The two disciplines of scientific psychology.

"No man can be acquainted with all of psychology today." The past and future place within psychology of 2 historic streams of method, thought, and affiliation—experimental psychology and correlational psychology—is discussed in this address of the President at the 65th annual convention of the APA. "The well-known virtue of the experimental method is that it brings situational variables under tight control… . The correlation method, for its part, can study what man has not learned to control or can never hope to control… . A true federation of the disciplines is required. Kept independent, they can give only wrong answers or no answers at all regarding certain important problems… . Correlational psychology studies only variance among organisms; experimental psychology studies only variance among treatments. A united discipline will study both of these, but it will also be concerned with the otherwise neglected interactions between organismic and treatment variables. Our job is to invent constructs and to form a network of laws which permits prediction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology.

Aptitude * Treatment interactions are demonstrated with reference to G. Domino's studies (1968 and 1971) of instructor demand and student personality and J. K. Majasan's (1972) study which found that achievement in college psychology was greatest when the student's position on a scale of beliefs regarding behaviorism and humanism were similar to his instructor's. Further evidence on interactions in social psychology, personality, learning, and experimental psychology is cited. It is suggested that higher order interactions make it unlikely that social scientists will be able to establish generalizations applicable beyond the laboratory or that generalizations established in the field work will be maintained. Social research should be less concerned with hypothesis testing and more concerned with interpreting findings in local contexts. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction: A broader scientific base for professional psychology.

Much of the opposition in qualitative research is predicated on the belief that psychology is a science and should proceed in obtaining knowledge using the methods of the "hard" sciences. There is, however, a growing awareness of the subjectivity of traditional empirical methods. Attention to qualitative research designs, including journal space, could broaden the scientific base and encourage new professionals to use different methodologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

External validity and scientific psychology.

Comments on the article by Stanley Sue (December 1999; see record 1999-15532-003), in which he eloquently described a persistent problem in psychological research: the relative lack of research on ethnic minorities. Sue traced the source of this problem to how science is practiced and, in particular, to scientific psychology's emphasis on internal validity over external validity. He argued that researchers' assumption that causal inferences drawn from a given study are generalizable across individuals from different ethnic backgrounds ultimately masks true differences among diverse ethnic groups and hinders research to determine whether such differences exist. Sue recommended that researchers increase their emphasis on external validity in study designs and embrace methodological pluralism in adopting more qualitative and ethnographic approaches to complement traditional scientistic methods used in psychological research. If scientific psychology is to serve the public interest, its findings must be valid and generalizable and must promote the translation of research into informed public policy. This will be possible only when psychologists stop assuming generality across population subgroups, across settings, and across times. Judicious prioritization of external validity above internal validity will build a better scientific psychology and inform public policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The professional psychology comprehensive examination: A comparison.

Surveyed 86 American Psychological Association (APA)-approved doctoral programs and 16 non-APA-accredited programs to determine current comprehensive examination practices. 79 APA-approved programs and 13 non-APA-approved programs had some form of qualifying exam. The majority of schools felt their assessment procedures were adequate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observational and theoretical terms in psychology: A cognitive perspective on scientific language.

This article presents an empirical, psychological approach to the distinction between observational and theoretical terms, a persistent and unresolved issue in the study of science. Using relevant theory and evidence from cognitive psychology, we show that the observational–theoretical distinction parallels the concrete–abstract distinction in natural language, that both follow from the dual coding assumption of distinct verbal and nonverbal cognitive systems, and that natural language research supports this view. We report similar evidence for 72 psychological terms that were rated by psychologists on observability, consistency of meaning, and other relevant attributes. The ratings correlated highly with one another and also with imagery reaction times and reports of spontaneous imagery. The evidence challenges the claim that all scientific terms are equally inferential and reliable and is consistent with empiricist views of science that emphasize the distinct properties of concrete, observational terms and abstract, theoretical terms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Educational facilities and financial assistance for graduate students in psychology: 1962-63.

Varying degrees of information are given about application requirements, requirements for admission, tuition, types of assistantships, stipends, Veterans Administration traineeships, National Defense Education Act fellowships, United States Public Health Service stipends, etc., for each of 184 institutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Journal citations and scientific eminence in contemporary psychology.

Investigated the validity and reliability of publication citations as a measure of scientific eminence in psychology. Citations from 14 representative English language journals, published from 1962-1967, were examined. Results were compared with other indices of eminence, i.e., being listed in American Men of Science, receiving scientific contribution awards, election to presidency of the American Psychological Association, etc. Results suggest that journal citation provides an index that is correlated with other measures of eminence. Difficulties from high journal citation and low eminence and the reverse of this are discussed. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward one discipline of scientific psychology.

Discusses views on the possibility of joining correlational and experimental psychology. The works and opinions of L. J. Chronbach are cited in particular. Presents the idea of outlining a paradigm for research which combines the major concerns of both correlational psychologists and experimentalists, and which employs, as a modus operandi, the subgrouping of Ss on the basis of their patterns of prior experience. The feasibility of employing such a paradigm as an operational plan brings at least 2 major operational concerns into consideration: (1) the subgrouping of Ss must have some consistency across samples, and (2) the entire scheme of classifying Ss to subsets must have something approximating generalized validity. It is stressed that the interactive research suggested can be expanded to include many different areas in psychology and other disciplines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA approved doctoral programs in clinical and in counseling psychology, 1962.

"On recommendation of the Committee on Evaluation, the Education and Training Board, with the concurrence of the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Association has approved the doctoral programs in clinical psychology and in counseling psychology that are conducted by the institutions listed." 60 institutions are in the clinical psychology list; 8 of these have received interim approval while the others have full approval. 25 institutions are in the counseling psychology list; 2 of these have interim approval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural contexts and scientific change in psychology: Kurt Lewin in Iowa.

Kurt Lewin's scientific biography after his 1933 emigration from Nazi Germany and his move to the US exhibits a complex mix of continuity and change. In his work at the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station between 1935 and 1944, Lewin tried to recreate the scientific microculture that had formed around him in Berlin. In the process, he converted biography into theory, adapting to current cultural concerns, to then-prevailing research styles, and to changing institutional and funding networks in American psychology. However, despite their considerable impact at the time, the later reception of Lewin's ideas and methods by American psychologists was ambivalent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two decades of doctorates in psychology: A comparison with national trends.

Summarizes data collected by the National Research Council on the production of doctorates from US universities, 1960–1981. Included are data on demographic trends, primary source of financial support for graduate study, and employment and study plans following receipt of the doctorate. Data for psychology are contrasted with those for the physical sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences, humanities, and education. There are considerable differences among fields on nearly every variable studied, and among the special characteristics of psychology are a continued growth in the production of doctorates, a high percentage of female doctorate recipients, a reliance on own resources as the primary support for graduate study, a decrease in planned academic employment, and an increase in plans for employment in industry/business and nonprofit settings. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scientific status of American psychology in 1900.

In 1900, psychologists were attempting to define themselves and searching for their role among both academic and nonacademic publics. The success of experimental methods served to advance their position as exemplary scientists, although, as the authors argue in this article, other factors were also important. First, the issue of measurement involved many disagreements about the tools needed to measure psychological constructs or even whether psychologists should measure anything at all. Second, the relationship between the brain and psychological constructs enhanced psychology's status for some, whereas others felt that psychologists should stay away from such topics. Parallels with present-day concerns among psychologists are addressed at the end of the article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

There is no room for scientism in scientific psychology: A comment on Mahoney.

Although M. J. Mahoney's (see record 1990-03226-001) distinction between scientific psychology (SP) and radical behaviorism (RB) is accurate, Mahoney has underestimated the intolerance engendered by RB and the consequences of resulting scientistic views. It is suggested that if the American Psychological Association is to retain its role as a representative of SP, a distinction between scientific and scientistic activities must be maintained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How clinical psychology interns are selected: A study of decision-making processes.

Investigated factors influencing the decision to select clinical psychology students for a predoctoral internship program, using a path analysis procedure. Two clinical psychology faculty members rated 18 internship applications. Direct and indirect relationships of 3 preselection factors—academic preparation, clinical experience, and letter of reference—were examined. Results indicate that academic preparation and clinical experience operate as separate selection decisions in unique and complex ways. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unifying psychology: A scientific or non-scientific theory task?

Comments on the review by Stephen Yanchar (see record 2009-04719-001) of the current author's book, "Behavior and Personality: Psychological Behaviorism." The past fifteen years has seen an accelerating growth of interest in psychology's fragmentation and the importance of unification, in a manner that did not exist before. Stephen Yanchar is one of the contemporary leaders in the unification movement, with a focus on philosophy, to which he has been contributing important works. Yanchar's philosophy (which he considers to be theory), fundamental understanding of what psychology is and should be, conception of unifying psychology and, as we will see, his agenda for the field of theoretical and philosophical psychology, are quite different from those of my philosophy of unified positivism and theory of psychological behaviorism (PB). Thus, although this has not been made clear, Yanchar's review is based on a philosophical position that really does not accept psychology as a science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for distinguished scientific applications of psychology.

The American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology is presented to a person who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, has made distinguished theoretical or empirical advances leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems. The 2010 award was given to David M. Clark. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguished scientific award for the applications of psychology: 1987.

The Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology is presented to a person who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, has made distinguished theoretical or empirical advances leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems. In accordance with established custom, the award winner will be invited to present an address on some phase of his or her scientific work at the 1988 APA Convention. This year's winner, Robert Glaser, was presented with a check for $2,000 and an engrossed citation of his contribution. The award was presented by Marshall Haith, chair of the committee. Other members of the committee were Lyn Abramson, Patricia Carpenter, Brenda Milner, Mary Tenopyr, and Mark Zanna. The winners since the establishment of the award are also listed here. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for distinguished scientific applications of psychology.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography of the 2008 recipient, John L. Holland, of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)