The myth of professional licensing.

The public and most professionals believe that occupational licensing protects service consumers against charlatans and incompetents. The present review of historical, economic, and sociological research indicates a specious association between licensing and the competence of practitioners. Rather, it is suggested that the evidence reveals licensing to be a mystifying arrangement that promises protection of the public but that actually institutionalizes a lack of accountability to the public. The collusion between the state and the professions, which may be justified in altruistic terms, appears not to merit public confidence. It is concluded that acknowledging the failure of licensing is preparatory to defining the problem of how to protect the public. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multidimensional scatterplotting: A graphic approach to profile analysis.

What increments in validity might be found from employing statistical techniques other than those of the usual linear type? The symbols for high, medium, or low for one test were put on a graph at the meeting place for the scores on 2 other tests. "It consists of entering coded symbols on a bivariate scatterplot." The procedure was found promising. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes underlying women's risk judgments: Associations with sexual victimization history and rape myth acceptance.

Objective: This study evaluated the effects of sexual victimization history, rape myth acceptance, implicit attention, and recent learning on the cognitive processes underlying undergraduate women's explicit risk judgments. Method: Participants were 194 undergraduate women between 18 and 24 years of age. The sample was ethnically diverse and composed primarily of freshman, heterosexual, and single women. Stimuli were written vignettes describing social situations that varied on dimensions of sexual victimization risk and potential impact on women's popularity. Participants completed cognitive tasks assessing relative attention to victimization risk versus popularity impact, learning about either risk or popularity impact, and explicit classification of victimization risk. Participants then completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) and the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale; SES responses were used to quantify the severity of victimization experiences. Results: More severe victimization history predicted use of higher thresholds for judging situations as risky, as well as lower sensitivity to risk and greater sensitivity to popularity impact when judging risk. Greater rape myth acceptance also predicted lower sensitivity to risk information. Higher relative attention to victimization risk predicted greater sensitivity to risk information when judging risk. Recent learning about either the risk or the popularity impact aspects of social situations modified sensitivity to risk versus popularity when making risk judgments. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the importance of distinguishing the threshold for judging situations as risky from sensitivity to risk-relevant information in understanding individual differences in women's risk judgments. Both processes may be important to consider when developing interventions to reduce women's risk for sexual victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring shared team mental models: A meta-analysis.

Although shared team mental models are believed to be important to team functioning, substantial interstudy differences in the manner in which mental models are operationalized has impeded progress in this area. We use meta-analysis to cumulate 23 independent studies that have empirically examined shared mental models (SMMs) in relation to team process and performance and test three aspects of measurement as potential moderators: elicitation method, structure representation, and representation of emergence. Results indicate the way in which SMMs are measured and represented at the team level of analysis reveal meaningful distinctions in observed relationships. Specifically, shared mental model operationalization impacts the observed relationship between SMMs and team process; importantly, only methods that model the structure or organization of knowledge are predictive of process. Conversely, while the magnitude of the relationship differed across measurement method, SMMs were positively related to team performance regardless of the manner of operationalization. In summary, knowledge structure is predictive of team process, and both knowledge content and structure are predictive of team performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational psychology: A professional application.

Data from interviews with 14 top managers in a plastics firm reveal marked differences in the opinions and attitudes of the managers and their subordinates. Managers thought everything was well planned and organized, and subordinates saw only conflicts, fighting, and disagreements. For this reason, the authors recommend a survey feedback, using standardized questionnaire results, as an important tool in analyzing an organization. Of the alternative possibilities considered, the favored method is the Profile (see record 1976-26910-001). To cover the spectrum of consequences, 5 factors are considered: direction, negotiation, consultation, participation, and delegation. Four personality dimensions are assessed by the Profile: fairmindedness, assertiveness, equalitarianism, and introspectiveness. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

First impressions: A multicultural content analysis of professional psychology program Web sites.

With the ascension of the Internet as an information resource, Web sites are likely to be the first exposure applicants have to specific programs. The authors evaluated professional psychology program Web sites for ethnic and sexual orientation minority content, discovering that diversity content of Web sites was considerably less than in previously examined paper application materials. Clinical psychology programs were more likely to state a commitment to diversity training while counseling psychology programs were more likely to state a diversity minor/track. School psychology programs had the lowest diversity content on their Web pages. This article explores how graduate psychology program Web sites communicate multicultural information and offers recommendations on using the World Wide Web as a cost-effective tool to attract a diverse student body. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mayo Cognitive Factor Scales: Distinguishing normal and clinical samples by profile variability.

This study examined a central tenet in clinical neuropsychology: Cognitive test variability is a useful index of neurologic status. B. S. Plake, C. R. Reynolds. and T. B. Gulkin's (see record 1981-09369-001) Profile Variability Index (PVI) was applied to Mayo Cognitive Factor Scales (MCFS) scores to index overall variability among these aggregate measures of primary cognitive constructs. Mean PVIs were statistically greater among neurologically suspect than among normal older persons; however, logistic regression and sensitivity/specificity analyses demonstrated that PVIs had limited predictive value. These same analyses showed that when selected MCFS scores and education were considered together, strong diagnostic sensitivity (82%) and specificity (89%) were achieved, therein validating the newly introduced MCFS and supporting their future application in clinical and research settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary on profile analysis.

A plan for an ideal profile analysis system for IQ testing is sketched as a model against which to evaluate the articles on various aspects of the issue by, respectively, S. I. Pfeiffer et al (see record 2001-16379-001), C. A. Riccio and G. W. Hynd (see record 2001-16379-002), D. A. Pritchard et al (see record 2001-16379-003), J. A. Naglieri (see record 2001-16379-004), and H. C. Stanton and C. R. Reynolds (see record 2001-16379-005). Brief comments are offered on the profile analysis procedures used in each article. In general, profile analysis procedures used in these articles, although judged to be competent and acceptable in the context of contemporary research objectives, are far short of ultimate possibilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive psychology: A phenomenological critique.

Reviews the general orientation of cognitive psychology, some contemporary difficulties and problems noted by cognitive psychologists, and apparent commonalities between phenomenological and cognitive psychologies. It is argued that the problems of cognitive psychology are inevitable consequences of its natural scientific orientation, which is far more traditional than it is revolutionary. A phenomenologically based, human science approach to psychology is offered as a solution of fundamental disciplinary problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A consumer profile analysis of the self-service gasoline customer.

Interviewed 50 drivers at self-service gasoline stations and another 50 drivers at nearby conventional service stations about reasons for choosing this type of station; questions also included items from the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. Response differences between these 2 samples confirm the predictions that the self-service customer would have an economic shopper orientation, that he would have the characteristics of people who are innovators in new product use, and that he would be less dogmatic in his thought processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health: A shared concern of the international community.

Describes socioeconomic aspects affecting mental health in the world, such as the massive growth of cities, migrations of people, and the shrinking of the family unit in developed countries. International comparisons that examine differences and similarities between developing and industrialized countries are discussed. The needs of children and the elderly are discussed, and some examples of service delivery to these groups include improving daycare facilities, ensuring that schools foster psychosocial development, finding new roles for the elderly, and preventive and curative health services. Mental health services in Canada are highlighted, and some suggestions are proposed regarding areas of contribution of Canadian psychologists. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The analysis of profile data.

"Methods were suggested for handling 3 problems in the analysis of test profiles: measuring the similarity of profiles, discriminating the typical profiles of two or more groups, and clustering profiles into homogeneous groups. The suggested methods were, respectively, picturing profiles as interpoint distances in Euclidean space, use of the linear multiple-discriminant function, and factor analysis of profile cross-product terms. Some suggestions were given about transformations of profile data before further analysis." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culturally adapted psychotherapy and the legitimacy of myth: A direct-comparison meta-analysis.

Psychotherapy is a culturally encapsulated healing practice that is created from and dedicated to specific cultural contexts (Frank & Frank, 1993; Wampold, 2007; Wrenn, 1962). Consequently, conventional psychotherapy is a practice most suitable for dominant cultural groups within North America and Western Europe but may be culturally incongruent with the values and worldviews of ethnic and racial minority groups (e.g., D. W. Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992). Culturally adapted psychotherapy has been reported in a previous meta-analysis as more effective for ethnic and racial minorities than a set of heterogeneous control conditions (Griner & Smith, 2006), but the relative efficacy of culturally adapted psychotherapy versus unadapted, bona fide psychotherapy remains unestablished. Furthermore, one particular form of adaptation involving the explanation of illness—known in an anthropological context as the illness myth of universal healing practices (Frank & Frank, 1993)—may be responsible for the differences in outcomes between adapted and unadapted treatments for ethnic and racial minority clients. The present multilevel-model, direct-comparison meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies confirms that culturally adapted psychotherapy is more effective than unadapted, bona fide psychotherapy by d = 0.32 for primary measures of psychological functioning. Adaptation of the illness myth was the sole moderator of superior outcomes via culturally adapted psychotherapy (d = 0.21). Implications of myth adaptation in culturally adapted psychotherapy for future research, training, and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance: A theoretical and empirical reexamination.

M. R. Burt (1980) concluded that acceptance of rape myths was strongly related to adversarial sexual beliefs, tolerance of interpersonal violence, and gender role stereotyping. However, the scales designed to assess these variables appear to share an emphasis on hostile attitudes toward women. Using alternative measures and 3 samples of undergraduates (N?=?429; 199 men and 230 women), the authors demonstrated that hostility toward women can partially account for the relation of the various Burt constructs with rape myth acceptance. In addition, a direct measure of hostility toward women exhibits considerably more predictive power among men than women, suggesting that rape myths may function differently for men and women and that there is significant utility in exploring a more broadly defined construct of misogyny for understanding the acceptance of sexual violence toward women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive Bibliotherapy for Depression: A Meta-Analysis.

Do you want to use bibliotherapy with clients but wonder about the size and mechanism of effectiveness? The authors report a meta-analysis of 29 outcome studies of cognitive forms of bibliotherapy for depression. Seventeen studies with stronger research designs (pretest-posttest waiting list control group) yielded a respectable effect size of 0.77, considered the best estimate of effect size from this study. This result compares favorably with outcomes from individual psychotherapy. In light of the substantial positive effects associated with bibliotherapy for depression, the authors discuss clinically relevant questions related to the use of cognitive bibliotherapy. These include why practitioners might consider the use of this technique, which individuals can benefit from this approach, and how professionals can structure care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The professional psychology comprehensive examination: A comparison.

Surveyed 86 American Psychological Association (APA)-approved doctoral programs and 16 non-APA-accredited programs to determine current comprehensive examination practices. 79 APA-approved programs and 13 non-APA-approved programs had some form of qualifying exam. The majority of schools felt their assessment procedures were adequate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The germ theory myth and the myth of outcome homogeneity.

In response to D. J. Kiesler's (1966) concerns with myths of therapist, patient, and therapy uniformity, reviews the germ theory myth (GTM) in psychotherapy training and the myth of outcome homogeneity (MOH) in psychotherapy research. The GTM assumes that exposure to psychotherapy principles over a specified and finite period of time results in expertise. The MOH is the belief that all psychotherapies evoke similar outcomes. This article is part of a 4-article special section (see records 27656; 27630; and 27664). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The two-year college instructor: A profile.

Surveyed psychology teachers in community or junior colleges concerning their educational training and their interest in activities proposed by the American Psychological Association (APA) for 2-yr college teachers. Ss were most interested in activities that would improve communication (e.g., APA-sponsored regional meetings and the development of a periodical). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)