Treatment in corrections: Martinson was right.

Reviews the history of the treatment controversy within the correctional field. R. M. Martinson's (1974) conclusions are critically examined in light of more recent research evidence. It is suggested that although the differential treatment model has shown encouraging results, the small magnitude of the observed treatment effects cannot provide a potent basis for policy formation. Psychologists are encouraged to bring their expertise to bear on the development of more powerful crime-prevention strategies. (French abstract) (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment in corrections: The view from the sceptical middle.

Outlines parallels between developments in psychotherapy research and treatment in correctional settings. It is argued that the current emotionally charged controversy about the effectiveness of treatment of correctional populations stems from the ambiguity of the available data. It is contended that correctional psychologists must conduct sound scientific studies of the efficacy of correctional treatment programs. (French abstract) (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Youth in colleges and in corrections: Institutional influences.

Compared findings concerning characteristics of recently arrived youth and longtimers in colleges and in correctional institutions. In both cases, differences between early and late responses were associated either with initial characteristics of respondents, with institutional characteristics, or with both. Such differences were associated with size (numbers of youths) in each kind of institution, though not necessarily in similar ways nor for similar reasons. Varying combinations of characteristics, rather than single ones, were associated with differences among correctional programs. It seems likely that the sheer fact of coercion, both on entering a correctional institution and thereafter, has much to do with the nature and the degree of peer influence therein. Group processes among correctional inmates may turn out to be quite different from those in voluntary groups, from which most knowledge about such processes has been gleaned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flexible corrections of juror judgments: Implications for jury instructions.

The Flexible Correction Model (FCM, D. T. Wegener & R. E. Petty, 1997; D. T. Wegener, R. E. Petty, & M. Dunn, 1998) conceptualizes efforts at bias correction (i.e., attempts to remove influences that are perceived as illegitimate or unwanted) as guided by people's naive theories (perceptions) of the influences at work in that judgment setting. In this article, the authors present this model, discuss the general support for this model outside of courtroom judgment, and discuss a variety of implications of this model for courtroom judgment in general and for the impact of judges' instructions to juries in particular. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonlinearity of range corrections in meta-analysis: Test of an improved procedure.

Evaluated an improved procedure for range-restriction corrections in meta-analysis. When population correlations were approximately normally distributed, the new nonlinear range correction procedure improved the accuracy of the Schmidt-Hunter (S-H) interactive method in estimating both the mean (Mρ) and standard deviation (SDρ) of population correlations, making it the most accurate of the procedures examined. In the homogeneous case (SDρ?=?0), the nonlinear range correction again improves accuracy of estimates of SDρ. In this important case, Taylor Series Approximation (TSA) 1 is considerably less accurate than the S-H interactive and the TSA 2 procedures, and the N. S. Raju et al (see record 1991-26294-001) procedure yields the least accurate estimates of SDρ. Finally, it was found that the nonlinear range-correction procedure produces improvements in the accuracy of the interactive method even under extreme violations of the normality assumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The way it was: Remembering David Shakow.

Comments on the obituary for David Shakow (see record 2005-08120-013) and further eulogizes him for his dedication and accomplishments. The author focuses primarily on the twelve years during which Shakow worked at the Worcester State Hospital (WSH). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scientist-practitioner model: Gandhi was right again.

Examines the adoption of and the ideas behind the scientist-practitioner model from the Boulder Conference. The author discusses the implementation of scientist-practitioner training programs and graduate student reaction to it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's personality in middle age: Gender, history, and midcourse corrections.

This article examines several key features of the course of adult development in the cohort of women born during the baby boom. By focusing on the women in this group and comparing their experience with that of older cohorts and research on men, the authors demonstrate the need for models of aging that take account of the intersections of history, gender, and individual development. Concepts proposed as universal features of middle age (midlife crisis, generativity, aging), as well as those proposed as specific to women (empty nest, menopause) are examined. Perhaps most important, certain features not commonly viewed as particularly important in women's middle aging (midlife review, identity, confident power) are shown to be central. The need for further research examining these same processes among men and different groups of women is underscored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Close-call counterfactuals and belief-system defenses: I was not almost wrong but I was almost right.

Drawing on samples of professional observers of world politics, this article explores the interrelations among cognitive style, theoretical outlook, and reactions to close-call counterfactuals. Study 1 demonstrated that experts (especially high scorers on a composite measure of need for closure and simplicity) rejected close-call counterfactuals that redirected history when these counterfactuals undermined a preferred framework for understanding the past (the "I-was-not-almost-wrong" defense). Study 2 demonstrated that experts (especially high scorers on need for closure and simplicity) embraced close-call counterfactuals that redirected history when these counterfactuals protected conditional forecasts from refutation (the predicted outcome nearly occurred—so "I was almost right"). The article concludes by considering the radically different normative value spins that can be placed on willingness to entertain close-call counterfactuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The construct validity of interview-based risk assessment in corrections.

The convergent and discriminant validity of selected subtotals of the 1st author's (1983) Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI), which is intended to predict criminal recidivism, were examined in relation to 26 paper-and-pencil self-report measures of similar areas of concern. In 192 probationers (16–25 yrs old), moderate but statistically significant convergent validity estimates were found that exceeded relevant discriminant estimates. The LSI total score was the single strongest predictor of recidivism. It is concluded that the quantification of social history information according to the risk principle of case classification is promising in community corrections. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A balanced approach for corrections policy needed.

Comments on the article by C. Haney and P. Zimbardo (see record 1998-04417-001) regarding prison policy. The present authors applaud Haney and Zimbardo's call for more involvement by psychologists in correctional policy formation and execution, but argue that the original article suffers from politicization and suggests and ideological freighting inappropriate to the advance of psychological science. The authors believe that Haney and Zimbardo fail to acknowledge that recent conservative developments were a response to liberal sentencing and parole polities and a widely held belief among citizens that the rights of victims of violent crime were not being given appropriate consideration against the right of those convicted of such offenses. The authors discuss this issue in relation to sentencing and correction measures. The authors conclude that the scientific community needs to be dedicated to preventing perceptions of political, partisan, or ideological bias in order to enhance the effectiveness of the scientific enterprise in achieving positive legislative and social change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cancer pain management: corrections and comments

Five women after precocious menopause and 1 patient with primary ovarian failure showed a simultaneous elevation of plasma gonadotropin and prolactin. The hypersecretion of plasma prolactin was still present 6 months after ovarian failure. After 12-18 months of observation while FSH and LH concentration remained elevated, prolactin concentrations normalized in 5 women and decreased in 1.     

Social desirability corrections in personality measurement: Issues of applicant comparison and construct validity.

Research investigating the validity of personality measures has established these measures as useful selection tools. However, personality measures are vulnerable to response distortion leading to employer concerns about the influence of applicant faking, with specific concerns about the influence of social desirability. A traditional method used to circumvent this is the application of a correction based on a social desirability scale score. This study sought to evaluate whether such corrections are effective tools for removing the influence of intentional distortion. A within-subjects design facilitated comparisons between honest, faked, and corrected scores. The goal was to evaluate whether a social desirability correction allows one to approximate an individual's honest score. The results suggest that a social desirability correction is ineffective and fails to produce a corrected score that approximates an honest score. Results are interpreted with respect to applicant comparison and construct validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corrections for range restriction: An empirical investigation of conditions resulting in conservative corrections.

Analyzed the findings of over 700 criterion-related validity studies concerning (a) the relationship between the magnitude of the standard deviation (SD) of the predictor and the magnitude of the predictive validity, (b) the effect of corrections for range restriction, assuming explicit selection was based solely on the single predictor, and (c) the effect of corrections for range restriction, assuming selection was based on an unknown 3rd variable that had plausible correlations with the predictor and the criterion. As expected, a strong positive relationship was found in (a). Assumption of explicit selection, as in (b), reduced but did not eliminate the positive relationship between the SD and the corrected predictive validity. This relationship was reduced by corrections, as in (c). It is concluded that the usual correction for range restriction is better than the uncorrected coefficient but is still apt to provide a conservative estimate. More frequent use of corrections is encouraged. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It was meant to happen: Explaining cultural variations in fate attributions.

People often perceive important and improbable life outcomes as “meant to happen,” that is, predetermined and inevitable. In 4 studies, we constructed diverse measures of such fate attributions and examined the cultural correlates of this attributional tendency, focusing on ethnic culture and religious affiliation differences. Independently of ethnic culture, Christians were found to endorse fate attributions more than did the nonreligious; and independently of religious affiliation, East Asian Canadians attributed events to fate more than did European Canadians. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the religious affiliation difference was mediated by belief in God, whereas the ethnic cultural difference was mediated by a measure of causal complexity, although not by a measure of acculturation. Experimentally inducing thoughts of causal complexity in one domain increased fate attributions in unrelated domains. These results point to 2 independent psychological sources of fate attributions which also explain observed cultural differences in this tendency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)