In praise of the null hypothesis statistical test.

Jacob Cohen (see record 1995-12080-001) raised a number of questions about the logic and information value of the null hypothesis statistical test (NHST). Specifically, he suggested that: (1) The NHST does not tell us what we want to know; (2) the null hypothesis is always false; and (3) the NHST lacks logical integrity. It is the author's view that although there may be good reasons to give up the NHST, these particular points made by Cohen are not among those reasons. When addressing these points, the author also attempts to demonstrate the elegance and usefulness of the NHST. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APIC guidelines: Are they really that helpful?

The matching process for professional internships in psychology has been reviewed by many authors who label the process as being difficult and pressure filled. Currently, the Association of Psychology Internship Centers (APIC) stipulates guidelines to reduce this pressure on prospective interns and APIC members during the selection process. We anonymously surveyed 45 graduate students who recently completed the internship selection process. They reported both major and minor APIC guideline violations. Of those surveyed 53% reported that at least one or more of the programs to which they applied violated APIC guidelines. Seven of those surveyed reported receiving offers before the day of intern selection. Applicants felt anxious, bothered, and pressured in response to many different violations. These findings are discussed in view of more comprehensive research projects in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In praise of alternative medicine: views of a healthcare consumer and college health employee

The blood flow property is one of the factors determining blood perfusion and oxygen supply. The viscosity of the blood is primarily related to the hematocrit, but also to the amount of fibrinogen and other macromolecules present in the blood. Patients with ischemic heart disease have shown a rapid and safe improvement in their hemorheological state when treated with heparin-induced extracorporeal low-density lipoprotein (LDL) precipitation (HELP). In this study we used two extracorporeal hemapheresis methods, plasmapheresis (PP) and immunoadsorption (IA), in 15 patients (eight patients treated with PP and seven patients with IA) with various diseases. Hemorheological variables and plasma fibrinogen were measured before and after the first and before the third treatment performed at 3 consecutive days. The aim of our study was to investigate the immediate effects of these two treatment modalities on the flow properties of blood. Immediately after the first PP and IA session statistically significant declines in plasma fibrinogen concentration, plasma viscosity, whole blood viscosity, and erythrocyte aggregation tendency were found. These changes persisted before the third treatment session. The erythrocyte fluidity and hematocrit remained unchanged. We conclude that extracorporeal hemapheresis therapy, with plasmapheresis or immunoadsorption, affects the blood rheology by decreasing the plasma viscosity and erythrocyte aggregation tendency. The decrease in plasma fibrinogen is probably the main factor underlying that, but other factors such as a decrease in immunoglobulins may also be of importance.     

In praise of the hyperglycemic clamp. A method for assessment of beta-cell sensitivity and insulin resistance

The most widely used methods for the assessment of beta-cell response and peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin include the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), the frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test, and the hyperinsulinemiceuglycemic clamp technique. During an OGTT, glucose levels increase after a variable lag period, then reach a peak and fall variably among individuals. The response even varies in the same subject upon repeat testing. A more reproducible glucose curve is achieved with an intravenous glucose tolerance test in which the plasma glucose levels rise rapidly to a very high level and fall exponentially. In neither of the two methods is a steady-state glucose level achieved. In the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique, a steady-state glucose level can be maintained at any level of hyperinsulinemia. However, an assessment of beta-cell sensitivity is not obtained. The less used hyperglycemic clamp technique can assess beta-cell sensitivity as well as peripheral tissue sensitivity. Moreover, a measure of glucose effectiveness or non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake can also be determined. With this technique the beta-cells of all subjects are stimulated with the same arterial glucose concentration, thus enabling assessment of beta-cell response to identical plasma glucose levels. Comparison of responses to stable hyperglycemic stimuli can be made in glucose-tolerant and -intolerant states with the addition of various substances, either alone or in combination. The use of the hyperglycemic clamp and several of its variant forms is reviewed as an alternative method for assessment of glucose homeostasis.     

Feedback and therapist praise during treatment of phobia.

In the context of a "reinforced practice" treatment paradigm, the present 5 experiments analyzed whether or not feedback superimposed upon contingent praise would have an additive therapeutic effect. In each of 5 18-56 yr old phobic patients (brief case histories are given) behavioral progress in the initial praise-alone phase was either slow or nonexistent. When precise feedback of performance was added to praise in the 2nd phase, however, rate of improvement increased dramatically. Withdrawal of feedback did not slow down this rate. Feedback was apparently more important than therapist praise in getting approach behavior underway, but once gains had been made, praise plus the repeated graduated practice procedure per se was able to sustain continuing improvement on its own. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal space: Where we now stand.

A review of the "personal space" research reveals that an overwhelming accumulation of evidence weighs against the use of projective measurement strategies, while the interrelations between the various real-life measures remain poorly documented. A "nondichotomous carrier mechanism" reconceptualization is proposed to reorient investigation of the confused pattern of sex effects. Other findings show that once data based on projective measures are discarded, it becomes clear that personal space gradually increases in size between 3–21 yrs of age. The evidence regarding cultural and subcultural differences in personal space is considerably weaker than has frequently been assumed. The present review further reveals that formerly implicit links between personal space and crowding have congealed into specific and fruitful theoretical parallels. The use of attribution, expectancy, and equilibrium theories in interpreting the results of personal space research is discussed, and the causes and consequences of personal space preferences are considered in terms of personality, situational effects, and acquaintanceship. (12 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet.

This article traces a program of research on the interplay between social thought and social interaction. Early investigations of the impact of perceivers' expectancies on the actions of target individuals illuminated the contribution of perceivers to the identity negotiation process but overlooked the role of targets. The research discussed here is based on the assumption that targets play an active role in the identity negotiation process. Specifically, just as perceivers strive to validate their expectancies, targets seek to verify their self-views. The nature and antecedents of the processes through which people verify their self-conceptions as well as the relationship of these activities to self-concept change and self-enhancement processes are discussed. This research suggests that perceivers and targets enter their interactions with independent and sometimes conflicting agendas that are resolved through a process of identity negotiation. The identity negotiation process therefore provides a theoretical context in which the interplay between other-perception and self-perception can be understood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In praise of value judgments in null hypothesis testing…and of "accepting" the null hypothesis.

Comments on the article by R. L. Hagen (see record 1997-02239-002) on null hypothesis testing. Hagen's article is constrained to the logic of deduction from an already formulated null hypothesis and the scientific conclusions that are validly drawn from one statistical decision or another. It is argued that subjective value judgment preceding the construction of the null hypothesis is an obscure precursor of the scientific logic of null hypothesis testing and that subsequent actions taken in professional practice as a result of failure to reject the null hypothesis constitutes its acceptance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental study of praise and blame as attributional cues.

Meyer et al. (1979) documented that praise following success and the absence of blame following failure are used by adults to infer low ability. In the present study, the Meyer et al. methodology was modified for examining developmental differences in the use of praise and blame as attributional cues. Children ages 4 to 12 years were presented with videotaped scenarios depicting two students who either succeeded or failed at an achievement task. The feedback to these students was either praise versus neutral feedback following success or blame versus neutral feedback following failure. Participants then judged the effort and ability of each target child. All children inferred that the praised student was higher in effort and that the blamed student was lower in effort than were their neutral-feedback counterparts. A developmental pattern in ability judgments, however, indicated that only the oldest children inferred lower ability given praise and the absence of blame, as in the Meyer et al. study. The data for the youngest children were opposite to this pattern, with higher ability inferred given praise and lower ability reported given blame. These findings were interpreted as evidence of children's emerging understanding of a compensatory relation between effort and ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Establishment of praise as a reinforcer in chronic schizophrenics.

Studied the effectiveness of a method of altering the reinforcing properties of the verbal event good in 54 male 20-55 yr old chronic, process, nonparanoid schizophrenics. In agreement with previous research, good was ineffective in a verbal conditioning and in a reaction time task for these Ss. However, when good was repeatedly paired with the termination of censure in the reaction time task, it became an effective reinforcer on a subsequent verbal conditioning task. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: A review and synthesis.

The authors argue against a purely behavioral definition of praise as verbal reinforcement in favor of the view that praise may serve to undermine, enhance, or have no effect on children's intrinsic motivation, depending on a set of conceptual variables. Provided that praise is perceived as sincere, it is particularly beneficial to motivation when it encourages performance attributions to controllable causes, promotes autonomy, enhances competence without an overreliance on social comparisons, and conveys attainable standards and expectations. The motivational consequences of praise also can be moderated by characteristics of the recipient, such as age, gender, and culture. Methodological considerations, such as including appropriate control groups and measuring postfailure outcomes, are stressed, and directions for future research are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility.

According to terror management theory, if the cultural worldview protects people from thoughts about death, then weakening this structure should increase death-thought accessibility (DTA). Five studies tested this DTA hypothesis. Study 1 showed that threatening Canadian participants' cultural values (vs. those of another culture) increased DTA on a word-fragment completion task. Study 2 showed that when participants could dismiss the threat, DTA remained low. Study 3 replicated the results of Study 1, but DTA was measured using a lexical decision task. Response latencies to death, negative, and neutral content were measured. Worldview threat increased DTA relative to accessibility for negative and neutral content. Study 4 showed that the DTA effect emerged independently of the arousal of anger or anxiety. Finally, Study 5 demonstrated that participants with a pro-creation (vs. pro-evolution) worldview had higher DTA after reading an anti-creation article. Discussion focused on theoretical implications and directions for further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Person versus process praise and criticism: Implications for contingent self-worth and coping.

Conventional wisdom suggests that praising a child as a whole or praising his or her traits is beneficial. Two studies tested the hypothesis that both criticism and praise that conveyed person or trait judgments could send a message of contingent worth and undermine subsequent coping. In Study 1, 67 children (ages 5–6 years) role-played tasks involving a setback and received 1 of 3 forms of criticism after each task: person, outcome, or process criticism. In Study 2, 64 children role-played successful tasks and received either person, outcome, or process praise. In both studies, self-assessments, affect, and persistence were measured on a subsequent task involving a setback. Results indicated that children displayed significantly more "helpless" responses (including self-blame) on all dependent measures after person criticism or praise than after process criticism or praise. Thus person feedback, even when positive, can create vulnerability and a sense of contingent self-worth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of praise and censure on the performance of schizophrenics.

Ss were 36 normals, 36 good, and 36 poor premorbid schizophrenics. Poor premorbids were shown to be primarily motivated to avoid censure and good premorbids to be relatively more sensitive to praise. It was demonstrated that when censure was used on a task with only 2 possible responses, poor premorbids performed better than good premorbids. The opposite relationship was demonstrated for the effects of praise, to which the good premorbids were more responsive. On a task with many responses, the praise or censure gave little information as to the correct response. On this task, censure was demonstrated to be relatively more disruptive to the poor premorbids than praise, but the opposite held for the good premorbids. Comparisons with neutral conditions and normal Ss were also made. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing peer praise of socially rejected delinquent youth: Effects on cooperation and acceptance.

This study assessed the effects of positive peer reporting (PPR) on the cooperative behaviors and peer acceptance of 3 socially rejected, delinquent youths (2 males and 1 female) in residential care. PPR involved rewarding classroom peers with token points for publicly praising the social behavior of target students. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline was used to assess the effects of the procedure. Results indicated that PPR increased the use of cooperative statements made to peers. For all 3 students, PPR also led to increases in their peer status. Social validity measures indicated high treatment acceptability and a match between the amount of cooperative behavior emitted by participants and randomly selected classmates. Findings support the use of peers as sources of reinforcement for a rejected youth's prosocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The fleeting gleam of praise: Cognitive processes underlying behavioral reactions to self-relevant feedback.

We propose that a preference for favorable social feedback (i.e., self-enhancement) requires only that feedback be characterized as favorable or unfavorable but that a preference for self-confirming feedback (i.e., self-verification) is based on a more elaborate set of cognitive operations that requires both the characterization of feedback and a subsequent comparison of that feedback to a representation of self stored in memory. Study 1 set the stage for testing this hypothesis by showing that depriving people of processing resources interfered with their tendency to access their self-conceptions. In Studies 2 and 3, participants who were deprived of resources preferred the favorable, self-enhancing evaluator, whereas control participants displayed a preference for the self-verifying evaluator, even if that evaluator was relatively unfavorable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transference-Countertransference: Where the (Political) Action Is.

Action theory (AT), an emergent paradigm in academic psychology, depicts individuals as actively shaping their environment, development, and well-being. Although implicit in several psychoanalytic and integrative formulations, to date AT has not been formally linked to the psychotherapy integration movement. Focusing on a relatively overlooked tenet of AT whereby human action is pervasively "political" (i.e., power related), the author proposes that in the context of transference-countertransference exchanges, patient and therapist exercise power over each other to realize core personal projects. Awareness of this "2-person politics" has the potential to enhance integrative psychotherapy by increasing (a) sensitivity to, and use of, inevitable patient-therapist power struggles; (b) appreciation of the simultaneously oppressive and empowering nature of cognitive, behavioral, and strategic techniques; and (c) reliance on supervisors, peers, and consultants who serve as mediators of patients' and therapists' political agendas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of proportional reasoning: Where young children go wrong.

Previous studies have found that children have difficulty solving proportional reasoning problems involving discrete units until 10 to 12 years of age, but can solve parallel problems involving continuous quantities by 6 years of age. The present studies examine where children go wrong in processing proportions that involve discrete quantities. A computerized proportional equivalence choice task was administered to kindergartners through 4th-graders in Study 1, and to 1st- and 3rd-graders in Study 2. Both studies involved 4 between-subjects conditions that were formed by pairing continuous and discrete target proportions with continuous and discrete choice alternatives. In Study 1, target and choice alternatives were presented simultaneously; in Study 2, target and choice alternatives were presented sequentially. In both studies, children performed significantly worse when both the target and choice alternatives were represented with discrete quantities than when either or both of the proportions involved continuous quantities. Taken together, these findings indicate that children go astray on proportional reasoning problems involving discrete units only when a numerical match is possible, suggesting that their difficulty is due to an overextension of numerical equivalence concepts to proportional equivalence problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)