-03033-001), and V. Vikis-Freilbergs (see record 1991-03039-001) on W. Thorngate's (see record 1991-03036-001) contention that the overproduction of psychological literature will lead to fragmentation of the discipline. As the works of psychologists proliterate, their scientific truth may capture less attention than their practical importance or personal interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sacred space, not sacred cows, or it's never fun being prophetic.

Replies to comments by E. F. Loftus (see record 1998-00766-029), S. Buchholz (see record 1998-00766-030), L. G. Humphreys (see record 1998-00766-031), D. S. Lindsay (see record 1998-00766-032), and T. Dineen (see record 1998-00766-033) regarding the article (see record 84-26142) concerning managed care and false memory movement issues in social justice-oriented psychology. Firstly, Brown contends that Loftus"s assertions of misrepresentation are inaccurate. Secondly, Brown argues that making memory retrieval per se the guiding strategy and goal of therapy is more likely to be detrimental than helpful to abuse survivors, and is not consistent with a pro-survivor stance. It is also stated that each claim of recovered memories must be evaluated carefully and on an individual basis in light of all available evidence. Lastly, Brown argues that her goal for her colleagues and readers was for them to develop and assert their own strategies for the achievement of tikkunolam, to be the authors of their own actions, as she attempts to create a therapy in which clients are the authors of their own lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 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)