Public policy and public service: Our professional duty.

Psychology is a steadily maturing profession, and we psychologists are finally beginning to accept our societal responsibility to be involved in the public policy and political process. Although psychologists have shown increased involvement in the recent past, there are still many areas in which psychologists could become markedly more involved—especially in the area of programs that affect the quality of life of our nation's elderly, disabled, and poor citizens. As our profession seeks to become more active in the overall health care arena, we will, of necessity, begin to define the parameters of "quality of care" for other professions. In doing so, we must closely explore the "outer limits" of our own practice. We must ensure that all state and federal legislative (and administrative) policies do not impose arbitrary limitations on the scope of practice. To accomplish this objective, we must seek to influence our subset of our nation's health policy priorities and policies that we have traditionally shunned—the subset that affects "the public good." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists in public service and the public.

"In the opinion of many, the most serious difficulty facing psychologists [in public service] is the attempt to subject professional work to close and minute administrative control." "Our job is not only to give service, but to improve the society we live in. This should be the major contribution of the psychologist in public service." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Public Image of Psychology.

Comment on the public image of psychology. It is suggested that an alarming and distasteful image of psychologists is in the process of being formed as a by-product of the Era of the Corruption of Things Psychological. This era has been ushered in by our neglect of public relations, by the Sunday-supplement popularity of the mysteries of the mind, and by the discovery that psychological means of influencing behavior are a highly salable commodity in the nonacademic market place. As psychologists expand and refine their techniques for control of human behavior, the urgency of this problem of public relations will increase accordingly. This demands something more than the tranquilizing effect of an APA symposium on the Ethics of the Application of Psychology or the soporific of a prestige-laden committee to define the nature of the problem. We would be well-served by a simple tithing of the time, energy, and resources we now devote to the internecine conflicts with other helping sciences. Ideally, the perception others have of us ought to be a prime order of business for the leaders of every division of psychology, and participation in a design for public education ought to be as automatic a contribution to our mutual well-being as the paying of annual dues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A public policy conference for psychologists.

Psychologists have skills, concepts, and value positions to contribute as individuals to public policy. They can contribute these through their scientific, professional, administrative, or political roles. The American Psychological Association (APA) as an organization can facilitate uniting governmental officials and psychologists with relevant expertise. It is also suggested that APA (1) bring together task forces of psychologists to stimulate thought and work on a particular problem of public interest, (2) commission position papers, and (3) help in identifying problems likely to become public issues. In determining what activities to undertake APA should be guided by the importance of the issue to society, the importance to psychology, the amount psychologists have to contribute, the amount we can realistically expect to influence policy, and the costs in time and dollars. Psychology should begin developing its own post-Viet Nam priority list. In doing so it should collaborate with other behavioral sciences with expertise relevant to major problems of our society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On not "giving psychology away": The Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory and public controversy over testing in the 1960s.

Psychological tests, especially the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, became the center of public controversy and Congressional scrutiny during the 1960s. This unwanted attention actually helped American psychologists more than they imagined. Assisted by those on Capitol Hill, psychologists were able to defend their science in a manner that avoided imposed forms of public accountability. Social questions were reformulated as technical problems. The need to adjust intelligence and aptitude tests reinforced psychologists' control over them. Conversely, personality tests were not made more transparent and nonintrusive, unless psychologists thought these changes were scientifically necessary. This episode prompted tighter regulation of test use and demonstrated that traditional forms of testing were far too important to popularize and "give away." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial: Psychology in the Public Forum.

With this issue, I am pleased to announce a new section of the American Psychologist entitled "Psychology in the Public Forum," with Patrick H. DeLeon as the associate editor for this section. Psychology in the Public Forum intends to provide psychologists with perspectives concerning the public arenas in which psychology must exist. Such a forum approach should aid our understanding of those public issues that both affect psychology and provide opportunities for psychologists to bring their expertise to bear as scientists, as practitioners, and as educators. I am very pleased to have two quite distinct articles appearing this month to inaugurate this section. Senator McGovern provides a broad-ranging view from a 20- to 30-year perspective of a number of intertwined issues that have in his view influenced the course of our society, and Mary G. Hager covers science and health in the Washington area for Newsweek magazine. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of "counselors" and other help-givers: What's in a label?

Investigated the perceptions held by 240 undergraduates about counseling psychologists, college counselors, high school counselors, advisors, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists. Ss completed a questionnaire containing 100 adjectives which they assigned to the various professions on the basis of how well each described the role. Greater differences were found within the counseling specialties than between counseling psychologists and either clinical psychologists or psychiatrists. Contrary to previous research, none of the counseling groups were viewed as "nice guys" in relation to psychiatrists or clinical psychologists. Implications for both research and public relations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Report of the executive officer: 1963.

During the year the range of APA knowledge dissemination activities has been extended; work of experimental psychologists will be viewed by millions as a recently completed educational TV series titled "Focus on Behavior"; an attractive APA booklet on opportunities and requirements for careers in psychology has been prepared. "The pervasiveness of psychology in our culture is readily documented." Criticism and unfavorable public reaction regarding psychology center on issues of invasion of privacy, denial of freedom, deception, and behavior control. A core problem is the professionalization of psychology. There is a need to investigate the reciprocal relationships between psychology and the law. Psychologists cannot be disinterested in the results of application of psychological knowledge to human affairs. Psychology is accountable to society which has supported it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward professional clinical psychology.

"The immediate task confronting clinical psychology is to obtain recognition for its competence. The important thing for clinical psychologists to keep in mind is that we must determine now whether we shall serve a prime or an ancillary role… . If we vigorously and realistically pursue recognition for our competence, our role will be a prime one. Competence, therefore, is our concern, and it is associated with professional status. Many tests of professionalism confront us. The past 2 decades have produced a fantastic increase in the numbers of clinical psychologists who provide psychotherapy and psychodiagnosis in both institutional and private settings." Postdoctoral training institutes, preventive procedures, and brief treatment techniques are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is Psychology Losing Status as an Academic Discipline?

The recent attack on higher education in America has stimulated many psychologists to examine the role of psychology in higher education. Many critics have labeled universities as being "supermarkets" or "service stations." Some of the attacks have specifically referred to courses in personal adjustment and mental hygiene as being "service" courses. Some critics have questioned the justification of including such courses in an undergraduate program. I am not concerned here with the justification of such criticism. I do feel, however, that the attacks point up the trend toward overemphasis in psychology on the service functions of our field of study. In the eyes of the public and in the thinking of leaders in other academic disciplines, I fear that we are losing the position as an academic discipline that we enjoyed perhaps twenty or thirty years ago. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A preventive health paradigm for health care psychologists.

Developed a preventive health paradigm for health care psychologists by building on public health and preventive mental health models of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Adoption of a "biopsychosocial" perspective on health and illness is basic to the preventive health paradigm. Examples of preventive health programs are considered along with a wide range of preventive health activities by psychologists in health care settings. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Special Licensing in Psychology.

Licensure is primarily designed to protect the public from unfit practitioners. However, most licensing laws in psychology are generic. Generic licensure assumes that there is a core of knowledge that all professional psychologists should possess and be able to document. In 1977 the New York State Board of Regents, which has jurisdiction over the licensed professions, addressed the issue of identification of specialties in the health professions. The current rules (Licensing of Psychologists in New York State, 1978) state that it is unprofessional conduct to make "claims of professional superiority which cannot be substantiated by the licensee" (p. 17). In effect, since there are no standards, psychologists can list any specialty they wish. Specialty licensing becomes important as advertising among professionals becomes a reality. The public has the right to know which psychologists are telling the truth when they list themselves as having a given specialty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of human behavior: The clinical psychologist.

The psychologist "has derived some benefit by the mixture of being a doctor but not being identified with the mentally ill person." By reviewing personal and cultural forces the attempt was made to establish the variety of emphases current in clinical psychology. "Nearly every adjustment pattern observed among clinicians has occurred as a result of training and experience in some university, school or clinic. As yet, no completely satisfying or dominant component of needs has been discovered for the training and role of the clinical psychologist… . But it is a backward step to discard special curricular requirements for clinical psychologists." A prime requirement for a profession is "a disciplined and recognizable training program." The public that supports us will demand "a real and inexorable service contribution that we have implicitly promised… . We evolved on the impetus of service need." A number of current conflicts of the clinical psychologist are indicated. "The only way professional psychologists can hold to a responsible place is by partial separation from the academic, basic science psychologists." Leaders in clinical psychology should "be more than 80% in real clinical work with ill patients." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

If not us, then who? Presidential address.

This article presents the presidential address delivered by Robert D. Morgan during the 118th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA). This address challenges us, as public service psychologists, to improve services currently offered and to be leaders among those providing mental health services in the public sector. To accomplish this task we must (a) return to our roots as social scientists, (b) rely on basic research to prove our worth as service providers, (c) integrate program evaluation as an essential component in our services, and (d) integrate public service psychology training opportunities at the academic level while developing research networks with academic training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

American Psychological Association annual report.

Presents the 2009 American Psychological Association annual report. It highlights a very important year for APA and psychology by summarizing activities within each directorate. It describes strides made toward the goal of infusing psychology into the health care marketplace and of bringing psychology—and the unique skills of psychologists—to the attention of the public. This report aims to give insight into the contributions psychologists make to our communities and our country. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the limits of sense and science: American experimental psychologists combat spiritualism, 1880–1920.

American psychologists faced great difficulty at the turn of the century as they tried to erect and maintain boundaries between their science and its "pseudoscientific" counterparts—spiritualism and psychic research. The public solicited their opinions regarding spiritualism, and a few psychologists wanted to conduct serious investigations of spiritualistic and psychic phenomena. However, many psychologists believed that such investigation risked the scientific reputation of their infant discipline. Because they could not readily avoid the topic, some psychologists studied spiritualistic and psychic phenomena in order to prove them fraudulent or explain them via naturalistic causes, and others developed a new subdiscipline, the psychology of deception and belief. This article argues that psychologists used their battles with spiritualists to legitimize psychology as a science and create a new role for themselves as guardians of the scientific worldview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists and public information.

The 1st peace group, inspired by Otto Klineberg and organized by Stanley Zuckerman in 1961, now called the "Social Scientists for Peace," had as its purpose the application of psychological knowledge to such urgent issues as war hysteria, cessations of nuclear tests, disarmament, and fall-out shelters. Activities of various groups of psychologists concerning such social endeavors are cited. 2 questions, "Should psychologists participate in demonstrations and similar activities?" and "Should psychologists be doing research rather than engaging in social action and public education?" are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology as a means of promoting human welfare.

Discusses the methods by which psychologists, not psychology as a whole, contribute to social change. The role of the American Psychological Association is presented as a supporting rather than leading factor. It is emphasized "that understanding and prediction are better goals . . . than is control." It is proposed that the adaptive process be changed to achieve these goals. "2 alternative images -are presented= of what the popular conception of human nature might become" as a result of the psychological revolution. It is concluded that a "peaceful revolution based on a new conception of human nature" will result from the instillation of scientific facts in the public consciousness. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

George A. Miller, language, and the computer metaphor and mind.

This article asks why the analogy between humans and computers was understood by cognitive psychologists to mean that "minds exist and that it is our job as psychologists to study them." Earlier psychologists, such as Clark Hull, used analogies between humans and complex machines such as telephone switchboards to defend a rigorous behaviorism. How, then, did the computer metaphor of mind come to be seen as the root concept underlying a paradigm shift from behaviorism to cognitivism? To answer this question, this article examines the life and work of George A. Miller, one of the most prominent of a generation of psychologists who began their careers as "good behaviorists" but later came to embrace cognitivism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)