Is dental hygiene a profession? A literature review

From a literature review of theories of professionalism, the historical development of the attributes of a profession are discussed. This paper then discusses various theories of professionalism and specifically examines the extent to which the criteria developed by Greenwood are fulfilled by dental hygiene. Greenwood's model, which discusses certain attributes that a profession should possess, is selected to provide a broader model to analyze the current professional status of dental hygiene. Greenwood's model states that a profession has acquired: 1) systemic theory, 2) authority, 3) community sanction, 4) ethical codes, and 5) a culture. The author will conclude by suggesting possible steps the dental hygiene profession could continue to take to acquire these attributes and thereby recognition as a profession by other professions, governments and the public.     

Neurobehavioral aspects of HIV disease and AIDS: An update.

Recent research has continued to add to knowledge about AIDS Dementia Complex (ADC) and HIV-associated neurobehavioral difficulties. This article supplements D. U. Greenwood's (see record 1992-02119-001) article on ADC and summarizes recent literature relevant to clinical psychologists, including staging of HIV disease and its relation to neurobehavioral findings, knowledge about neurological and neuropsychological complications of HIV disease, new data regarding the prevalence of ADC, and proposed changes in nomenclature for HIV-associated neurobehavioral disorders. Application of this knowledge to differential diagnosis and treatment also is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Product-limit survival functions with correlated survival times

A simple variance estimator for product-limit survival functions is demonstrated for survival times with nested errors. Such data arise whenever survival times are observed within clusters of related observations. Greenwood's formula, which assumes independent observations, is not appropriate in this situation. A robust variance estimator is developed using Taylor series linearized values and the between-cluster variance estimator commonly used in multi-stage sample surveys. A simulation study shows that the between-cluster variance estimator is approximately unbiased and yields confidence intervals that maintain the nominal level for several patterns of correlated survival times. The simulation study also shows that Greenwood's formula underestimates the variance when the survival times are positively correlated within a cluster and yields confidence intervals that are too narrow. Extension to life table methods is also discussed.     

A reply to two critics.

Responds to comments by J. A. Mu?oz (see record 1986-12848-001) and M. B. Smith (see record 1986-12870-001) on the present author's (see record 1985-12952-001) contention that the American Psychological Association should not be involved in social advocacy. The present author questions how social responsibilities are to be recognized and whether it is appropriate to give ethics a corporate voice. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Grady (2007), Raz (2007), and Salthouse (2007): Can age and treachery triumph over youth and skill?

The functional plasticity of aging hypothesis (see record 2007-15625-001) argues that losses in brain integrity drive functional reorganization through both inherent plasticity and changes in processing strategy. These processes can affect the course of cognitive aging. The reviewers (C. L. Grady, 2007; N. Raz, 2007; T. A. Salthouse, 2007) appear to agree that this is a defensible and testable explanation for the paradox that brain regions undergoing the greatest shrinkage in old age are the very regions showing heightened task-related neuroimaging activation in old age. The author notes that whether she has advanced a framework or a hypothesis (Salthouse, 2007) may be less important than whether the functional adaptation hypothesis makes testable predictions, as acknowledged by Raz (see record 2007-15625-003). In response to the question raised by Salthouse (see record 2007-15625-004) and Grady (see record 2007-15625-002) about the relation of cortical shrinkage to cognitive functioning, the author speculates that what may be important is not cortical shrinkage but cortical remodeling. Finally, the author notes that the most interesting question posed by Salthouse is also posed implicitly by the entire cognitive aging literature--whether a gradual shift from a bottom-up strategy in the young to a more top-down, controlled strategy in the old is the normal developmental course. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disciplinarity and methodology in intersectionality theory and research.

Comments on the original article, "Intersectionality and research in psychology," by E. R. Cole (see record 2009-04471-001). Cole’s article, says the current author, makes a welcome and valuable contribution to the field of psychology. Particularly useful are the three questions that she posed, highlighting how these questions are relevant and pressing for all researchers, not just those focused on work with subordinated groups. However, there are two additional points that the current author believes need to be addressed as intersectionality moves from the margins of psychology to the mainstream. First, although Cole (2009) nicely traced the history of intersectionality, from feminists of color and critical race theorists to psychology, what the current author found lacking was a discussion about the implications of translating the theory across disciplines. The current author's second point is a methodological one and is related to the disciplinary origins of intersectionality. The current author was surprised to see Cole (2009) discuss at length the role of statistical interactions in intersectionality research. While the current author fully appreciates that Cole may have been attempting to “speak the language” of the vast majority of psychologists, a crucial point about intersectionality research was lost: that qualitative research is central to this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alternate test forms as a means of reducing multiple-choice answer copying in the classroom.

Tested 54 undergraduates on a multiple-choice test when they were flanked and fronted by either the same test form, a form in which the order of the questions had been arranged randomly, or a form in which both questions and answers had been rearranged randomly. Using an index of answer copying developed by the present author (see record 1979-27832-001), it was found that rearranged questions alone did not reduce answer copying, whereas rearrangement of both questions and answers effectively eliminated detectable cheating. Alternate test forms were related to loci as well as amounts of answer copying. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Consulting Firms' Responsibilities for Publication": Comment.

Comments on the article "Consulting Firm Responsibility in Reporting Test Validation Studies" by Wendell French (see record 1962-03705-001.) The author of this comment questions some of the data reported. In addition, there are questions concerning reasons for the "why not" of publishing validation studies that merit being raised. The author suspects that it is more an individual than a firm reporting and discusses whether it is the firm or the individual who carries the responsibility, is blamed, or receives the credit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning at school entry.

The author examines the construct of emotionality, developmental relations between cognition and emotion, and neural plasticity and frontal cortical functioning and proposes a developmental neurobiological model of children's school readiness. Direct links are proposed among emotionality, use-dependent synaptic stabilization related to the prefrontal cortex, the development of executive function abilities, and academic and social competence in school settings. The author considers research on the efficacy of preschool compensatory education in promoting school readiness and recommends that programs expand to include curricula directly addressing social and emotional competence. Research should focus on the ontogeny of self-regulation and successful adaptation to the socially defined role of student, the development of prevention research programs to reflect this orientation, and interdisciplinary collaborations that integrate scientific methods and questions in the pursuit of comprehensive knowledge of human developmental processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undergraduate Psychology: An Extreme View.

The author opines that Buxton's "Issues in Undergraduate Education in Psychology" (American Psychologist, 1956, 11, 84-95; see record 1957-02112-001) has very properly raised a number of provocative questions that need careful and considered attention. He feels compelled to offer some clarification on whether psychological teaching should be directed at "the whole man" or primarily at intellectual aspects of the student's development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anger, Frustration, and Aversiveness.

Comments on the literature review by Berkowitz and Harmon-Jones (see record 2004-15096-001) that evaluates leading theories of anger for which they offer their own theory of aggression as an integration. The current author suggests that their theory leads to a number of empirical questions, which he examines, and he suggests that individual differences should also be considered in formulating theories of aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative persistence of behavior: A reply to comments.

The 5 commentaries (see records 2000-00465-010, 2000-00465-011, 2000-00465-012, 2000-00465-023, 2000-00465-024) address many topics; however, some topics are discussed by more than 1 author. These are the selection of baseline schedules and the relation of the relative persistence of behavior to measures and concepts used in behavioral economics. Other topics include bitonic versus monotonic dose-response functions, data obtained at adjacent schedule values, interval schedules, applications of relative persistence measures, regulation theories, and changes in preference as fixed-ratio size increases. In partial response to a comment regarding the validity of the relative persistence measure, the congruence of results from persistence and preference studies is emphasized. Some of the questions that are raised cannot be answered until future studies are completed, and in some cases, conceptual analysis also will be necessary. Nevertheless, the questions are important in identifying experiments that need to be conducted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Woolfolk and Richardson.

Comments on R. L. Woolfolk and F. C. Richardson's (see record 1985-12614-001) discussion of the ideology of behavior therapy and their argument that behavior therapy cannot develop a conception of what might be appropriate goals of treatment. The present author contends that goals are as much a scientific question as are questions of technique. A scientific approach to the study of goal selection is presented that can be applied to any type of adjustment problem. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memo to Pope: Ask the real questions, please.

Comments on the article by K. S. Pope (see record 83-37387), which argued that false memory syndrome has not received adequate scientific validation as a bona fide psychiatric diagnosis, and which criticized the "intemperate remarks" made by critics of recovered memory therapy. The author states that while Pope raised many valid issues, he failed to address the real scientific questions (e.g., Can human beings engage in massive repression? Can people completely forget years of traumatic events and recall them later?), questions which the author suggests are impossible to answer definitively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Bryden's "The changing face of the CPA annual meeting" (Vol. 23, no. 4, October 1982).

Comments on an article by Bryden about the changing face of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) annual meeting (see record 1983-28843-001). The current author feels that Bryden's computer analysis of CPA convention programmes raises a number of questions. The current author shares his opinions about such topics as changes in number and types of papers presented, communication among professions (especially considering French-language contributions), participation, and attendance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asking the wrong questions about leadership.

Comments on the article by R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman (see record 2006-23492-007) which presented some directions for leadership research. Hackman and Wageman organized their article around their five reject-accept questions suggesting new directions. The current author discusses how each of the questions appears far too timid for real progress in sorting out the chaff from the grain, but points out that the Hackman and Wageman article was a critique of five companion articles and made a substantial contribution to the literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the merger of clinical and counseling psychology.

Comments on an article by C. E. Watkins (see record 1986-12878-001) suggesting that human services psychology might be a good meeting point for clinical and counseling psychologists. The present author questions Watkins's arguments that both groups share a broad interest in health psychology and preventive interventions and that a reduction in the amount of vocational work done by counseling psychologists indicates a readiness for a merger with clinical psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some more on the Samoans.

Comments on Abraham S. Levine's article "After the Samoans Come of Age" (see record 1958-06043-001.) The author of this comment points out that some of Levine's observations and questions would have been easily answered with a bit of additional inquiry and insight into the Samoan background. Several instances in the original article are discussed. The author of the comment finds the original article an excellent addendum to the literature on Samoans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-changers versus therapy changers versus Schachter.

Comments that S. Schachter (see record 1982-30809-001) has tended to overstate the importance of his data. The present author questions Schachter's apparent belief concerning the adverse effects of therapy and notes that a substantial majority of patients change for the better during therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)