Library faculty role in problem-based learning: facilitating small groups

Since 1986, the library faculty of the McGoogan Library of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) has participated in small group activities during the week-long orientation for first-year medical students. This involvement paved the way for library faculty members to act as facilitators for small groups of medical students within the new problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum introduced in 1992 by the College of Medicine. The UNMC curriculum consists of traditional PBL groups as well as Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) small groups. The ICE groups provide opportunities for discussion of the social and behavioral issues that arise in medicine, with the majority of the sessions designed to give students interviewing practice with simulated patients. The ICE small groups meet once a week with either one or two facilitators. Several library faculty members act as facilitators for ICE groups. As a result of this involvement, librarian contacts with College of Medicine faculty have grown in number and depth, there has been a corresponding increase in related activities with the first- and second-year medical students. Participation in ICE groups has caused some difficulties with respect to library work schedules, but it has been immensely rewarding and enriching in terms of professional growth. This paper describes the UNMC curriculum, the evolution and extent of the librarians' involvement, and the future involvement, ramifications, and challenges envisioned for McGoogan faculty and their medical library colleagues.     

Reference groups, membership groups, and attitude change.

"The present study is an examination of the attitude changes which occur over time when reference groups and membership groups are identical and when they are disparate… . The Ss were women students at a large private coeducational university… . In the social context of the lives of the subjects, and in a natural social experiment which provided randomization of the relevant condition effects, the influence of both membership and reference groups on attitude change was assessed. All subjects shared a common reference group at the start of the period of the study. When divergent membership groups with disparate attitude norms were socially imposed on the basis of a random event, attitude change in the subjects over time was a function of the normative attitudes of both imposed membership groups and the individuals' reference groups. The greatest attitude change occurred in subjects who came to take the imposed initially nonpreferred, membership group as their reference group." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What clients find helpful in psychotherapy: Developing principles for facilitating moment-to-moment change.

Clients who had completed psychotherapy were interviewed about the significant experiences and moments they recalled within their sessions. These interviews were analyzed using grounded theory, creating a hierarchy of categories that represent what clients find important in therapy. From the hermeneutic analysis of the content of these categories, a list of principles was constructed to guide the moment-to-moment process of psychotherapy practice. The authors respond to the call for qualitative outcome studies and demonstrate how qualitative psychotherapy research can lead to empirically derived principles that then can become the foundation of future research and psychotherapy integration efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acted versus natural models for performance-oriented behavior change in task groups.

Explored the relative effects of "acted" and "natural" social models upon the behaviors of members of problem-solving groups. 68 undergraduate judges identified major differences between model group behaviors. A pretest-posttest control group experimental design was used to examine the behavioral effects of modeling for 72 undergraduates; these effects were measured using a behavioral coding technique developed by L. R. Hoffman and N. R. Maier (1964). Findings show that "acted" models were more effective in promoting behavior changes than were "natural" models. Implications and possible applications of the research findings are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy for diagnostically heterogeneous groups: A benchmarking study.

Researchers have recently suggested that the commonalities across the emotional disorders outweigh the differences, and thus similar treatment principles could be applied in unified interventions. In this study, the authors used a benchmarking strategy to investigate the transportability of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and depression to mixed-diagnosis groups. Patients (N = 143) attended 10 2-hour sessions of group CBT plus a 1-month follow-up. Changes in anxiety and depression were indexed by effect sizes, reliable change, and clinically significant change and then benchmarked to previous efficacy and effectiveness studies. Symptoms of depression and anxiety significantly improved, and mixed-diagnosis groups compared favorably with diagnosis-specific CBT, suggesting that unified treatments are an effective, efficient, and practical method of treatment delivery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality change in drug abusers: A comparison of therapeutic community and prison groups.

Compared test measured changes (MMPI, the Sensation-Seeking Scale, Eysenck's Personality Inventory, and the Personal Orientation Inventory) in 59 male drug abusers treated in a therapeutic community (TC) with the changes in 37 untreated male drug abusers spending the equivalent time in prison. The treated (TC) group decreased more than the controls on MMPI measures of general psychopathology, but measures of impulse disorder (Psychopathic Deviate and Hypomania scales) remained elevated in the TC group. The TC group also showed a greater decrease in sensation seeking and greater increases in self-actualization and extraversion tendencies. Results show very little change in drug abusers confined in prison relative to the marked changes in those treated in a TC. Whereas the TC treatment did affect neurotic-like and psychotic-like tendencies, it did not markedly affect the psychopathic traits of many drug abusers. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interfering and facilitating effects of test anxiety.

Performance on a conceptual task (embedded figures) varying in difficulty was related to levels of anxiety and intelligence. "The results… were interpreted as supporting the thesis that the effect of anxiety on performance, whether facilitating or interfering, is mediated primarily by defensive reactions to the anxiety… . [and] that the differential effects of anxiety upon performance may vary systematically depending upon both intelligence level and type of task and instructions." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Describing and facilitating effective supervision behavior in counseling trainees.

Counseling trainees often do not receive formal assistance in assuming the role of supervisee. What constitutes effective trainee behavior within the context of supervision, as opposed to the clinical context, also has received little empirical attention. A national sample of 176 participants (145 supervisees, 31 supervisors) affiliated with counseling psychology or counseling center internship programs rated the importance of 52 behaviors/characteristics (Supervision Utilization Rating Form; SURF) to the effective use of supervision at specific developmental training levels. Supervisors and supervisees applied ratings from important to extremely important to all items. Statistically significant differences between supervisor and supervisee ratings were noted on 6 items. The development of the SURF and its potential uses in supervisee role induction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of initial and delayed structure in facilitating group development.

Notes that recent theoretical and empirical developments indicate that the use of structure in initiating group work facilitates group development and client outcome. Three levels of structured learning exercises (initial structure, delayed structure, and no structure) were presented to 43 undergraduates meeting in interpersonal growth groups. The effects of structure on member anxiety, group cohesion, and quality of interpersonal interaction were assessed at 2 points during the life of the groups. Initial structure was associated with increased levels of self-disclosure in early meetings and higher levels of anxiety among members. The effects of levels of structure dissipated over time. Structure did not differentially influence group cohesion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of motivational interviewing interventions for adolescent substance use behavior change: A meta-analytic review.

Objective: This study was designed to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI) interventions for adolescent substance use behavior change. Method: Literature searches of electronic databases were undertaken in addition to manual reference searches of identified review articles. Databases searched include PsycINFO, PUBMED/MEDLINE, and Educational Resources Information Center. Twenty-one independent studies, representing 5,471 participants, were located and analyzed. Results: An omnibus weighted mean effect size for all identified MI interventions revealed a small, but significant, posttreatment effect size (mean d = .173, 95% CI [.094, .252], n = 21). Small, but significant, effect sizes were observed at follow-up suggesting that MI interventions for adolescent substance use retain their effect over time. MI interventions were effective across a variety of substance use behaviors, varying session lengths, and different settings, and for interventions that used clinicians with different levels of education. Conclusions: The effectiveness of MI interventions for adolescent substance use behavior change is supported by this meta-analytic review. In consideration of these results, as well as the larger literature, MI should be considered as a treatment for adolescent substance use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of sensory deprivation in facilitating the reduction of cigarette smoking.

12 mo after a 24-hr period in a socially isolated, monotonous environment, 37 smokers aged 25-55 had reduced their rate of cigarette smoking by an average of 48%, compared with 16% for 35 control Ss. A smaller sample reported similar results at the end of 24 mo. A set of antismoking messages had no permanent effect. Sensory deprivation can apparently be used as a powerful facilitator of long-term behavioral change in human beings. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of debriefing.

Asserts that empirical evidence is not entirely supportive of the optimistic view held by D. S. Holmes (see PA, Vol 58:8592 and 8593) on the effectiveness of debriefing in psychological research. Relevant research findings are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human Effectiveness.

In this Memorial Lecture, the author examines, briefly and at a somewhat abstract level, the social and cultural setting in which the psychology enterprise goes forward, to propose a social orientation for psychology's efforts, to illustrate the potential impact of such an orientation on psychological practice and research, and to suggest possible sources of psychology's leverage on human affairs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depolarization of attitudes in groups.

In past studies of shifts in attitude following group discussion, a majority initially favors one particular side of the issue. Under such conditions, both theories based on social comparison processes and those based on persuasive argumentation make identical predictions: Discussion will lead to polarization, that is, a shift in the overall group mean toward a more extreme position. However, when the members are split into similar-size subgroups, each of which favors a different side of the issue, then the 2 kinds of theories make contrary predictions: A social comparison analysis would imply that as a result of discussion, the gap between these subgroups should increase (i.e., bidirectional polarization will occur); an analysis based on persuasive argumentation suggests that this gap should decrease (i.e., depolarization will occur). When such subgroups were in fact created in 2 experiments with 455 undergraduates, massive depolarization effects were obtained; at the same time, the typical group polarization effect was also evident. However, the magnitude of the polarization was relatively small compared to the magnitude of the depolarization effects. Furthermore, consistent with persuasive-arguments theory, the magnitude of depolarization was inversely related to the popularity of the discussion topic. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Humanistic analysis in groups.

Presents a personal and professional journey taken by the author during the past 15 yrs aimed at developing a theoretical and clinical framework for integrating the humanistic functioning of the group psychotherapist within a psychodynamic process. Personally, it represents a struggle to become a flexible, creative, giving, authentic, and emotionally alive psychotherapist. This means an ongoing process of working through the emotional issues of the past and present that inhibit appropriate expression within the psychotherapy encounter. To achieve the desired goal professionally, it was necessary to borrow meaningful aspects of 2 approaches to psychotherapy: the active psychoanalysis of S. Ferenczi (1919, 1920) and the humanistic tradition of client-centered psychotherapy, exemplified by C. Rogers (1942, 1951). Humanistic analysis is the attempt to integrate these approaches into a contemporary form of combined therapy in which action, empathy, and responsiveness are compatible with uncovering understanding and the development of insight. A long-term intensive experience with a seriously disturbed individual whose therapy dictated a flexible and creative approach is used to illustrate this approach. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negotiation in small groups.

The impact of issue agendas, decision rule, and power balance on the quality of negotiated agreements in small groups was examined. Three-person groups negotiated an agreement on three issues, with each issue having five alternative levels. Groups using sequential agendas were less likely to achieve mutually beneficial agreements than groups using package agendas. Groups following sequential agendas under majority rule achieved significantly less beneficial agreements than did groups following sequential agendas/unanimous rule, package agendas/majority rule, or package agendas/unanimous rule. As the predetermined alternatives to a negotiated agreement increased, so did individual profit. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the quality of decision making in mixed-motive small groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical meditation in groups.

Discusses a method of clinical meditation that can aid a psychotherapist in exploring difficult clinical issues in psychotherapy practice. The meditative experience, which occurs in a group setting, shows some promise in fostering a nonthreatening, positive, self-regulated, ego-enhancing manner of exploring the psychotherapist's contribution to the treatment process and developing clinical insights. The method can be used by therapists to foster an ongoing program of self-exploration of clinical functioning leading to personal and professional growth. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Breast cancer surgery: Comparing surgical groups and determining individual differences in postoperative sexuality and body change stress.

Women diagnosed and surgically treated for regional breast cancer (N?=?190) were studied to determine the sexual and body change sequelae for women receiving modified radical mastectomy (MRM) with breast reconstruction in comparison with the sequelae for women receiving breast-conserving therapy (BCT) or MRM without breast reconstruction. The sexuality pattern for women receiving reconstructive surgery was one that was significantly different—with lower rates of activity and fewer signs of sexual responsiveness—than that for women in either of the other groups. Significantly higher levels of traumatic stress and situational distress regarding the breast changes were reported by the women receiving an MRM in contrast to the women treated with BCT. Using a model to predict sexual morbidity, regression analyses revealed that individual differences in sexual self-schema were related to both sexual and body change stress outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Control groups.

Comments on R. P. Carver's (see record 1975-00055-001) article on the differences between psychometric and edumetric procedures, suggesting that edumetric procedures in experimental psychology should always include a control group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)