Concept mapping of the events supervisees find helpful in group supervision.

Although group supervision is ubiquitous in practicum training sites today, little research has examined its benefits. The authors identified 66 different helpful events, drawn from the free responses of 49 graduate students in psychology. Thirteen of these students then sorted the events by similarity; a concept map was created via cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling of the resulting similarity data. Helpful events fell into five clusters: Supervisor impact; Specific instruction; Self-understanding; Support and safety; and Peer impact. These clusters differed on two dimensions: Perceiving supervisor versus peer impact and Acquiring objective versus self knowledge. Research and practice implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pictures and words: Spanish and English vocabulary in classrooms.

The current study evaluated the relation between Spanish and English vocabulary. Whereas previously reported correlations have revealed strong differences among types of vocabulary measures used and the ages of the students tested, no prior study had used a multilevel model to control for classroom-level differences. The current study used multiple measures of vocabulary—picture vocabulary and narrative production tasks—in multilevel models of 1,300 Spanish-speaking students in 247 kindergarten and 1st-grade classrooms in English immersion and bilingual transitional programs. The current results highlight the need to separate classroom effects from student effects, since for vocabulary measures, student-level correlations were strongly biased toward zero when classroom-level correlations were opposite in direction from student-level correlations. Most important, the current results support a strong distinction between types of vocabulary measure (e.g., picture vs. narrative) and suggest sizable influence of instruction for questions of bilingual performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Challenges of providing mental health services in Spanish.

The disparity in mental health services to Spanish-speaking clients is well documented. This study examines the service delivery experiences of Spanish-speaking mental health providers by exploring their perceptions and concerns regarding their competence and training to provide services in Spanish. It also identifies practitioner priorities for improving training experiences specific to bilingual mental health service delivery. Implications for graduate psychology programs are discussed in an effort to promote and enhance necessary competencies regarding bilingual training endeavors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of negation in bilingual Spanish/English and monolingual English speakers.

Investigated the qualitative differences in negative syntactic structures cross-sectionally across age (3–6 yrs old) with comparisons between the English constructions of 40 Spanish/English bilinguals and those of 40 matched monolingual English-speaking children. The 3 dependent measures were (a) negative-agent-verb sequence, (b) do inclusion, and (c) subject omission. Tested were two contrasting theoretical positions—contrastive analysis vs the mental organization hypothesis—related to multiple language acquisition. Results show that English monolinguals scored differently than bilinguals across the 3 dependent variables in English. There was also evidence that Spanish negative constructions were used in English negative constructions. Support for a partial transfer hypothesis is suggested in view of transference from Spanish to English. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the Spanish language form of the Oral Directions Test of Intelligence.

Results are reported on use of the ODT-Spanish form with young adult students in Puerto Rico that suggest that the test effectively covers a very wide range of ability, and should prove useful in the United States where an intelligence score is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing training and practice in the context of poverty.

While the importance of multicultural competence among practitioners and clinical supervisors has been explored in the psychological literature, these examinations give little attention to issues of social class and poverty. The author suggests five interrelated areas for supervisory action to enhance supervisee competence in the context of poverty. Supervisors may (a) provide supplemental curricula on social class, (b) help supervisees explore class privilege, (c) process supervisees’ reactions to poverty, (d) apply social justice tenets in supervision, and (e) teach flexible approaches to interventions. These suggestions are framed within the field’s growing emphasis on competencies and its larger service commitments to people living in poverty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS): Further Development and Psychometric Characteristics.

The Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales were devised to be a broad set of psychometrically matched measures with equivalent Spanish and English versions. Study 1 in this report used item response theory methods to refine scales. Results strongly supported psychometric matching across English and Spanish versions and, for most scales, within English and Spanish versions. Study 2 supported in both English and Spanish subsamples the 6-domain model of ability that guided scale construction. Study 3 examined differential item functioning (DIF) of one scale (Object Naming) in relation to education, ethnicity, gender, and age. Effects of DIF on scale-level ability scores were limited. Results demonstrate an empirically guided psychometric approach to test construction for multiethnic and multilingual test applications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth in literacy and cognition in bilingual children at risk or not at risk for reading disabilities.

This study investigated growth in reading, vocabulary, and memory in children (ages 5 to 10) learning English as a second language identified at risk for reading disabilities (RD). A growth curve analysis showed that RD children were significantly below children not at risk in English and Spanish reading, Spanish short-term memory (STM), Spanish comprehension, and English and Spanish working memory (WM). RD children were also inferior on growth measures of English and Spanish WM and Spanish STM. Growth on measures of Spanish vocabulary, reading, STM, and WM accounted for 12% of the variance in predicting growth in English reading. However, only Spanish measures of WM growth contributed unique variance. The results show that growth in WM in the primary language predicts growth in second-language reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Exploratory Look at Students' Experiences of Problematic Peers in Academic Professional Psychology Programs.

This exploratory survey investigated the issue of problematic students/trainees from the perspective of master's and doctoral students in clinical and counseling psychology programs. Findings suggest that students (a) were aware of problematic trainees in their programs; (b) believed faculty were primarily responsible for handling problematic peers, though students were unclear about procedures for handling this issue; (c) expressed greatest concerns about issues involving peers' interpersonal functioning; and (d) responded by gossiping or consulting with other peers, withdrawing, and, less often, confronting a problem peer. Problematic peers impacted respondents' own functioning, relationships with peers, and perceptions of faculty, and they disrupted the learning environment. Study implications and limitations are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A psychometric comparison of the Beck Depression Inventory-II in English and Spanish.

The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) is a widely used measure of depressive symptomatology originally authored in English and then translated to Spanish. However, there are very limited data available on the Spanish translation. This study compared the psychometric characteristics of the BDI-II in Spanish and English in a sample of 895 college students. The instrument was administered twice with a 1-week interval, either in the same language on both occasions or in a different language on each occasion. Results show strong internal consistency and good test-retest reliability in both languages. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the published English-language factor structure showed good fit with data from the Spanish instrument. Among bilingual participants who took the BDI-II in both languages, there was no significant language effect. These data provide initial evidence of comparable reliability and validity between the English and Spanish BDI-II in a nonclinical sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The supervisee experience of group supervision: Implications for research and practice.

Group supervision is commonly employed in graduate psychology training but has received insufficient attention in research. Supervisees' own perceptions and experiences in group supervision can provide valuable information in guiding our understanding and exploration of the benefits and uses of this form of training. This paper reviews 11 empirical studies exploring supervisee perceptions of group supervision experiences. Research, to date, appears to be largely in line with conceptual hypotheses regarding the benefits of group supervision experiences, and implications are discussed with regard to current practice. However, this review also points to the need for more in-depth and advanced research efforts in the area that can further explore supervisee experiences and identify means of optimizing this experience as a component of clinical training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detecting over- and underreporting of psychopathology with the Spanish-language Personality Assessment Inventory: Findings from a simulation study with bilingual speakers.

Existing research on the Spanish-language translation of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; L. C. Morey, 1991) suggests that the validity scales from the English- and Spanish-language versions may not be equivalent measures. In the current study, 72 bilingual participants completed both the English- and Spanish-language versions of the PAI under the instructions to respond honestly, to overreport psychopathology for an insanity case, or to underreport psychopathology for an employment evaluation. Overall, the English- and Spanish-language validity scales performed similarly, and scores from the Negative Impression Management and the Positive Impression Management scales demonstrated the highest levels of equivalence and accuracy for the identification of simulators across language versions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales: Relationship to Demographics, Language, Cognition, and Independent Function.

This study examined the relationship of the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS) to demographic, cultural, and language fluency variables and to measures of cognition and independent functioning. Participants were 367 Hispanics and 160 Caucasians in the 60+ years age range, all living in the community. In Study 1, education and language use had strong influences on SENAS scores and largely explained ethnic group differences in mean scale scores. Age had weak effects on most scales except for verbal memory measures. Acculturation effects in Hispanics were largely accounted for by education and language use. Study 2 showed equivalent sensitivity of SENAS to cognitive and functional status in Hispanics and Caucasians. Results indicate that interpretation of SENAS scores must be informed by effects related to education and language fluency but provide evidence of equivalent validity in Hispanics and Caucasians with respect to concurrent measures of cognition and independent function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Support of graduate students in social psychology by the Office of Naval Research.

A discussion of the secondary function of ONR research projects—the training of scientists. This discussion is in terms of students employed, length of assignment, relation of student thesis to project, publications or reports by the student on project data, degree obtained, and type of work obtained after graduation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of early research experience and research self-efficacy.

Graduate students in psychology typically report that they either love research or hate research. Despite the fact that most doctoral students in psychology enter some type of clinical practice upon graduation, research is a requirement for all students enrolled in scientist-practitioner programs regardless of their career aspirations beyond graduation. Research advances knowledge in the field of psychology and often guides clinical practice, yet very few psychologists conduct research after graduate school (C. J. Gelso, 1993). Efforts have been undertaken to determine factors that contribute to graduate students' research productivity. One such factor may be research self-efficacy. This study examined the influence of early research experience as a factor to bolster research self-efficacy. Results indicated that supportive peers and mentors contributed to positive research experiences. Additionally, positive team research experiences significantly predicted research self-efficacy. Implications for training programs and students are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology graduate students' perceptions of their scientific and practical training: A Canadian perspective.

The scientist-practitioner model is the most commonly used training modality in Canadian clinical psychology graduate programmes. Despite pervasive endorsement throughout Canadian psychology programmes, there is a paucity of data available on Canadian student opinions of the model's implementation. The current study assessed 134 students from 9 provinces with a 38-item questionnaire developed by the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology for assessing students' perceptions about the quantity, quality, and breadth of science training in their clinical psychology doctoral programmes. Most students described their programs as providing a mix of research and clinical focus, with slightly more weight given to research. Science training was reported as very important to students, with indications they receive a good amount of high-quality training in science. Moreover, there was a high level of agreement between desired levels of science training and the science training received. Implications for future research and training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Preparing for graduate study in psychology: 101 questions and answers.

Reviews the book, Preparing for graduate study in psychology: 101 questions and answers by William Buskist and Caroline Burke (2006). The book is broken down into a number of chapters organized in a chronological manner, starting with the fundamentals of what graduate school is like and how to choose a specific program. It then proceeds to more specific pieces of information, including the GRE, details on the application and interview process, and finishes with a timeframe on how to organize one's first year of graduate studies. Each of these chapters is formatted as a series of key questions, followed by detailed answers related to the overall theme of the section. Also included in this edition are very useful appendices that include a glossary of terms, a sample vitae, and letters of intent. The last chapter, entitled "The First Year: Thriving, Surviving and Other Essentials," tackles issues related to how to decide on a graduate mentor, when to choose a thesis committee, switching programs during graduate school, and most intriguingly, how to not "wash out" of the program. The reviewer highly recommends this book as he believes it will almost certainly ease a student's transition from undergraduate to graduate studies in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of Psychological Help Seeking in Clinical and Counseling Psychology Graduate Students.

Psychologists are often called upon to provide supervision, mentorship, and training to graduate student therapists-in-training. In these roles, psychologists may influence whether graduate students enter personal therapy during their training. This study investigated variables (including perceived faculty attitudes about students in personal therapy) that predict psychotherapy help seeking in clinical and counseling psychology graduate students (N = 262). The findings indicated that confidentiality issues, general attitudes about therapy, and perceptions of the importance of personal therapy for professional development were important predictors of graduate student help seeking. The implications for faculty, supervisors, and mentors of therapists-in-training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming psychotherapists: Experiences of novice trainees in a beginning graduate class.

The authors investigated the experiences related to becoming psychotherapists for 5 counseling psychology doctoral trainees in their first prepracticum course. Qualitative analyses of weekly journals indicated that trainees discussed challenges related to becoming psychotherapists (e.g., being self-critical, having troubling reactions to clients, learning to use helping skills), gains made during the semester related to becoming psychotherapists (e.g., using helping skills more effectively, becoming less self-critical, being able to connect with clients), as well as experiences in supervision and activities that helped them cope with their anxieties. Results are discussed in 5 broad areas: feelings about self in role of psychotherapist, awareness of reactions to clients, learning and using helping skills, reactions to supervision, and experiences that fostered growth. Implications for training and research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)