The minimum competence movement: Social, scientific, and legal implications.

Contends that educational policy on minimum competency testing should be based on its efficacy and on the need to redress functional illiteracy. Minimum competency testing places demands on students that increase time-on-task, which extensive research has shown is critical to academic success. In discussing the legal aspects of minimum competence requirements, the author observes that recent judicial decisions have usurped the right to set educational policy, which constitutionally belongs to local educators who are informed about their communities' needs. (87 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring psychological uncertainty: Verbal versus numeric methods.

The authors argue that alternatives to the traditional numeric methods of measuring people's uncertainty may prove to hold important advantages under some conditions. In 3 experiments, the authors compared verbal measures involving responses such as very likely, and numeric measures involving responses such as 80% chance. The verbal measures were found to show more sensitivity to various manipulations affecting psychological uncertainty (Experiment 1), to be better predictors of individual preferences among options with unknown outcomes (Experiment 2), and to be better predictors of behavioral intentions (Experiment 3). Results suggest that numeric measures tend to elicit deliberate and rule-based reasoning from respondents, whereas verbal measures allow for more associative and intuitive thinking. Given that there may be many types of situations in which human decisions and behaviors are not based on deliberate and rule-based thinking, numeric measures may misrepresent how individuals think about uncertainty in those situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist-patient sex as sex abuse: Six scientific, professional, and practical dilemmas in addressing victimization and rehabilitation.

Psychology, like other mental health professions, has experienced difficulty addressing the issue of therapist–patient sexual intimacies vigorously, carefully, and effectively. Six fundamental challenges, based on frequently made comparisons of therapist–patient sex to incest and rape, are identified as crucial in addressing forms of sex abuse in which perpetrators are predominantly male and victims are predominantly female: (1) acknowledging the scope of the phenomenon, (2) affirming the notion and the mechanisms of accountability, (3) assessing the validity of allegations, (4) evaluating the nature and validity of research evidence, (5) overcoming perpetrator stereotypes and inclinations to collude with or to enable sex offenders, and (6) confronting the notion of victim responsibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asserting scientific authority: Cognitive development and adolescent legal rights.

The APA uses amicus briefs to communicate scientific knowledge to the legal system. There can be tension, however, between promoting the social good through law and the disinterested reporting of scientific data. This article examines this conflict by discussing two APA amicus briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court in cases involving adolescents' abortion rights. The briefs argued that developmental theory and data confirm that adolescents and adults have equivalent decision-making capacities. The scientific arguments in the briefs, however, do not justify this assertion. Analysis of the briefs illuminates some dimensions describing the role of a scientific statement in a legal brief. These dimensions identify ways to limit scientific claims about the evidence at hand to avoid overstatement. The primary danger of overstatement is that it undermines psychology's claim to expert authority in assisting in the formation of law and the shaping of social institutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist-patient sex as sex abuse: Six scientific, professional, and practical dilemmas in addressing victimization and rehabilitation": Comment.

Comments that K. S. Pope's (see record 1991-02078-001) discussion of therapist–patient sexual abuse draws attention to major epistemological issues and cultural prejudices in investigating therapist–patient sexual involvement (TPSI). M. H. Williams asserts that the research on TPSI cannot meet minimal standards for survey research and may have insurmountable validity problems. Williams argues that therapists involved in TPSI should be sanctioned and that psychologists should feel free to question the validity of the research or data base without being perceived as blaming the victim or colluding with the perpetrators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of a screening instrument in women's health care: detecting relationships among victimization history, psychological distress, and medical complaints

The interactive relationship between psychological distress and physical health is a particularly salient one for women. Routine screening for abuse history and current psychological disturbance is essential in providing comprehensive patient care. The present study examines the utility of a brief screening measure in detecting psychological factors in female patients at a primary care facility. Sixty-nine percent of 108 women screened at a women's health clinic reported a history of trauma and almost half (49%) reported having been sexually harassed. Women presenting to treatment for gynecological problems were more likely to be victims of sexual assault and were more likely to report a history of childhood sexual abuse. In addition, women seeking specialized health care also reported increased rates of stress. Relationships among victimization histories, substance use, and eating disturbances were also found. These data suggest the importance of assessing psychological disturbances and trauma histories as part of a comprehensive medical evaluation.     

Gender, victimization, and outcomes: Reconceptualizing risk.

Large-scale studies of gender differences in psychopathological reactions to victimization have focused on posttraumatic stress disorder, overlooking other trauma-related disorders. The present study expands this literature with a contextualized examination of interpersonal aggression exposure and sequelae. Using k-means cluster analysis on a sample of 16,000, the authors identified 8 distinct profiles of exposure to sexual violence, physical assault, stalking, and emotional abuse. Analyses of covariance then suggested links among victimization profile, gender, and mental and physical health. Results revealed no meaningful interactive effects of gender and interpersonal aggression on outcomes, once lifetime exposure to aggressive events was adequately taken into account. These findings argue against theories of female victims' greater vulnerability to pathological outcomes, instead linking risk to exposure history. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The release of psychological data to nonexperts: Ethical and legal considerations.

Psychologists are often requested to provide raw psychological data (e.g., scores, test stimuli, client or patient responses) to nonexperts, especially in personal injury litigation cases in which there may be a court order or subpoena for such information. The new Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association (APA; 1992) prohibit the release of raw test results and data to unqualified persons; hence, requests from judges and attorneys frequently place the psychologist in a conflict in which legal and ethical considerations point in opposite directions. In this article, ethical and legal issues regarding this conflict are discussed, particularly the manner in which the new APA Ethical Principles speak to the salient considerations. A course of action is recommended for sharing raw data whereby the psychologist can conform to the spirit of legal considerations while remaining in compliance with the Ethical Principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A scientific problem-solving model of psychological assessment.

Comments that much of the current controversy in psychodiagnostics is a result of the failure to differentiate between assessment as a process of problem solving and testing as one set of methods for problem solving. One solution to this problem is for practice and training to shift away from their current emphasis on knowledge and technical expertise and toward a conceptual approach to psychological assessment. A scientific, problem-solving model of psychological practice is described in detail as it applies to the process of assessment. The model consists of 3 basic elements: The problem-solving process, levels of organizational action, and methods. The problem-solving process itself is broken down into 6 steps: problem clarification, planning, development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Implications of the model for the improvement of practice, for the determination of assessment competency, and for training are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing psychological images of the social perceiver: Role of perceived informativeness, memorability, and affect in mediating the impact of crime victimization.

Recent research in social cognition has been concerned with the inferences people draw from their experiences. The research reported here is concerned with one inference—the judged risk of crime victimization—and with heightened levels of crime prevention behavior that result from such an inference. Two surveys of 315 Ss who had at least 1 experience with crime and an experiment with 360 undergraduates were conducted to test the role of 3 psychological characteristics of victimization in mediating the impact of being a victim of crime. In the experiment, Ss read a pamphlet describing a person's experience with crime; Ss' perceived informativeness, availability in memory of the information, affect, fear of crime, and crime prevention behavior were later assessed. Results suggest that the perceived informativeness, availability in memory, and affect aroused by a crime victimization were distinct aspects of the event. Though distinct, however, perceived informativeness and affect were not statistically independent. Those events judged to be more informative were also more upsetting. Availability in memory, on the other hand, was independent of both perceived informativeness and affect. When the mediation of impact was considered, the results suggest independent influences of both perceived informativeness and affect on both fear of crime and crime prevention behavior. Availability apparently does not have an important role in mediating impact on either inferences or behaviors. (130 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Therapist-patient sex as sex abuse: Six scientific, professional, and practical dilemmas in addressing victimization and rehabilitation": Response to Williams's Comment.

Agrees with M. H. Williams's (see record 1991-13292-001) comment on K. S. Pope's (see record 1991-02078-001) article on therapist–patient sexual involvement (TPSI) that evaluations of TPSI research are not well served. Pope addresses Williams's 2 basic propositions: (1) Research on the outcome of TPSI does not, and possibly cannot, meet minimal standards for survey research and (2) psychology has been victimized by those who feel that there must be a data base before sanctions can be applied to therapists involved in TPSI and by those who have used lower standards for research relevant for each ethical guideline and have constrained criticism of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illness uncertainty, attributional style, and psychological adjustment in older adolescents and young adults with asthma

Examined psychological adjustment in a college sample of older adolescents and young adults (n = 49) with histories of childhood asthma. A substantial number of subjects evidenced clinically significant levels of overall distress. In addition, greater perceived asthma uncertainty and increased stable attributions for negative events were significantly associated with poorer psychological adjustment after controlling for demographic and disease variables. Further analyses revealed a moderating influence of uncertainty on attribution-adjustment relationships. These findings provide initial support for a cognitive diathesis-stress view of adjustment in long-standing asthma. Results also support a growing body of evidence suggesting that the focus of efforts to enhance adjustment to asthma need to be expanded beyond childhood and early adolescence.     

Get smarty pants: Cognitive ability, personality, and victimization.

Drawing on the victim precipitation model, this study provides an empirical investigation of the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization at work. We propose that people high in cognitive ability are more prone to victimization. In this study, we also examine the direct and moderating effects of victims' personality traits, specifically the 2 interpersonally oriented personality dimensions of agency and communion. Results support the direct positive relationship of cognitive ability and victimization. The positive relationship between high cognitive ability and victimization is moderated by the victims' personality traits; agency personality traits strengthen the relationship of cognitive ability and victimization, whereas communion personality traits weaken this relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science.

Although commentators periodically declare that Freud is dead, his repeated burials lie on shaky grounds. Critics typically attack an archaic version of psychodynamic theory that most clinicians similarly consider obsolete. Central to contemporary psychodynamic theory is a series of propositions about (a) unconscious cognitive, affective, and motivational processes; (b) ambivalence and the tendency for affective and motivational dynamics to operate in parallel and produce compromise solutions; (c) the origins of many personality and social dispositions in childhood; (d) mental representations of the self, others, and relationships; and (e) developmental dynamics. An enormous body of research in cognitive, social, developmental, and personality psychology now supports many of these propositions. Freud's scientific legacy has implications for a wide range of domains in psychology, such as integration of affective and motivational constraints into connectionist models in cognitive science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The economic and scientific future of forensic psychological assessment.

The young field of forensic psychological assessment shows great promise. Its future is threatened, however, by economic forces in the legal system that may inhibit the development and use of applied research to strengthen its scientific base. In this article, these forces are explained by (a) describing the domain of clinical psychologists who perform assessments for courts, (b) reviewing current inadequacies in forensic assessments and providing examples from current research of promising directions for remediating these deficiencies, and (c) describing how the marketplace dynamics of forensic psychological practice may be producing disincentives for a more empirically based approach to practice. Finally, recommendations are made for using these economic forces of the legal market to promote higher standards of scientific quality for forensic psychological assessments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)