Understanding immigrant families from around the world: Introduction to the special issue.

Investigations of immigrant families enable researchers to trace family processes and children’s psychological adjustment in the presence of trenchant sociocultural change, cultural conflict, family dislocation, and the need for readjustment to new social environments. This special issue of 15 articles presents psychosocial research on immigrant families and children residing in Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States. The articles focus on the psychosocial adaptation of immigrant families, parenting practices and their implications for child outcomes, and the importance of parent–adolescent relationships for adolescent mental health. Most of the articles are based on quantitative research methodologies. It is concluded that research on immigrant families is well suited to advance knowledge about the mutual dependence of dynamic sociocultural and family processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue.

Rudolf Arnheim was born July 15, 1904, and he has maintained contact with colleagues past his centenary year. A symposium, "Honoring Rudolf Arnheim at 100: Creating Psychology and the Arts," was held at the 113th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Washington, DC, on August 20, 2005, and he sent along a welcoming note (see Figure 1). Presenters included Claire Golomb, John Kennedy, Ellen Winner, and myself, with our current Division 10 president, Lauren Seifert, serving as moderator and discussant. At the end of the session, Michael Wertheimer offered reminiscences about his relations with Rudolf Arnheim, and his written reflections appear as the first contribution in this issue of the journal (Wertheimer, 2007). Ian Verstegen (2007) has also contributed an article based on his book Arnheim, Gestalt and Art: A Psychological Theory (Verstegen, 2005). A collection of these articles are presented in this issue of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue.

This article introduces this special issue of the American Psychologist. The topics in this section concern the physical and mental health of children, and how social policies affect their development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue.

Provides an introduction to the special issue of the American Psychologist, which is one of several publications prepared for the celebration of the centenary of the American Psychological Association (APA). The 25 invited articles in this special issue constitute a unique collection portraying the founding and development of the "new" psychology in America. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of APA, this special issue showcases the work of many of the leading scholars writing in the history of psychology today—individuals trained in psychology and history. There is great diversity in this collection of articles that tells the story of American psychologists involved in the advancement of psychology as a science, a profession, and a means of promoting human welfare. The author concludes by briefly describing the founding of history as a specialty area within the discipline of psychology by Robert Watson, and this special issue is dedicated to his memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue.

Introduces a special issue of American Psychologist in honor of the International Year of the Child. Themes of the issue include the necessity of studying children's behavior in context, the embeddedness of psychology in social-cultural-historical context, the importance of developmental changes across childhood, and the interplay of knowledge and application. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to special issue.

The purpose of this Special Issue of Canadian Psychology is to celebrate the significant role the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists has played since its first adoption by the Canadian Psychological Association in 1986, 25 years ago. Twelve articles, two in French, are included. The articles describe the process of the Code's continuing evolution, its applicability in the different legal framework of Quebec, investigations into the Code, and its application to old and new ethical issues related to research, teaching, and practice (e.g., the development of research ethics in Canada, the use of vignettes in ethics teaching, mandatory self-disclosure by students, rural psychology, the use of technology, and humanitarian work). The final article provides a series of commentaries by psychologists from other countries regarding the Code and its international impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to special issue.

This article serves as a brief introduction to this special issue of the Review of General Psychology. The editor of this Special Issue and the authors presented put forth ideas and data on how we may better understand the people who make and interpret science. They hope that their work will serve to establish the "psychology of science" as a recognizable and useful field of study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to special issue.

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of two powerful, and seemingly contradictory, visions of what most fundamentally causes change in psychotherapy. One of these visions emphasizes the primacy of therapist technique. According to this viewpoint, it is the specific methods used by the psychotherapist that account for, by far, most of the variance in treatment outcome. This viewpoint is seen most notably in what have been termed the empirically supported treatments (EST) and evidence-based practices (EBP) movements. The second vision instead focuses on the patient-therapist relationship and so-called therapist-offered relationship qualities as the sine qua non of therapeutic effectiveness. Advocates of this viewpoint underscore research on the importance of relational qualities such as the therapeutic working alliance (or cohesion in groups) and therapist-offered conditions. While acknowledging the value of both visions noted above, this special issue of Psychotherapy is based on the notion that what matters most in psychotherapeutic treatments is the interplay of the two, of techniques and the therapeutic relationship. Technical factors and relational factors are indelible elements in each and every psychotherapy encounter, and the articles in this special issue explore and seek to uncover why this is so. The articles, in addition, seek to describe the complex ways in which technique and relationship interact with one another in different treatments, at different points in treatment, and in conjunction with still other variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to this special issue.

In this introduction to the special issue, the former president of the American Psychological Association describes some of the work he did during his presidency regarding aging and working with older adults. He introduces the present special issue of Psychotherapy which includes a number of submissions dealing with treatment, intervention, assessment, policy issues, and research in the field of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue on skill.

The special issue on Skill is intended to capture some of the excitement generated by the renewed interest in understanding skilled performance. It is not intended to jump uncritically on the bandwagon of ecological validity, although there is considerable merit in examining complex tasks that bear a strong resemblance to those that people engage in outside the laboratory. The contributors to this issue have all seen fit to explore various aspects of skilled performance. Despite their adoption of very different theoretical approaches, the contributors all address the common theme of skill. Questions of skill are intrinsically questions of individual differences. How can we best explain why some people are highly skilled at a particular activity, whereas others are not? How do people acquire skill? Lurking not far below the surface are questions of nature versus nurture. Thus, it is interesting to read Ericsson's argument that mnemonists are not unusual people, in the sense that the principles of memory that apply to nonskilled individuals hold too for the performance of such experts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue: Psychology and AIDS.

From its beginnings in 1981, psychologists have been involved in worldwide efforts to meet the many challenges of the AIDS health crisis. As researchers and practitioners, as consultants and policy advisors, as educators and evaluators, and as activists and concerned members of the community--we psychologists have responded in many ways. We have attempted a broad perspective in approaching this special issue. We wanted coverage of the science, the practice, and the social issues that AIDS has brought into focus for psychology. Any attempt to cover all the issues is doomed to failure, however. The science changes too quickly, and the disease is spreading too rapidly, for any group of journal articles to ever claim currency and comprehensiveness. The issue has been divided into six major sections, each with an introduction. We begin with articles that overview the roles of psychology in the AIDS health crisis as seen in our own profession, and from various levels of science, health care, and legislative and government action. Then we present articles reviewing some of the primary issues AIDS commands us to examine: public health, antibody testing, AIDS and the communities of Black and Hispanic men, IV drug abuse, sexual behavior change, stigma, and psychoneuroimmunology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical and translational research: Introduction to the special issue.

This special issue represents an effort by the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology to emphasize its interdisciplinary mission by encouraging the writing of articles on clinical research and the interchange between basic and clinical research on mental illness and the addictions. This special issue opens with a commentary from A. I. Leshner (2002), retired director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which emphasizes the importance of translating research findings into clinical practice. Four review articles and 12 original research reports provide a broad sampling of contemporary clinical research, including behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy, psychiatric comorbidity, and special populations, and also illustrate linkages between clinical research and basic fields of inquiry, including behavioral theory, neuropsychology, neuropharmacology, and statistics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Celebrating the decade of behavior: Introduction to special issue.

This special issue represents a joint effort by the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology and the American Psychological Association's Division of Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse to celebrate the "Decade of Behavior: 2000–2100" initiative. The Decade of Behavior initiative seeks to underscore the importance of behavioral science to broadening understanding and offering solutions to many of society's most challenging problems. Contained in this special issue are commentaries by 3 Institute directors from the National Institutes of Health, 4 excellent critical reviews of various aspects of contemporary psychopharmacology research, and a series of 9 excellent original research reports. This series of articles bodes well for the health of psychopharmacology and substance abuse research and offers a fitting salute to this important initiative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue on long-term care.

There are over 1.3 million American residents in long-term care (LTC) facilities of one type or another. We have a considerably greater number of patients in LTC facilities than in general hospitals. Because of the projections that in the next several decades millions more will become residents of LTC institutions, it is remarkable that so little attention has been directed to the psychological issues that involve elderly residents in these settings. In recognition of the variety of recent changes in the relationship between acute care settings and LTC institutions, because of an emerging body of research being developed about the nursing home, and in view of the large number and projected growth of the LTC institutional population, our focus in this special issue is largely upon the institutional setting. Individual articles in this issue focus upon aspects of a range of subjects. These include broad issues of health policy in the United States as they relate to LTC; the future of nursing homes; staff-patient relationships in LTC institutions; and the clinical and social-psychological issues that must be addressed by rehabilitation psychology in LTC settings. The hope is that this issue of Rehabilitation Psychology will stimulate greater interest among psychologists and allied professionals in the field of LTC and in addressing the needs of the millions of persons who could profit from help. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue on video games.

Video games are fast becoming one of the most popular media of choice among children and young adults. They are one of the newest media forms to find themselves under scientific scrutiny. To date, much of the attention has been negative, focusing on potential harm related to addiction, aggression, and lowered school performance. Scientists increasingly are examining the potential to use this immensely popular media for positive purposes, in education, in health, for students with disabilities, and to foster visuospatial cognition. This special issue concerns itself mainly with these issues: refocusing the discussion of video games away from fears that may have been exaggerated in the past, to examining whether video games may be put to some good use or are just games in the end. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue on program evaluation.

It is argued that psychologists, through activities related to program evaluation, can make contributions to at least four pressing issues: participation in and formulation of public policy regarding rehabilitation; clarification of the nature and scope of rehabilitation itself; practice of theory-driven evaluation; and the cumulation of knowledge through meta-analytic methods. Papers in the Special Issue are briefly introduced and described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue on animal memory.

The papers in this Special Issue represent a sample of the types of issues and questions being addressed in the area of animal memory. Two general categories of empirical studies and theoretical treatments are typically classified under the animal memory heading. The first category, rather obviously, is comprised of contributions concerned with the theoretical and empirical analysis of animal memory per se. Contributions of this type typically concern the specification of the mechanisms and processes responsible for retention and forgetting. The second category comprising the area of animal memory are contributions in which processes of memory are invoked in the analysis of some phenomenon which is at least potentially analyzable without such constructs. The twelve papers collected here can be divided approximately equally between these two categories. Falling into the first category are studies of spatial memory (Wilkie), memory for visual stimuli (Grant; Roberts & Kraemer; Santi), memory for auditory stimuli (D'Amato & Salmon), the role of expectancies as mediators of short-term retention (Honig, Matheson, & Dodd), and the nature of memory expression (Spear). The remaining papers consider the role of processes of memory in other phenomena: foraging behaviour (Sherry), sequence learning (Weisman, Gibson, & Rochford), auditory discrimination learning (D'Amato & Salmon), performance on reinforcement schedules (Shimp), the learning of ill-defined categories (Medin & Dewey), and place navigation (Sutherland & Dyck). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to special issue: Emotion and decision making.

It is a perennial debate in the social sciences: Are emotions the bane of optimal behavior, or do emotions contribute invaluably to the process of decision making to improve human outcomes? The debate continues, in part because both sides can point to rigorous data and important theories that support their claims. The articles in this special issue advance both sides of that debate and, in doing so, help point the way toward a more integrative solution. The papers in this special issue approach the topics of emotion and decision making as a set, with an eye toward integrating the role of emotion in decision making or the emotional consequences of decision making. The papers in this special issue not only introduce readers to core concepts essential to choice and emotion, but also develop sophisticated integrative models. These models promise to advance the fields of psychology, marketing, and economics toward a joint science involving the complex interplay between emotions and decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)