Quantitative estimation: From the real world to the psychology lab.

Banaji and Crowder (see record 1990-00387-001) contend "that the movement to develop an ecologically valid psychology of memory has proven itself largely bankrupt" (p. 1185). The authors have two primary concerns. First, they believe that it is rare for studies of real-world cognition to support conclusions that generalize broadly. Second, they are concerned that such studies may be inherently incapable of making significant theoretical or methodological contributions. The research program outlined here can be viewed as a response (in the form of a case study) to the Banaji and Crowder position. Specifically, this project has adopted both theoretical and methodology perspectives from the study of real-world memory to address a long-standing issue in the mainstream memory literature. The project itself was designed to characterize the strategies used to estimate event frequency and the conditions that foster the use of these strategies. A valid model of the estimation process is necessary in order to understand the encoding and representation of event frequency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applying psychology: Some real world possibilities for scientists and practitioners.

Proposes that the long-term welfare of psychology as a discipline lies in having a significant portion of both scientists and practitioners intentionally choosing to become engaged in and collaborate on issues that have a direct effect on the well-being of humanity. While departing from traditionally limited spheres of enquiry and/or practice may result in errors such as a confusion of values and beliefs with facts, psychological knowledge and skills can be applied to effectively address such issues. Three reasons for psychologists to become actively involved are offered: new scientific insights would be gained, a common purpose would link this diversely talented discipline, and the discipline would gain a sense of integrity both within itself and in the eyes of society. An action plan based on successful experiences in large scale change is proposed to mobilize psychologists as a discipline. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

U.S. psychology and world psychology.

Contends that although US psychology at present occupies a major position in world psychology, the field is growing more rapidly in many other countries. An example of international cooperation in an endeavor that could not be achieved by the psychological community of any single nation (i.e., securing the admission of the International Union of Psychological Science to the International Council of Scientific Unions) is given. A list of suggestions is presented outlining ways in which individual psychologists can take part in international psychological activities. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental psychology.

Comments on H. M. Proshansky's (see record 1976-21564-001) article on environmental psychology (EPSY) and proposes that EPSY involves the study of the individual interacting with the physical world, both natural and built. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Back in the real world.

Comments on Crisp and Turner’s (May–June 2009) research on “imagined intergroup contact” (p. 231). Its goals of reducing prejudice are laudable, especially with a motivation to “prepare people to engage outgroups with an open mind” (p. 231). The method is relatively simple, easy, and inexpensive to use. Consequently, it has a great deal of flexibility and can be fairly easily implemented almost anywhere. It also reflects the widespread tendency of mainstream social psychology to focus almost entirely on individualistic intrapsychic phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy in the real world.

Community or school-based services may be the answer to meeting the needs of disadvantaged or poor children and youth and their families. This article focuses on lessons learned in treating a special population of children and families and discusses how therapists in the real world often modify treatment protocols to address the specific needs of their patients. Office-based settings and traditional psychotherapy approaches may not be salient to meeting the mental health needs of a vast group of children, youth, and families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peace psychology for a peaceful world.

Although the literature in peace psychology has been growing rapidly, many American psychologists are unaware of how conflict is resolved and peace is conceptualized and achieved. This article reviews the long history and broadening scope of peace psychology and introduces a model of peace that is useful for organizing the literature. The model suggests that peace can be facilitated at four different points of intervention. The authors discuss relationships between positive and negative peace, structural and direct violence, and peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding. They advance some challenges for peace psychologists and conclude that peace psychology is a crucial field for grappling with humanity's most pressing problems in the coming decades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on the main schools of the world psychology in the Czech interwar psychology.

The author deals with the reasons for the different level of acceptance of the three important psychological perspectives (Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis) in the Czech interwar psychology. Gestalt psychology was probably the most accepted approach, which was at least partly caused by its founding in the neighboring Germany. It was an academic perspective that was convenient for the professional ambitions of its representatives as well as for their endeavor to establish psychology as a serious scientific discipline. On the contrary, the acceptance of behaviorism was rather negative or indifferent. Czech psychologists perceived it as a predominantly foreign, extraneous school of thinking. They preferred the studies on consciousness and the method of introspection over empirical research. Psychoanalysis also has never taken deeper roots in Czechoslovakia. Some Czech intellectuals accepted the existence of unconsciousness but they criticized Freudian sexual symbolism (Peroutka, ?apek). Negative attitudes of the politicians Masaryk and Bene? also contributed to the cool reception of this school. With sporadic exceptions, the psychoanalytic thinking was developed only in a small Jewish-German-Czech circle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Out in the real world

AIM: The trial of therapeutic effect of local therapy with dolgit cream of the joint syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthrosis (OA) and juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cream dolgit was used locally with assessment of its effect by pains at rest, movement, palpation, swelling in 169, 98 and 102 patients with RA, OA and JCA, respectively. RESULTS: Subjective improvement was recorded in 75.6% of RA and 90% of OA patients, objective--in 80.9 and 87.2%, respectively. The cream enables a 30-50% reduction in daily dose of nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs in 1/3 and 1/4 OA and RA patients, respectively. In JCA patients dolgit relieved symptoms of local inflammation. The response was growing in combination of dolgit with dimexide or magnetotherapy. Some of the OA patients experienced local skin itch which was not registered in children. No other side effects arose. CONCLUSION: Cream dolgit is effective in the treatment of joint syndrome in rheumatic patients, is well tolerated and may replace systemic nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs in some patients.     

The real world of special education.

Comments on D. K. Detterman and L. A. Thompson's article (see record 1997-30052-007) concerning special education. The authors feel that the argument that "the goals of special education should be stated in terms of achievement and IQ" is an untenable generalization, and suggest that the assumption that current special education instructional practices are ineffective is inaccurate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity and change in the development of psychology around the world.

A survey conducted in 1998 by the International Union of Psychological Science showed that psychology is continuing to grow and expand around the world. At the same time, psychology faces severe challenges, including these: (a) responding to increased demands for accountability, (b) developing research that will be applicable to such problems as resolving and alleviating ethnic conflicts, (c) gaining an appropriate classification for psychology among the disciplines, and (d) helping to meet the needs of the "knowledge society." Taking stock of psychology's present resources and state of development should be a helpful exercise in planning for further development. Some proposals are suggested and more are welcomed to deal with the challenges to be faced in the international development of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of value in the world of psychology.

The mechanistic view of Newtonian science was interpreted by German holism to consist of barren facts and purposeless theories. The assumption that the whole determines the operation of its parts enables holism to provide moral value and existential meaning to human existence. Whereas a positivist view of science assumes that facts cannot logically yield moral values that are right for humankind, holism contends that human values can be revealed in a scientific manner. The same epistemological process that allows holism and humanistic psychology to generate a psychologically demanded morality has also justified Nazi and Communist ideology. The logic of the fact/value dichotomy and the inevitable ascendancy of moral pluralism prevent scientific psychology from serving a democratic society as a pipeline to moral truth or to a positive conception of mental health. Psychological research can estimate the consequences of competing social policies and thus assist a democracy in making informed choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology, the university, and the real world around us.

Discusses the place of psychology in the modern university. Sections dealing with psychology and the geopolitics of science, the relationship of pure to applied science, the role of the university as a social institution, and recommendations for change are presented. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What are the real limits on psychology?

Comments on P. L. Wachtel's (see record 1980-10864-001) article on factors that limit progress in psychology (PSY). Other factors include limitations inherent in the nature of PSY and the larger number of variables needed for accurate prediction in PSY compared with physical sciences. Even if Wachtel's suggestions were actualized, PSY may not ever attain the status of physics, since most of what separates the 2 disciplines is unchangeable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist and hospital policy: A report from the real world.

Discusses the hospital as a "city-state" and how psychologists' skills can be applied there. Decision making by hospital staff is discussed in terms of meta-issues. Psychologists have useful hospital skills apart from the traditional roles of assessment, therapy, and program evaluation. These skills include the knack of conceptualizing complex and dynamic situations and of using their own reactions as an instrument to understand special interests involved, shift the balance of incentives, and improve communication. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and policy around the world: Widening psychology’s sphere of influence.

This edition of Psychology in the Public Forum focuses on social and professional psychological concerns that transcend national borders. As psychologists become more attuned to issues beyond academia and the clinic, the etiological importance of socioeconomic conditions influencing human behavior is attracting increasing recognition. The articles that follow suggest that, in the years ahead, psychologists will have increasing opportunities to develop or participate in research and service activities with longer term potential for affecting the well-being of society. There will be a growing emphasis on determining not only why something is so but how it can be changed, how quickly, and at what cost. Policymakers will seek recommendations for decisions, not just scientific conclusions—and the two are not necessarily the same. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How high is up? Calibrating social comparison in the real world.

Research generated by social comparison theory has been criticized for its deficiencies in conceptual clarity and mundane realism. In the present study, Ss were 544 competitive bridge players engaging in a form of the "you-hold" game, a social comparison activity common to this subculture. Because this game is played seriously, with real and meaningful comparators, mundane realism should be heightened. Clarification of some key concepts, notably "comparison upward," was anticipated because the setting permitted valid assessments of the abilities of the various players. The method involved use of nominational responses to scenarios in which comparison motive was varied with outcome valence and locus of control. Ability scores of nominations were regressed against those of the choosers', a similar strategy was employed using various sociometric nominations both to validate the method and provide a baseline for comparison. Results suggest that information seeking induced the greatest degree of upward comparison. Ego enhancement was lower and ego defense lowest, though even here comparison was found to be reliably upward. Items describing "fixes" where ability was not implicated were found to give results similar to those for ego enhancement. Events with negative outcomes were unexpectedly found to generate greater comparison upward than ones with positive outcomes. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)