A Tabulation of Inferential Statistics Used in Psychology Journals.

Every year thousands of psychology students take courses in statistics. In spite of the importance attributed to statistics, there is no available tabulation of the usage of various statistics in the psychological literature to show what the student needs to know in order to interpret the literature and to show what statistics psychologists have found useful. This report presents such a tabulation. To allow comparisons between the statistics used in different fields of psychology, the journals examined were the APA journals that specialize in particular fields of psychology: Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, Journal of Consulting Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Journal of Experimental Psychology. Tabulations were made of the inferential statistics used in articles in these journals for the even-numbered years from 1948 to 1962, inclusive. The use of a particular type of statistical technique was recorded only once for each article, no matter how many times that technique was used in the article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial.

This, the last issue of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, brings to an end an alliance of some 44 years' standing. In January of 1965 the journal will be split into two independent periodicals, the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. This editorial provides a brief history of the journal as it relates to these two important fields in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Most of the subjects were White and middle class": Trends in published research on African Americans in selected APA journals, 1970–1989.

Six APA journals (Developmental Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) were content analyzed for the presence of empirical articles on African Americans during the 1970–1989 publication period. The analysis revealed a declining representation of African-American research in the 6 journals. In addition, the empirical literature that does exist was found to be lacking in methodological rigor, as defined by characteristics such as the reporting of the socioeconomic status (SES) of Ss and experimenter race. Explanations for the decline were suggested, and recommendations were proposed for alleviating the growing marginalization of African-American research in the journals of mainstream psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ten years of social psychology: Is there a growing commitment to field research?

Reviewed the research methodologies used by studies published in the Journal of Social Psychology (JSP, 1961-1970) and in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology-Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JASP-JPSP, 1961-1970). In terms of proportions, 2 conflicting trends were found. Laboratory studies predominated in JASP-JPSP while surveys predominated in JSP. A moderately strong positive trend was found for increasing field studies in JASP-JPSP and a moderately negative trend for JSP. The frequency of field research in comparison to laboratory or survey research was small. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

This article is reprinted from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1965, 1, 1-2. It is appropriate with the launching of a new journal (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) to hail the dawn of a new day and to sound a call for revolutionary departures from the traditions of the past. For better or for worse we are constrained in the formulation of new policy in that the forces of organizational continuity must be reckoned with. The first year and a half of our Journal is already committed to articles in personality and social psychology accepted under the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology egis. Our editorial board, with a few exceptions, is much the same. Moreover, an APA journal is representative of the research of APA members in its area of interest rather than innovative with respect to the aspirations of its editors. Nonetheless, we cannot begin the new Journal without a plea for a type of research which we have lacked in the past. We will welcome papers which deal with a psychological analysis of social systems provided they meet our usual criteria of making theoretical or research contributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gergen versus the mainstream: Are hypotheses in social psychology subject to empirical test?

K. J. Gergen's (1982) argument that hypotheses in social psychology are not empirical propositions is critically examined and shown to be erroneous. Nevertheless, this article demonstrates that, without necessarily appearing obvious, some hypotheses can be derived from propositions that are like tautologies and that their confirmation as such is of little interest. An analysis of hypotheses in recent articles in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that hypotheses derivable from propositions very much like tautologies may not be infrequent. Implications are considered for what kinds of social psychology experiments are of value to perform. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical regulations and their impact on research practice.

Examined the impact on experimental results of ethical procedures such as informed consent, freedom to withdraw, and constraints on the use of deception by surveying the frequency of these practices in studies published in 9 social psychology journals (e.g., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology), 7 from 1979 and 3 from 1983 (1 journal was surveyed twice). Results show that the proportion of studies that reported obtaining informed consent or explicitly giving Ss the freedom to withdraw was negligible and that the practice of deception has not been reduced by ethical regulations. The percentage of social psychological studies that used deception increased monotonically over the past 3 decades. Although recent data show a slight decline, the extremity of some deceptions does not seem to have moderated. Reports of debriefing Ss have generally increased; however, most investigators still do not report this practice, and few describe what Ss are told. It is argued that detailed reporting of these practices should be required and expected in all published research. (82 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapports annuels.

Presents annual reports (1985) from the Canadian Psychological Association, including reports from the Constitution and By-Laws Committee; the Continuing Education Committee; the Convention Committee; the Elections Committee; the Committee on Ethics; the Committee on Fellows and Honorary President; the International Relations Committee; the Nominating Committee; the Professional Affairs Committee; the Publications Committee; the Scientific Affairs Committee; the Committee on Sections; and the Committee on the Status of Women. Sections reports are also provided, including reports from the sections on Brain and Behaviour; Community Psychology; Educational Psychology; Health Psychology; Industrial/Organizational Psychology; Programme Evaluation; Psychology and Religion; Psychopharmacology; Social Psychology; and Women and Psychology. The sections reports are followed by division reports, including reports from the Applied Division and the Experimental Division. Journal reports are then presented, including reports from Canadian Psychology; Canadian Journal of Psychology; and Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Annual reports.

Presents annual reports (1985) from the Canadian Psychological Association, including reports from the Constitution and By-Laws Committee; the Continuing Education Committee; the Convention Committee; the Elections Committee; the Committee on Ethics; the Committee on Fellows and Honorary President; the International Relations Committee; the Nominating Committee; the Professional Affairs Committee; the Publications Committee; the Scientific Affairs Committee; the Committee on Sections; and the Committee on the Status of Women. Sections reports are also provided, including reports from the sections on Brain and Behaviour; Community Psychology; Educational Psychology; Health Psychology; Industrial/Organizational Psychology; Programme Evaluation; Psychology and Religion; Psychopharmacology; Social Psychology; and Women and Psychology. The sections reports are followed by division reports, including reports from the Applied Division and the Experimental Division. Journal reports are then presented, including reports from Canadian Psychology; Canadian Journal of Psychology; and Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Statistical power of psychological research: What have we gained in 20 years?

Power was calculated for 6,155 statistical tests in 221 journal articles published in the 1982 volumes of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Power to detect small, medium, and large effects was .17, .57, and .83, respectively. 20 years after Cohen (1962) conducted the first power survey, the power of psychological research is still low. The implications of these results concerning the proliferation of Type I errors in the published literature, the failure of replication studies, and the interpretation of null (negative) results are emphasized. An example is given of the use of power analysis to help interpret null results by setting probable upper bounds on the magnitudes of effects. Limitations of statistical power analysis, suggestions for future research, sources of computational information, and recommendations for improving power are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial.

Describes the of the goals of the current editor of the Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes section of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived past, present, and future control and adjustment to stressful life events.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 100(4) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2011-05716-005). There is an error on page 758. In the sentence “Present control predicted later event-specific distress in Sample 1( β = .17, p     

Psychometric issues in the assessment of clinical competencies.

Reviews studies that included measures of counselor or therapist competencies published between 1977 and mid-1982 in 4 journals: the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Counselor Education and Supervision, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Clinical Psychology. There were 235 instances of measuring clinicians' competencies in 149 studies. Evidence of the reliability and validity associated with the assessment instruments was examined for each one. A majority of the measurements were ratings of counselor or therapist interpersonal competency in clinical situations. Only 43% of the measurements included reliability data computed at the time they were used, and only 12% were accompanied by any evidence of their validity. The authors describe the types of instruments used in these studies and their psychometric properties, the behaviors and constructs that were assessed, and the most frequently used instruments. The implications of inadequate psychometric rigor in clinical competency assessment research are discussed, and recommendations are made for improving the reliability and validity of clinical performance appraisal. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations among NEO personality assessments and well-being at mid-life: Facet-level analyses.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 16(1) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2007-17221-001). The article contained an error in the journal title for the Schmutte and Ryff (1997) reference. The correct reference is: Schmutte, P. S., & Ryff, C. D. (1997). Personality and well-being: Reexamining methods and meanings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 549-559.] The association between well-being and personality was examined in 2,379 middle-aged adults. Measures that parallel C. D. Ryff's (1989) psychological model were selected to assess well-being. The 30 facet scales of the NEO-PI–R were used to measure personality. More than 83% of the facet–well-being correlations within the domains of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness reached statistical significance, whereas, less than half of the correlations within the domains of Agreeableness and Openness were significant. The facets within each domain demonstrated different patterns of associations with the well-being measures, indicating that facet-level assessments yield additional information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial: Into the Second Century.

This editorial discusses the first century of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and speculates on the second century of the journal. In the early decades of its existence, Abnormal clearly was quite different from the typical psychological journal of today. The articles in its inaugural issue reflect the fact that its early content was heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis and other forms of dynamic psychology. The first major shift in the journal's course occurred in 1921, when its scope was broadened to include social and personality research. For a variety of reasons, this union of social, personality, and clinical psychology ended in 1965, when the content subsumed by the old, expanded Abnormal was resplit into two separate outlets: Articles on personality and social processes were redirected to the newly created Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, whereas psychopathology research was retained for the rechristened Journal of Abnormal Psychology. Abnormal has been extremely well-managed in recent years, and it has maintained its status as the top-tier outlet for basic psychopathology research. Accordingly, the editor does not see a need to institute any fundamental changes in its scope or content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Final editorial.

In his last editorial, the editor of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology acknowledges the hard work of his editorial team and the journal's reviewers, and then discusses why he chose to step down after four years, rather than the usual six. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial.

Introduces the fifty-second volume of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. With this volume, the Journal comes once more under new editorial direction. The new editor outlines his conception of his task and the policies that he proposes to follow while filling this role. He also makes it known that articles in this number that bear a date of receipt in February, 1955 are under his editorship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is Educational Intervention Research on the Decline?

The authors examined intervention studies that appeared in 4 educational psychology journals (Cognition & Instruction, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Experimental Education) and the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ) in 1983 and from 1995 to 2004. The majority of studies included adults (age 18 and older) as participants, administered brief (less than 1 day) interventions, assessed intervention effects immediately following the intervention, and did not report treatment integrity. Most studies included multiple outcome measures and exhibited an increase in effect-size reporting from 4% in 1995 to 61% in 2004. The percentage of total articles based on randomized experiments decreased over the 21-year period in both the educational psychology journals (from 40% in 1983 to 34% in 1995 to 26% in 2004) and AERJ (from 33% to 17% to 4%). Limitations of the study and future research issues are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of external invalidity in editorial decisions.

In commenting on D. G. Mook's (see record 1984-00099-001) defense of external invalidity, the present author, who is editor of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, discusses instances in which the inappropriate application of the generalizability criterion has interfered with the process of scientific communication. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)