Professional psychologists' conceptualizations of intimate partner violence.

Psychologists' conceptualizations of intimate partner violence were studied by surveying practicing psychologists on their causal attributions and expectations for violence depicted in a written scenario. The perpetrator of violence was held by respondents to be most responsible for the violence, especially in severely violent cases. Although the victim was seen as less responsible for the violence, greater responsibility was attributed to her, especially to her character, in scenarios in which she had a previous history of being abused by a partner than when she had not. Violence severity had inconsistent effects on psychologists' expectations, in that respondents expected worse outcomes for the victim of more severe violence, but did not expect therapeutic interventions to be any less effective in ameliorating these outcomes. These conceptualizations point to dilemmas in treatment of intimate partner violence, such as empowerment without blame and the tension between hope and realistic assessment of risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicing psychologists' knowledge of general psychotherapy research findings: Implications for science-practice relations.

If you are a therapist, how knowledgeable are you and how knowledgeable do you need to be about psychotherapy research findings? In this study, the authors examined practicing psychologists' knowledge of general psychotherapy research findings. Results revealed that some psychologists showed excellent familiarity with this body of outcome research, but many did not achieve this standard. Not infrequently, psychologists believed that research findings were less positive than is actually the case, perhaps explaining some of the negativity that practitioners sometimes express toward psychotherapy research. Research knowledge could not be predicted by years graduated, percentage of long-term clients, percentage of time conducting therapy, theoretical orientation, or perceived familiarity with research. The modest familiarity with research findings that therapists, in general, demonstrated may be understood, in part, through examination of the acquisition of research knowledge as a judgment task. The authors explore potential factors that may influence therapists' judgments about the research. In addition, they examine possible relations between research knowledge and therapy outcome and their potential practice implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicing school psychology: A turn-of-the-century perspective.

Contemporary school psychology is more than an extrapolation of its early circumstances. However, several aspects remain intact despite changes in child classification, technology and instrumentation, regulation, and professionalization of the field. A snapshot is presented of school psychology practice during its origin period at the turn of the 20th century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The science and nonscience of psychologists' responses to The Bell Curve.

To serve racially diverse clients effectively, professional psychologists should understand the range of scientific and social forces shaping their own and their clients' lives. A manifestation of such forces, the 1994 publication of R. J. Herrnstein and C. Murray's The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life was an attempt to influence both psychological knowledge and U.S. politics. This article analyzes the book and 5 psychologist authors' responses to it. The responses fell far short of providing a critical analysis of the book's racially biased argument and did little to reduce the misleading picture of race and IQ that the book promulgated. Scrutinizing the whole book--especially connections among scientific knowledge, proposed policy, and professional practice with attention to the "code logic" used--will enable practitioners to recognize and change subtle aspects of racial dynamics that occur in their work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of school violence on school personnel: Implications for psychologists.

Each year, approximately 234,000 teachers in the United States are victims of school-related violence. After a violent incident, school-based mental health professionals, psychologists from the community, and administrators appropriately intervene to provide counseling and other services for students. Unfortunately, many school personnel who have been victimized do not receive adequate treatment after such incidents occur. In this article, the authors argue that psychologists, school personnel, and mental health counselors must be aware of the needs of teachers and administrators who have been affected by these events and must, therefore, provide counseling for them as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving psychologists' contributions to the policymaking process.

Psychologists might contribute to policymaking as advocates or as technicians, but it is sometimes difficult to keep these roles separate. As they approach the policy arena, psychologists need to look at societal outcomes of policies as well as at organizational processes, at the values of interest groups supporting policies, at their own possible proclivities toward narrow thinking, and at research on the nature of society and the ultimate consumers of policies. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The inherent limits of predicting school violence.

The recent media hype over school shootings has led to demands for methods of identifying school shooters before they act. Despite the fact that schools remain one of the safest places for youths to be, schools are beginning to adopt identification systems to determine which students could be future killers. The methods used to accomplish this not only are unproven but are inherently limited in usefulness and often do more harm than good for both the children and the school setting. The authors' goals in the present article are to place school shootings in perspective relative to other risks of violence that children face and to provide a reasonable and scientifically defensible approach to improving the safety of schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian counselling psychologists' contributions to applied psychology.

The goal of this paper is to draw attention to the contributions of Canadian counselling psychologists in three key areas central to the discipline: (a) multiculturalism, social justice, and advocacy; (b) health, wellness, and prevention, and (c) career psychology. Accordingly, we have situated our discussion within a historical framework of the discipline followed by a discussion of the Canadian context, definitions, and specific contributions. Finally, we offer a summary of the strengths and current challenges faced by Canadian counselling psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A research agenda for school violence prevention.

Comments on the literature review by E. P. Mulvey and E. Cauffman (see record 2001-18772-002) that called for the promotion of healthy school environments to reduce school violence. The authors note several significant omissions and inaccurancies that undermined Mulvey and Cauffman's efforts to advance knowledge and research about school violence prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicing school psychologists: Their characteristics, activities, and populations served.

Administered the National School Psychology Questionnaire, which was developed for the present study, to a nationwide, random sample of 877 school psychologists. The measure was designed to assess demographic characteristics, actual and desired activities, and actual and desired amount of time spent with various student groups. Results indicate that the majority of time was spent in assessment (54%), followed by intervention (23%), consultation (19%), and research (1%). A reduction in assessment and increases in intervention, consultation, and research were desired. Ss devoted 84% of their time to exceptional students, whereas they wanted to spend more time with the general school population and less time with learning disabled and mentally retarded students. A regional analysis indicated a more clinical approach to school psychology in the northeastern US and a more assessment-oriented approach in the Southeast. Ss in schools with a student ratio of less than 1:1,500 devoted more time to intervention and less time to assessment than did Ss in schools where the student-to-psychologist ratio was higher. It is noted that, despite the documented desire by school psychologists to alter their roles and functions, few changes in recent practices have occurred. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blame, shame, and community: Justice responses to violence against women.

Justice processing for crimes against women is reviewed. The data reveal conviction rates for partner violence and rape by known acquaintances are miniscule; mandatory arrest, protection orders, and diversion programs inadequately deter rebattering; few losses are compensated; and the adversarial justice process is retraumatizing, exacerbating survivor self-blame. To better address crimes against women, several nations and tribal communities use communitarian approaches, forms of restorative justice. The offense is framed to include the perpetrator, victim, and community. The process forgoes incarceration to have family, peers, and advocates design perpetrator rehabilitation, victim restoration, and social reintegration of both victim and perpetrator. Evaluations suggest communitarian justice may increase victim satisfaction, raise the social costs of offending, multiply social control and support resources, and open a new avenue to targeted prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicing A and B psychotherapists' responses to schizoid and neurotic patient prototypes.

83 practicing male psychotherapists completed the A-B Scale of H. Schiffman et al (1967), responded to recordings of schizoid and neurotic patient prototypes, and rated their subjective reactions to each type. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant overall A-B Type by Patient Type interaction. Although liking and ease of responding were higher in therapist–patient dyads, which the literature suggests are effective (A—schizoid, B—neurotic), felt compatibility and desire to work with the patient were higher in the opposite ("mismatched") dyads. Results suggest that subjective reactions underlying the A-B interaction effect are complex and that therapists respond in a differentiated, not global, fashion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural responses to simple simulated echoes in the auditory brain stem of the unanesthetized rabbit

1. In most natural environments, sound waves from a single source will reach a listener through both direct and reflected paths. Sound traveling the direct path arrives first, and determines the perceived location of the source despite the presence of reflections from many different locations. This phenomenon is called the "law of the first wavefront" or "precedence effect." The time at which the reflection is first perceived as a separately localizable sound defines the end of the precedence window and is called "echo threshold." The precedence effect represents an important property of the auditory system, the neural basis for which has only recently begun to be examined. Here we report the responses of single neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) and superior olivary complex (SOC) of the unanesthetized rabbit to a sound and its simulated reflection. 2. Stimuli were pairs of monaural or binaural clicks delivered through earphones. The leading click, or conditioner, simulated a direct sound, and the lagging click, or probe, simulated a reflection. Interaural time differences (ITDs) were introduced in the binaural conditioners and probes to adjust their simulated locations. The probe was always set at the neuron's best ITD, whereas the conditioner was set at the neuron's best ITD or its worst ITD. To measure the time course of the effects of the conditioner on the probe, we examined the response to the probe as a function of the conditioner-probe interval (CPI). 3. When IC neurons were tested with conditioners and probes set at the neuron's best ITD, the response to the probe as a function of CPI had one of two forms: early-low or early-high. In early-low neurons the response to the probe was initially suppressed but recovered monotonically at longer CPIs. Early-high neurons showed a nonmonotonic recovery pattern. In these neurons the maximal suppression did not occur at the shortest CPIs, but rather after a period of less suppression. Beyond this point, recovery was similar to that of early-low neurons. The presence of early-high neurons meant that the overall population was never entirely suppressed, even at short CPIs. Taken as a whole. CPIs for 50% recovery of the response to the probe among neurons ranged from 1 to 64 ms with a median of approximately 6 ms. 4. The above results are consistent with the time course of the precedence effect for the following reasons. 1) The lack of complete suppression at any CPI is compatible with behavioral results that show the presence of a probe can be detected even at short CPIs when it is not separately localizable. 2) At a CPI corresponding to echo threshold for human listeners (approximately 4 ms CPI) there was a considerable response to the probe, consistent with it being heard as a separately localizable sound at this CPI. 3) Full recovery for all neurons required a period much longer than that associated with the precedence effect. This is consistent with the relatively long time required for conditioners and probes to be heard with equal loudness. 5. Conditioners with either the best ITD or worst ITD were used to determine the effect of ITD on the response to the probe. The relative amounts of suppression caused by the two ITDs varied among neurons. Some neurons were suppressed about equally by both types of conditioners, others were suppressed more by a conditioner with the best ITD, and still others by a conditioner with the worst ITD. Because the best ITD and worst ITD presumably activate different pathways, these results suggest that different neurons receive a different balance of inhibition from different sources. 6. The recovery functions of neurons not sensitive to ITDs were similar to those of ITD-sensitive, neurons. This suggests that the time course of suppression may be common among different IC populations. 7. We also studied neurons in the SOC. Although many showed binaural interactions, none were sensitive to ITDs. Thus the response of this population may not be     

Parental adherence to child psychologists' recommendations from psychological testing.

Nonadherence to prescribed regimens is a significant cause of treatment failure across pediatric and psychological/psychiatric childhood conditions. Although a modest literature exists for medical conditions, the literature on adherence to psychologists' recommendations is sparse. We review the extant literature on this topic, highlighting areas for further study and intervention. Implications for policy and the practice of psychoeducational assessment are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Legal, professional, and financial constraints on psychologists' delivery of health care services in school settings.

Psychologists' participation in the delivery of health care (HC) services in schools will be determined in part by legal, professional, and financial constraints. Legal parameters include both current and proposed federal and state legislation related to education and HC as well as licensing and credentialing issues and legal and ethical complications arising from service integration across disciplines. Recognition of psychologists as HC providers in schools is also likely to be affected by credentials and standards for practice issued by various government agencies or professional associations and by the funding mechanisms established to support a reformed American HC system. The purpose of this article is to stimulate exploration of solutions for the obstacles and innovative responses to the opportunities presented for psychologists' participation in the delivery of HC services in schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)