The psychologist and the small mental hospital.

A brief questionnaire was sent to the directors of the 82 hospitals belonging to the National Association of Private Psychiatric Hospitals. Replies were received from 49 or 60% of the sample of which 47 could be used for tabulation. "Only two hospitals say they do not use psychological tests; four more use them occasionally; one does not say; and the other 40, or 85% of our sample, gives an unqualified 'yes.' All those hospitals giving tests even occasionally, indicate the Rorschach as routine. All but two also list the Wechsler in this way." "Only 14 of the hospitals employ full-time psychologists. 23 more employ part-time psychologists." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A quick solution to the psychologist's problem of defining "psychological maltreatment."

Comments that the definition of psychological maltreatment is not an appropriate task for psychologists as scientists or researchers. Psychologists should leave the determination of benefit and harm to the fields of law, ethics, and religion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Worker control: A reply to Ronan.

Argues that W. W. Ronan (1980) presents a one-sided picture of "work force control" by the "entrepreneur–capitalist–management group" and discredits the contributions of many psychologists to workers' well-being. Ronan's contentions that (1) psychological concepts are applied to programs that are motivated by management's desire to avoid unionization, (2) psychological experiments and interventions are unilaterally imposed on workers by management, and (3) economic benefits of psychological interventions should be shared equally with workers are discussed. It is concluded that psychologists have every reason to be proud of their colleagues' contributions to making companies more profitable while improving the work environment for employees. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A psychologist in court: The special master.

The special master may require the production before him of evidence. He may rule upon the admissibility of evidence. He has the authority to put witnesses on oath and may himself examine them. He has substantially the powers of the court that appoints him. Qualifications of the expert-witness are considered. The problem of statuatory protections for the producer of a test is examined. "In theory, a master is not ordinarily required to make decisions about the law, only about the facts… . As psychology becomes a more mature discipline, the opportunities for us to play these unusual roles should grow." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Publishing opinions: A note on the usefulness of commentaries.

Citation rates for 21 commentaries, the original articles, and the replies that were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General between 1975 and 1980 were obtained and compared with citation rates for control articles, which were those that immediately preceded the original articles in the journal. It is concluded that although the commentaries were lengthy, they had little discernible effect on the subsequent literature. There was a significantly higher citation frequency for the original article compared to controls. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Publishing opinions: A note on the usefulness of commentaries": Comment.

Comments on J. J. Christensen-Szalanski and L. R. Beach's (see record 1984-21471-001) conclusion that the attention given to commentaries and replies to articles did not justify the extra space and argues that citation indexes do not measure the major usefulness of these commentaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological consultation and services in a general medical hospital.

When psychologists need to see patients who have been admitted to a general medical hospital or are asked to see a patient in a general medical hospital, they must be aware of, and in compliance with, the rules governing consultation, privileging, and privacy. Psychological treatment for patients is an important part of the treatment of patients with medical conditions that may be exacerbated by psychosocial stressors, preexisting anxiety, or depressive symptoms. The role of the psychologist is to have an integrated role with the medical team and work with the patient in effectively managing these symptoms. Models for promoting psychological services to all patients, especially those who are medically ill, have emerged as one of the few growth areas in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived attributes of the terms client, patient, and typical person..

Helping professionals most commonly refer to seekers of counseling services as clients or as patients. However, little has been known of the implied meanings of each of those labels. 74 undergraduates compared, "client," "patient," and "typical person" using semantic differential-type scales and the Personal Attribute Inventory. Although "client" and "patient" were each evaluated more negatively than was "typical person," no significant differences were found between "client" and "patient." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expert testimony and professional judgment: Psychological expertise and commitment as a sexual predator after Hendricks .

Clinicians and social scientists exercise judgments and discharge responsibilities while fulfilling several different roles in interaction with a variety of legal institutions. The decisions of the Supreme Court in Daubert and Hendricks provide an opportunity to examine the defensible parameters of several of these roles. Daubert provides criteria for the admission of expert testimony in a variety of hearings, including commitment hearings held under statutes such as that at issue in Hendricks . The authors interpret these Daubert criteria as representing broader underlying principles that can provide useful guidance in establishing defensible parameters of participation in a variety of legal institutions by clinicians and social scientists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of schemes for recognizing additive and alternative effects in a "natural experiment" context.

20 Ss at each of 4 age levels (4th, 6th, and 8th grade and college) were presented a "natural experiment" problem situation in which they were asked to interpret the more complex situations in which (a) either of 2 alternative variables is sufficient to produce an outcome, or (b) 2 variables are additive in their effect on an outcome. Not until adolescence could Ss isolate alternative or additive causes in a multivariable situation, though it is speculated they may comprehend the concept of alternative causes well before this age. Only 65% of college Ss exhibited correct reasoning in one or both situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary on "Publishing opinions: A note on the usefulness of commentaries."

Comments on J. J. Christensen-Szalanski and L. R. Beach's (see record 1984-21471-001) conclusion that the attention given to commentaries and replies to articles did not justify the extra space. The author indicates that a 40% increase in space was associated with a 91% increase in citations; data do not argue against the use of commentaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punctuation and publishability: A reexamination of the colon.

Extended J. T. Dillon's (1981) study of titular colonicity by examining the 552 papers submitted to The Philosophical Forum over an 8-yr period. While colonic titles were longer than noncolonic titles, neither titular colonicity nor titular extensiveness enhanced publishability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On learning and development, Piagetian style: I. A reply to Lefebvre-Pinard.

Examines the equilibration theory of Piaget (learning vs development, stage transitions) to make more explicit the methodological foundations of B. Inhelder et al (1974). In this connection, the "problem-solving" learning method used by these authors is analyzed by means of the new concept of "learning loops." Similarly, the successful equilibration learning method used by M. Lefebvre and A. Pinard (1974) is analyzed and shown to involve executive facilitation and chunking (coordination) of 2 crucial schemes. A process-structural model of conservation acquisition previously developed by the present author, and its empirical tests by R. Case (1975) and by G. M. Parkinson (1975), are used to illustrate and to empirically support the process-structural differences theoretically found between these 2 equilibration methods. (54 ref) (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)     

The "superstition" experiment: A reversible figure.

Presents an examination and discussion of Skinner's (1948) article "'Superstition' in the pigeon" (see record 1948-04299-001). The paper's influence on subsequent research, as well as certain shortcomings in it that have become apparent over time are considered. A reprint of the original article follows. (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)     

Commentaries, opinions, and the growth of scientific knowledge.

Comments on J. J. Christensen-Szalanski and L. R. Beach's (see record 1984-21471-001) conclusion that the attention given to commentaries and replies to articles did not justify the extra space and indicates that less than 1% of all the articles that appeared in psychology journals had commentaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Species preferences of experimenters: Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior..

Analyzed species preferences for 1958–1975 for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and compared them with comparable data from the Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology (1969–1972). The percentage of experiments using pigeons increased, while there was a less marked decrease in the percentage using human Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)