From genius inverts to gendered intelligence: Lewis Terman and the power of the norm.

The histories of "intelligence" and "sexuality" have largely been narrated separately. In Lewis Terman's work on individual differences, they intersect. Influenced by G. Stanley Hall, Terman initially described atypically accelerated development as problematic. Borrowing from Galton, Terman later positioned gifted children as nonaverage but ideal. Attention to the gifted effeminate subjects used to exemplify giftedness and gender nonconformity in Terman's work shows the selective instantiation of nonaverageness as pathological a propos of effeminacy, and as ideal a propos of high intelligence. Throughout, high intelligence is conflated with health, masculinity, and heterosexuality. Terman's research located marital sexual problems in women's bodies, further undoing possibilities for evaluating heterosexual men's practices as different from a normative position. Terman's research modernized Galton's imperialist vision of a society led by a male cognitive elite. Psychologists continue to traffic in his logic that values and inculcates intelligence only in the service of sexual and gender conformity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Professional psychology in transition.

Reviews the book, Professional psychology in transition by Herbert D?rkin and Associates (see record 1986-97926-000). This edited volume is a must for at least two groups of psychologists in Canada: (1) those interested in expanding and strengthening their share of the psychological services market; and (2) those interested in the development of psychology as a profession. The book contains three sections. The first, entitled "Trends in the Profession," documents the nature, scope, and influence of psychology's 45,000 licensed psychologists in the US. Sections 2 and 3 move us closer to the Canadian experience. Section 2 focuses on training and practice issues, and should be read by all those who train professional psychologists. Section 3 deals with economics and competition and presents us with some intriguing glimpses of our future. The book is highly recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological testing.

Reviews "Psychological testing," by Anne Anastasi (see record 1954-15003-000). Anastasi's book is scholarly, thoughtful, and thorough. Its coverage is broad, yet there has necessarily been selection. The selection has been generally good and the emphases well placed. As an example of textbook organization and writing, this volume may well serve as a model. In spite of good writing, however, the reading will not be found easy except by the better students. The author seems to be right at home when discussing such disparate subjects as factor analysis and projective techniques; measures of artistic aptitude and situational tests; infant tests and measures of deterioration. The author brings into high relief the great amount of floundering that has occurred in connection with attempts to measure deterioration, with projective techniques, and with situational tests. Like most authors who write about tests, she thinks of them entirely as measures of individual differences. It is time that we broaden this conception and recognize that "occasional differences" are also measured by means of tests and that the experimental psychologist is perpetually using tests for this purpose. In only one important place does the author seem uncritical: when she accepts the "projective line" that projective tests take the "global approach." A debatable point, which Anastasi recognizes, is the false dichotomy that has persisted between aptitude tests and personality tests. Surely an individual's abilities are a part of his personality. Overall, it is difficult to find flaws in this book, technical or otherwise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Consistency in Social Behavior: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 2).

Reviews the book, Consistency in Social Behavior: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 2), edited by Mark P. Zanna, E. Tory Higgins, and C. Peter Herman (1982). The volume has two major foci: the consistency of the individual's behaviour in different situations, and the consistency between people's attitudes and their behaviour. These issues have been classic concerns, respectively, of personality and social psychologists. Once upon a time, we as psychologists naively assumed the existence of both forms of consistency. But in the last two decades our faith has been shaken. For the most part, the participants in the Second Ontario Symposium help to restore our faith. But, in doing so, they provide a more sophisticated, qualified view of consistency. In conclusion, this set of papers is a record of, and a testimonial to, the success of the Second Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology. It is the present reviewer's hope that this biannual event will be continued in the years ahead. Clearly, the Second Symposium was worth the effort involved! (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Personality through perception.

Reviews the book, Personality through perception by H. A. Witkin, H. B. Lewis, M. Hertzman, K. Machover, P. B. Meisnner, and S. Wapner (1954). Some years ago the senior author conducted a series of experiments which revealed rather substantial variability in the capacity of subjects to detect experimentally induced deviations from their own vertical position and in that of their visual field. The studies reported in the present volume comprise an extensive and painstaking investigation of this observation and of its implications. Personality through Perception is, in short, an exploration of individual differences in the recognition of which way is up. The reviewer states that it is a substantial if uneven book. There appear in sequence an exceptionally sanguine and approbative introduction by Gardner Murphy ("...I believe that the work...signalizes a new step toward the maturity of American Psychology"), a brief preface by Witkin, 22 chapters of text, three appendixes, a heavily psychoanalytic and Gestalt bibliography of 101 entries, and an exceptionally serviceable index. The body of the report includes 20 figures and 106 tables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A theory of psychological scaling.

Reviews the book, "A theory of psychological scaling," by C. H. Coombs (see record 1953-03879-001). The reviewer notes that this book is packed from cover to cover with non-superfluous material. It is to the author's credit that he has said so much in so short a space; nevertheless, persons lacking expertness in scaling theory will not digest the contents properly. On the other hand, scaling theorists will accept this tidbit as a juicy morsel and will soon be looking for more. The author openly states that the presented theory is not in final form. By implication, it is his hope that this publication will initiate interest resulting in a wider range of development for the theory in both its abstract and real aspects. To this end, the monograph represents a good start. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Individuality in Pain and Suffering.

Reviews the book, Individuality in Pain and Suffering by Asenath Petrie (see record 1968-13362-000). One might expect from the title of this book that the author was going to supply the reader with new insights, or new theories, or new findings, or new ways of looking at the problems of pain and suffering. Instead it became increasingly obvious to the reviewer that the author is merely supplying us with new words for talking about the way people react to painful stimuli. Petrie's book is little involved (except for the reader) in pain and suffering. Her discussion of pain would probably require less than ten pages altogether. What the author appears to have done is written a book advocating her particular personality theory and reviewing all of the research that has been done relevant to that theory. This reviewer feels that, as far as any contribution to the literature on pain and suffering is concerned, the signal to noise ratio of this book does not match the price to usefulness ratio. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The uncertain mind: Individual differences in facing the unknown.

Reviews the book, The uncertain mind: Individual differences in facing the unknown by Richard M. Sorrentino and Christopher J. R. Roney (see record 2000-07377-000). The book under review is located within an important intellectual tradition in psychology, one that speaks to something about human nature. Sorrentino and Roney approach this topic through the study of individual differences in whether people seek out certainty or uncertainty in their lives. While some of us find meaning in terms of the familiar and predictable, others search for meaning in the novel uncertainties of life. This scholarly monograph describes a 15-year program of research, theoretically grounded in both earlier paradigms (e.g., Atkinson's motivational model) and contemporary social cognition. This monograph merits attention by researchers and students interested in social cognition, individual differences, and societal change. The writing is technical, and one would wish for chapter summaries. However, the book is clearly written, well-organized and at times thought-provoking; it is well worth the effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Understanding psychological research: An introduction to methods.

Reviews the book, Understanding psychological research: An introduction to methods by Richard St. Jean (2001). Richard St. Jean's book has the stated goal to be a brief text that presents essential concepts in a concise but interesting format. In this the author succeeds admirably. The nine short chapters and three appendices present the basic content that any method course needs to cover. The chapters are centred around lively research examples, often from the author's own work. Each chapter is followed by a brief summary and a glossary of key terms. The examples are used to introduce the methodological question and to illustrate various solutions. If the book suffers from a drawback, it is that it is too good at what it wants to be: an easily accessible, succinct introduction. The author visibly aims to make the issues as clear and understandable as possible, even if this implies glossing over details and leaving out more difficult aspects. The book does not want to be, nor is it, a manual for people who actual want to do research. In sum, this book will be most useful for those who teach introductory methods courses aimed at students who want to "consume" research rather than pursue it themselves. For these students, the book will be a valuable resource to better understand pertinent issues and to be alert towards methodological problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological Diagnosis In Clinical Practice.

Reviews the book, Psychological Diagnosis In Clinical Practice by Benjamin Pope and Winfield H. Scott (1967). The aim of this book according to the authors, is to demonstrate how the clinical psychologist transforms data obtained from tests into diagnostic formulations. They address the book to a wide audience including student psychologists, teachers, social workers, nurses, counselors, and lawyers. While one might like to see such interest, it is difficult to imagine student nurses ploughing through the intricacies of interpreting Card 4 of the Rorschach. Likewise, while one might feel that law students ought to have a smattering of psychology behind them before being turned loose on the public, it is doubtful if this book provides the best source. While the theoretical portion of this book brings together in a useful fashion some of the more recent findings in the psychometric area, there is very little evidence that the authors have permitted this information to affect their actual practice in the clinical situation. Their approach to diagnostic problems appears virtually unchanged from that which was being advocated a quarter of a century ago. As such they sire unwittingly likely to realize the dual aims of discouraging the "better" more critical student from taking clinical psychology seriously, while at the same time providing further ammunition for those individuals within the discipline who are critical of diagnostic testing in general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of important psychological books.

80 of 100 psychologists who possessed PhDs and were staff members of colleges or universities were randomly selected from the "American Psychological Association 1958 Directory." In order, the highest rated authors were: Freud, James, Hull, Pavlov, Watson, Boring, Skinner, Thorndike, Woodworth, Tolman, Kohler, Lewin, Darwin, Ebbinghaus, Koffka, and Wundt. Books rated with the largest number of points include: James' "Principles of Psychology"; Hull, "Principles of Behavior"; Pavlov, "Conditioned Reflexes"; Freud, "Interpretation of Dreams"; Boring, "History of Experimental Psychology"; and Watson, "Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2AI92W. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A World of Difference: Gender Roles in Perspective.

Reviews the book, A World of Difference: Gender Roles in Perspective by Esther R. Greenglass (1982). In A World of Difference, Esther Greenglass has given us an excellent social-psychological perspective on sex, gender, and sex-role differences. Greenglass clearly analyses current research on these topics with the perspective of the culture in which gender-based behaviour occurs. Equally important, however, is the discussion of the social and cultural context of the research itself. Aside from this important and useful discussion of the research in its social context, there is a very thorough review of contemporary issues relating to gender roles. This is a very readable book for students. The collection of pictures and cartoons depicting contemporary male and female roles illustrates the issues while showing their humorous side. Throughout the book, there are examples of Canadian data and Canadian research which will make the book particularly appealing to those who find that U.S. texts are too chauvinistic about the American experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Personality through perception.

Reviews the book "Personality through perception," by H. Witkin, H. B. Lewis, M. Hertzman, K. Machover, P. B. Meissner, & S. Wapner (see record 1954-08566-000). The promise held out in the title of this book has not been fulfilled. If the study of perception is, indeed, the royal road to the understanding of personality, this road is still beset with many dangers for the unwary or overenthusiastic investigator: analysis by metaphor, far-fetched analogies, circular reasoning, ad hoc and post hoc arguments. In a peculiarly negative sense, this book makes an important contribution: it brings out in bold relief the methodological and theoretical weaknesses of the intemperate "clinicizing" of behavior. The evidence offered by the authors is doubtful and the logic of inference is often faulty and forced. The major purpose of the book is to relate individual differences in perceptual functioning to significant dimensions of personality. The basic research hypothesis is that variations in the mode of perception are related to central traits of personality. The perceptual responses of the individual reflect these central traits just as does his behavior in other situations. The perceptual function chosen for investigation is space orientation, as measured by the perception of the upright. The final conclusions concerning the relationship between perceptual performance and personality are these. Those who depend primarily on the visual field "tend to be characterized by passivity in dealing with the environment; by unfamiliarity with and fear of their own impulses, together with poor control over them; by lack of self-esteem; and by the possession of a relatively primitive undifferentiated body image" (p. 469). So-called analytic perceivers are characterized by the opposites of these traits. And women show a high degree of dependence on the visual field because both their anatomy and the culture in which they live prescribe a passive dependent role for them! As we have tried to show, the conclusions are not warranted by the evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Motivational interviewing in the treatment of psychological problems.

Reviews the book, Motivational interviewing in the treatment of psychological problems by Hal Arkowitz, Henny A. Westra, William R. Miller, and Stephen Rollnick (2007). The purpose of this book is to describe applications of motivational interviewing (MI) to the treatment of a variety of psychological disorders. This excellent book, edited by the originators of MI (Miller and Rollnick) along with two highly regarded scientist-practitioners (Arkowitz and Westra), begins with an introduction to the spirit and techniques of MI and provides an overview of the ways in which MI has been applied in clinical practise. The main portion of the book consists of 11 chapters written by foremost MI experts describing the use of MI in their research and clinical work treating anxiety disorders, depression, pathological gambling, eating disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, as well as the use of MI in the corrections system and with suicidal and dually diagnosed patients. Each chapter is similarly organised and offers a brief overview of the clinical population and treatment as usual, a rationale for using MI in treatment, a summary of available research regarding the use of MI in the population, and detailed examples of clinical applications of MI to treatment, including problems and suggested solutions. The chapters are well written and informative, with many offering vivid clinical examples. It is difficult to identify any significant weaknesses. There is some redundancy throughout the text, particularly with regard to the general spirit, principles, and techniques of MI. This is likely intentional and meant to reiterate important points; it also nicely allows each chapter to stand alone. In sum, this terrific book provides a highly readable and informative account of the application of MI to the treatment of psychological problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research.

Reviews the book, Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research by Kurt Danziger (1990). Kurt Danziger's Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research is a book of singular importance because it provides such a penetrating analysis, and does so in a manner that is cause for considerable reflection. In brief, Danziger provides a history lesson that not only situates the names and the projects of experimental psychology in the first part of this century, but also aims to clarify the project of knowledge generation both past and present. Indeed, shades of Quine, Kuhn, and Hesse permeate this book in a way that demands psychologists examine their own investigative practices and logics of justification. Through Wundt, through Galton, through Ebbinghaus and others, Danziger illuminates the development of experimental psychology along with the historical and philosophical vicissitudes that have given rise to numerous psychological knowledge claims. If it is true that we must understand our history in order to understand our present, then Danziger's book should be required reading in all research laboratories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychological value systems of psychologists.

A scale based on historically important psychologists and their contributions was marked by 125 Fellows of the APA. The names represented 9 a priori scales of values. Factor analysis produced 3 bipolar factors: laboratory vs. clinic, psychometric vs. verbal approach to individual, and methodological analysis vs. professional service. Value scores are given for members of the APA divisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Annual Review of Psychology Vols. 5 & 6.

Reviews the fifth and sixth volumes of the book "Annual Review of Psychology," edited by Calvin P. Stone, and Quinn McNemar (1954, 1955). Where the topic itself provides the organization, as for instance in the chapters on the special senses, the factual approach works admirably, and the relevance of the data presented is established by a fairly well-articulated context. Looking back over this review it seems that too much time has been spent trying to tell a body of able and energetic psychologists how to do better what they are already doing extremely well. The Annual Review fulfills an indispensable function in the psychological world, and the 1955 volume worthily continues a short but honorable tradition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child and adolescent psychological assessment: Current clinical practices and the impact of managed care.

Which psychological testing measures are clinical child and adolescent psychologists most commonly using? How has managed care influenced the practice of assessment for these professionals? This study provides survey data from 162 child practitioners employed in independent practice and in hospital, outpatient, and school-based settings throughout the United States. The results demonstrate marked consistency with recent surveys of clinicians working with adults, and a list of the 30 most frequently utilized measures is provided. Over 40% of the sample reported significant limitations in psychological testing due to managed-care policies. Strategies for maintaining an assessment practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)