Note on "Adverse impact from a psychometric perspective."

G. H. Ironson et al (see record 1982-29410-001) recommended the use of test characteristic curves (TCCs) in the study of adverse-impact ratios in selection. They demonstrated that a linear transformation of the Rasch ability estimate could reduce the incidence of adverse impact from the level that would result from the use of raw scores. The present authors reanalyzed their data and concluded that both the raw score scale and the ability estimates yield similar adverse-impact results. However, the authors agree with the Ironson et al proposal that relative adverse-impact ratios from different tests should be defined with TCCs because level of adverse impact can be influenced by the shape of TCCs. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Trance" versus "skill" hypnotic inductions: The effects of credibility, expectancy, and experimenter modeling.

Compared a hypnotic induction procedure based on social learning principles (skill induction) with a traditional eye-fixation/relaxation trance induction, a highly credible placebo induction, and a no-induction base-rate control. Before inductions were administered, 100 undergraduates completed Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Rotter Trust Scale, and an absorption scale. The trance induction surpassed the skill induction only on the Hypnosis Inventory. Experimenter modeling did not enhance the effectiveness of the skill induction. Skill and trance inductions elicited slightly higher behavioral scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C than did the placebo induction. However, this difference was not obtained on other measures of hypnotic responsivity and depth. Significant correlations were found between expectancy, absorption, and responsiveness on all dependent measures. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationship between absorption and responsivity was mediated by expectancy. Results support the hypotheses that hypnotic responses are elicited by the expectancy for their occurrence and that induction procedures are a means of increasing Ss' expectancies for hypnotic responses. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A discussion of "Homosexuality: The ethical challenge."

Takes issue with G. C. Davison (see PA, Vol 56:Issue 6) who suggests that homosexuality is a normal variant of sexuality and that the problems of homosexuals derive from societal prejudices. It is argued that homosexuality is pathological, being the outcome of adverse experiences with both parents, and that Davison's promulgation of the "new myth" that homosexuality is normal cannot and does not alter societal prejudice. Further, it is argued that if social pressures were entirely absent, homosexuals would still wish to change. Social pressures merely contribute to the suffering of homosexuals by reinforcing what is already there; the individuals hurt by the new mythology are homosexuals themselves in that it robs them of options and undermines the determination needed for a reconstructive, therapeutic experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The behavior of nonpsychologists on research review committee": Reply.

Responds to criticisms by T. H. Murray (1984) of an earlier discussion by the present author (1983) of social-psychological variables in the functioning of institutional review boards on the use of human Ss. The existence of such bodies implies societal acceptance of psychological research with human Ss and the need for external review and control to avoid immoral or unethical research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "I," the "we," and the "when": A meta-analysis of motivational primacy in self-definition.

What is the primary motivational basis of self-definition? The authors meta-analytically assessed 3 hypotheses: (a) The individual self is motivationally primary, (b) the collective self is motivationally primary, and (c) neither self is inherently primary; instead, motivational primacy depends on which self becomes accessible through contextual features. Results identified the individual self as the primary motivational basis of self definition. People react more strongly to threat and enhancement of the individual than the collective self. Additionally, people more readily deny threatening information and more readily accept enhancing information when it pertains to the individual rather than the collective self, regardless of contextual influences. The individual self is the psychological home base, a stable system that can react flexibly to contextual influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A third "trap."

Comments on B. E. Sandler's remarks (see record 1975-08484-001) on the potential dangers that can limit the success of behavioral scientists in exploiting the possibilities of industrial psychology (IP). Sandler fails to distinguish IP generally and those applications of it by practitioners working for industry in programs designed to further management goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of transitive inference: A review of recent approaches.

Reviews research on the development of transitive inference in children. Two principal approaches, one associated with Piaget's stage theory, the other associated with an information-processing theory, are compared. The 2 approaches differ with respect to 4 aspects of method: choice of task, response required, initial training, and method of feedback. The divergent conclusions of the approaches regarding the age at which transitive inference emerges are discussed in relation to these points of methodological divergence. Several issues in the area of transitive inference are viewed as prototypical of diagnostic problems encountered in cognitive development generally. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The experience of "forgetting" childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists": Correction.

Reports 2 errors in the Results section of the original article by S. Feldman-Summers and K. S. Pope (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1994[June], Vol 62[3], 636–639). The 1st sentence of paragraph 2 in the subsection Reported Abuse should read, "Sexual abuse was reported by 22.7% of the women and by 16.5% of the men, for a total of 20% of the sample.' A correction is also provided for the final sentence of paragraph 3 in the subsection Forgotten Abuse. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1994-39093-001.) A national sample of psychologists were asked whether they had been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or all of the abuse. Almost a quarter of the sample (23.9%) reported childhood abuse, and of those, approximately 40% reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse. The major findings were that (1) both sexual and nonsexual abuse were subject to periods of forgetting; (2) the most frequently reported factor related to recall was being in therapy; (3) approximately one half of those who reported forgetting also reported corroboration of the abuse; and (4) reported forgetting was not related to gender or age of the respondent but was related to severity of abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Expert performance: Its structure and acquisition": Comment.

Comments on K. A. Ericsson and N. Charness's (see record 1994-43905-001) review of the structure and acquisition of expert performance. Gardner disputes their suggestion that all youngsters work in a given domain in roughly the same way, with the major distinguishing variable being the amount of deliberate practice. In belittling the role of individual differences in interest, motivation, and relevant computational powers or "intelligences," they undercut the power of their case. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Expert performance: Its structure and acquisition": Reply.

Replies to H. Gardner's (see record 1996-10360-001) comments on K. A. Ericsson and N. Charness's (see record 1994-43905-001) review of the structure and acquisition of expert performance. In contrast to Gardner, they attribute differences to the individuals' history of relevant activities that differentially benefit the acquisition of associated skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A response to Richard Lettieri's "The ego revisited."

R. Lettieri (see record 2005-08806-004) maintained that a modern conflict theory needs a concept of an ego. This commentary is in response to that suggestion. Because the construct of the ego has been seriously criticized in the psychoanalytic literature, such a suggestion must first address the tenability of the criticisms before such a recommendation can be actualized. In this response to Lettieri's paper, I try to do just that. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of "Social Cognition: The Ontario Symposium."

Reviews the book, Social Cognition: The Ontario Symposium edited by E. Tory Higgins, C. Peter Herman and Mark P. Zanna (1981). This volume presents the papers from the first Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology which was held at the University of Western Ontario in 1978. The first five chapters deal with cognitive organization. Chapter 3 provides a broad overview of schemas and their functions and liabilities which is particularly good for the reader who is fairly naive to cognitive psychology. Chapter 2 overlaps with it quite a bit, but is narrower in scope - focusing only on the issue of the relationship of information relevance and congruence to schema memory. Chapter I presents a review of the literature and a series of experiments on cognitive clustering. Chapters 4 and 5 are more conceptual in nature, dealing with respectively, the manner in which schemas govern the encoding and retention of social information and a storage bin model of category accesibility. The second part of the book, chapters 6-11, focuses on specific aspects of cognitive mechanisms, processes and biases. Some of the chapters, such as those on the use of confirmatory strategies in interpersonal hypothesis testing, self-centered biases, and nonverbal behaviour in impression management, are summaries of the authors' own line of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "equal-risk" model: A comment on McNemar.

Comments on Q. McNemar's (see record 1975-30837-001) suggested procedure for eliminating unfairness in personnel selection with respect to population subgroups and considers legal questions regarding civil rights and Equal Employment Opportunity considerations. McNemar misunderstood the purpose of the procedure advocated by H. J. Einhorn and A. R. Bass's (1971) equal risk model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The hypnotic dream: Methodological problems and a review of the literature.

Investigations of the hypnotic dream have been confounded by a variety of unrecognized methodological problems, such as inadequate specification of demand characteristics, trance depth, and nature of the E-S relationship. Failure to recognize that Ss have a variety of experiences in response to dream suggestions has further obscured the literature. The literature on hypnotic dreams is reviewed. (84 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A "humanistic alternative" to "Political ethics."

Challenges E. Gologor's (1978) contention that research concerning positive characteristics of people might be disruptive, as it could be discovered that people possess considerable potential for evil. A paradigm is presented that allows an objective evaluation of the effects of deception-disclosure on a given psychological phenomenon or procedure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The psychologist as expert witness": A correction.

Asserts that E. Loftus and J. Monahan (see record 1980-09551-001) omitted H. Münsterberg's (1908) essays on psychology and crime in their overview of psychological research as legal evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A paradigm of infant-mother reciprocity: A reexamination of "emotional refueling."

Videotaped 7 mother–infant pairs to examine the impact of reunion episodes on the 10–12 mo old infant's expression of emotion and attention. Through pursuit of the mother, the infant regulated high and low levels of arousal before reunion to a more organized attentional and affective state after reunion. Four patterns of intentional reciprocity observed were vitalizing, soothing, mutual attunement, and protective. That an infant can use emerging cognitive awareness and locomotor capacities to cope with the difficulties of its experience reflects a new level of ego organization with implications for the development of internalization, defense, and psychological adaptation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological approaches to panic disorder: A review.

Panic disorder has been the subject of considerable research and controversy. Though biological conceptualizations have been predominant, psychological theorists have recently advanced conditioning, personality, and cognitive hypotheses to explain the etiology of panic disorder. The purpose of this article is to provide an empirical and conceptual analysis of these psychological hypotheses. This review covers variants of the "fear-of-fear" construal of panic disorder (i.e., Pavlovian interoceptive conditioning, catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations, anxiety sensitivity), research on predictability (i.e., expectancies) and controllability, and research on information-processing biases believed to underlie the phenomenology of panic. Suggestions for future research are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another response to "Homosexuality: The ethical challenge."

Discusses the ethical integrity of accepting a voluntary patient's wish to change his sexual orientation, emphasizing G. D. Davison's article (see PA, Vol: 56:Issue 6) which argues that homosexuality is not pathological state. The problem of how a therapist can discriminate between his/her own values and what is a set of symptoms elicited by environment (e.g., social pressures) is examined. Four tasks must be accomplished before a therapist can attempt a sexual orientation change in a homosexual--deciding how the patient's biological state, past learning, access to information, and the impact of the current environment affect him or her. A therapist, behavioral or otherwise, is obligated to engage in a dialogue involving a scrupulous, nonmystical, time-consuming information exchange with the patient, such interchange being directed toward the clarification in the patient's mind of whether in fact he or she really wants to change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectation and performance in hypnotic phenomena.

Expectations concerning the occurrence of 7 phenomena through hypnotic suggestion were solicited from 12 female Ss, all of whom scored high on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. Attempts were then made to induce these phenomena in the Ss. The results indicate that performance and expectation were discordant about as often as they were in accord. There appeared to be an interaction between task and expectation-performance accord. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)