Do Applied Psychologists Die Young?

Examined whether psychologists engaged in applied fields of psychology die earlier than psychologists in other fields. Data for two samples of male psychologists in 1960 were analyzed. The answer to the question, "Do applied psychologists die young?", appears to be, "Yes, at least in comparison to other psychologists in 1960." Whether 1960 was simply an unfortunate year for applied psychologists does not seem likely though it is possible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subdoctoral Psychologists?

This column comments on the committee on subdoctoral education of the E & T board's recommendation in the September, 1955 issue of the "American Psychologist" that the term "psychologist" be reserved for people at the doctoral level and that the term "psychological technician" be used to designate persons at the subdoctoral level. In my opinion this sort of downgrading is completely unwarranted and represents an attempt on the part of the PhDs to freeze out competition despite their rationalization that it is in the public interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Institutionalized Psychologists?

Of all the many types of professional positions which psychologists are called upon to fill, one of the most demanding is that of functioning in an institutional setting. The psychological programs at such institutions are, generally, not the most advanced. The psychologist is called upon to function in a setting where the real contributions he can make are very often unknown. There is often a tremendous factor of professional isolation present--the feeling (and fact) of being cut off from professional colleagues and out of the mainstream of psychological life. To further compound the picture, institutional salaries are generally quite low. The present author, noticing these problems in his own state, helped initiate an annual meeting for these psychologists to share ideas of roles, functioning, program development, etc. The individual psychologists who participate, the psychological programs at the institutions, and the quality of service all seem to gain from this group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are Psychologists Unpatriotic?

The author notes that, whether or not it is good for the advancement of a science of psychology, the psychologist has a duty to himself and to humanity to contribute far more than he has to one of the most pressing problems of our day--the problem of war and peace. Probably, there should be three types of literature about psychology and war: methodology, psychological information, and overall analyses. The production of information and idea patterns related to war and peace should not have to wait on special appropriations or special invitations to psychologists to participate. Psychologists should go to work on the problem and somehow see that their efforts find expression in publications that become widely available to those who might be interested in reading them. It would also seem reasonable to suppose that a national psychological convention would devote a major part of its time to this vital topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why Teacher Certification for School Psychologists?

In 1954 the Thayer Conference took a look at school psychology and attempted to give better definition to its functions, levels, and training. Many issues could not be completely settled and still remain as controversies; but, in universities where special training is being carried on, it becomes necessary to take a stand on some of these issues. The present statement will attempt to take a position on one aspect of the problem: namely, the matter of requiring teacher certification for school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do Medicare HMOs cost shift?

We tested the hypothesis that health maintenance organizations (HMOs) increase their commercial premiums when Medicare pays less. Such a linkage would be taken as evidence of "cost shifting." Other studies have tested the cost-shifting hypothesis among health care providers, but this is the first to examine the HMO industry. Our data consisted of annual observations on all HMOs that operated in the United States between 1990 and 1995 and had a Medicare risk contract. A comparison group of HMOs that had no Medicare contract during that period also was analyzed. The main finding from this study is that HMOs have not shifted costs from Medicare to commercial premiums. This results supports the skeptical consensus that is developing toward the cost-shifting hypothesis. Additional findings include the negative effects of competition and for-profit status on HMOs' commercial premiums.     

Do offensive words harm people?

The harm thesis—the assumption that words harm people—is a defining feature of sexual harassment, hate speech, verbal abuse, and obscene telephone call (OTC) offenses. This thesis ignores the possibility that swearing can be advantageous, cathartic, or an acceptable substitute for physical aggression. Observational data, courtroom evidence and verbal abuse research reviewed here produce conflicting conclusions on the question of harm. The best evidence of harm resides in harassment and OTC studies, but verbal abuse research is indeterminate because of flawed research methodology. Public swearing research reveals that swearing is a common conversational practice resulting in no obvious harm. “Common sense” (folk psychology) views of swearing are mistaken and inadequate for some decisions regarding harm. Meanwhile, efforts to restrict speech in media and instructional settings continue, despite the lack of a convincing need to do so. Harm from offensive speech is contextually determined; therefore attempts to restrict speech on a universal basis are misguided. Psychologists’ research needs to be informed by public policy and courtroom practices, and public policy and litigation need to be better informed by psychologists’ research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do intercultural experiences affect attitudes?

The attitudes and personality traits of 183 secondary school and college students who went to Europe in the summer of 1950 were tested before and after their trip. The principal findings of the study are: (1) S's who establish close personal ties with Europeans are more likely than others to engage in international oriented activities. (2) An unstructured, heterogeneous intercultural experience does not have a significant impact on social attitudes. (3) Knowledge of a S's pre-existing attitudes is a better predictor of response to an intercultural experience than knowledge of the experience itself. (4) There are significant personality differences between world minded and nationalistic S's. (5) Changes in attitude can be measured over a two month interval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communicating in Dynamic Conditions: How Do On-Site Construction Project Managers Do It?

A great many of today’s construction projects are characterized by high levels of dynamics, namely, the combined effect of complexity, uncertainty, and speed. Managing projects under such conditions is difficult and challenging, and the question is asked: How do managers do it? Aspiring to answer this question, ten excellent on-site construction project managers were systematically observed during one workweek each, within an extensive study that examined their performance in their dynamic management environments. The structured observation and documentation and the analysis that followed them enabled us to characterize the managers’ work and exposed their unique modes of operation through which they consistently excel in their work. Among many aspects addressed by the said study, this paper focuses on communication and, using various measures, examines the intensiveness and extensiveness of communication performed by the PMs in the broad context of their work. The study found that the on-site construction PMs were strongly oriented toward verbal communication of information (during nearly 80% of their activities and time); they spent a major portion of their workdays in meetings (during 60% of their activities, and of which nearly 80% were unplanned); and they showed clear preference for interacting informally with no more than one or two other persons (during 93% of their activities and 88% of the time). The unique knowledge base resulting from this study constitutes a potential contribution for practitioners who are required to function in similar dynamic work environments, as well as for students, teachers, and researchers of construction management.     

Do noncontingent interview mm-hmms facilitate interviewee productivity?

Two studies investigated the hypothesis that noncontingent interviewer "mmhmms" facilitate interviewee verbal productivity. In Study 1, 1 male interviewer interviewed 48 female undergraduates. In Study 2, 3 male interviewers interviewed 24 male undergraduates, and 3 female interviewers interviewed 24 female undergraduates. Within- and between-S comparisons did not support the hypothesis, although interviewees' ratings indicated that the mm-hmms were perceived as the social reinforcers they were intended to be. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do low-numeracy people avoid shared decision making?

Objectives: Doctors have been increasingly encouraged to involve patients in decision making rather than pursuing the paternalistic model in which they make the decisions for their patients. But do patients want to participate in making decisions about their health? Is there a relationship between their preferences for shared decision making and numeracy skills? Are those preferences different in countries with different medical systems, and for different age groups? Extant studies cannot answer these questions because most are based on nonprobabilistic, highly selective patient samples that prevent generalizations to a broader population. Design: In a survey on probabilistic national samples in the United States and Germany, we interviewed participants with low numeracy skills (Germany: n = 127, mean numeracy = 37; United States: n = 117, mean numeracy = 36) and high numeracy skills (Germany: n = 133, mean numeracy = 96; U.S.: n = 121, mean numeracy = 91). Main Outcome Measures: Usual and preferred role in medical decision making. Results: A significant number of people with low numeracy in both the United States (35%, SE = 8.2) and Germany (30%, SE = 6.1) preferred to be more passive than they currently were. High-numeracy people, in contrast, were mostly satisfied with their current role. On average, Americans were more active than Germans. Middle-aged participants preferred to be more active compared to both younger and older ones. Conclusions: Shared decision-making preferences are related to numeracy skills, country, and age. Education efforts to increase numeracy, as well as using nonquantitative communication formats, may foster involvement of low-numeracy patients in decisions about their health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do parents reinforce somatic complaints in their children?

Objective: To examine the influence of parental solicitousness on self-reported somatic complaints in school-age children. Design and Main Outcome Measures: Participants were 564 children (mean age 10 years) and their parents. Children completed self-report measures of somatic complaints, parental solicitousness, depressiveness, fear, and sense of coherence. Somatic complaints were assessed again 6 months later. Parents also completed a questionnaire about solicitousness. Results: Parental solicitousness as reported by children or parents was unrelated to the frequency of self-reported somatic complaints. Symptoms of depression, fear, and lower sense of coherence were associated with more somatic complaints, but did not interact with parental solicitousness. Conclusion: Parental solicitousness seems unrelated to more frequent somatic complaints in schoolchildren. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do tests of divergent thinking have an experiential bias?

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are widely used as an estimate of creativity. However, tests of DT may be biased by experience. Scores from these tests may depend on the amount and types of experiences of examinees. This investigation was designed to determine the degree to which personal and social experiences influence DT scores. Two different tasks were administered: Uses task and Problem Generation (PG). Fluency and originality scores were calculated for each. Analyses indicated that the impact of experience was similar in the PG and Uses tasks. Personal and social experience explained 44% and 30% of fluency scores for PG and Uses tasks, respectively, and 65% of originality scores for both PG and Uses. The differences between uncorrected scores (all ideas, including those reflecting experience) and corrected scores (where ideas tied to personal or social experiences were eliminated) were statistically significant, with the largest discrepancy in Uses fluency and lowest in Uses originality. Findings supported the claim that divergent thinking tests may depend heavily on experience. Alternatives for using DT tests without an experiential bias are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

True or false: Do 5-year-olds understand belief?

In 3 studies (N = 188) we tested the hypothesis that children use a perceptual access approach to reason about mental states before they understand beliefs. The perceptual access hypothesis predicts a U-shaped developmental pattern of performance in true belief tasks, in which 3-year-olds who reason about reality should succeed, 4- to 5-year-olds who use perceptual access reasoning should fail, and older children who use belief reasoning should succeed. The results of Study 1 revealed the predicted pattern in 2 different true belief tasks. The results of Study 2 disconfirmed several alternate explanations based on possible pragmatic and inhibitory demands of the true belief tasks. In Study 3, we compared 2 methods of classifying individuals according to which 1 of the 3 reasoning strategies (reality reasoning, perceptual access reasoning, belief reasoning) they used. The 2 methods gave converging results. Both methods indicated that the majority of children used the same approach across tasks and that it was not until after 6 years of age that most children reasoned about beliefs. We conclude that because most prior studies have failed to detect young children's use of perceptual access reasoning, they have overestimated their understanding of false beliefs. We outline several theoretical implications that follow from the perceptual access hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do haphazard reviews provide sound directions for dissemination efforts?

Comments on The dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments: A review of current efforts (see record 2010-02208-010) by Kathryn R. McHugh and David H. Barlow. The lead article in the February–March issue by McHugh and Barlow (2010) emphasized the need for “dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments.” The authors identified a number of intervention programs as evidence based and in need of dissemination. One is multisystemic therapy (MST). They claimed that this program is among “the most successful dissemination efforts . . . pursued by treatment developers” (p. 79). McHugh and Barlow’s (2010) discussion of the implementation of MST in Hawaii is troubling, because it neglected to mention concerns about the perceived lack of cultural sensitivity of the MST program in that state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do we need to rethink guidance on repeated interviews?

Within the legal system, children are frequently interviewed about their experiences more than once, with different information elicited in different interviews. The presumed positive and negative effects of multiple interviewing have generated debate and controversy within the legal system and among researchers. Some commentators emphasize that repeated interviews foster inaccurate recall and are inherently suggestive, whereas others emphasize the benefits of allowing witnesses more than 1 opportunity to recall information. In this article, we briefly review the literature on repeated interviewing before presenting a series of cases highlighting what happens when children are interviewed more than once for various reasons. We conclude that, when interviewers follow internationally recognized best-practice guidelines emphasizing open-questions and free memory recall, alleged victims of abuse should be interviewed more than once to ensure that more complete accounts are obtained. Implications for current legal guidelines concerning repeated interviewing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do conscientious individuals live longer? A quantitative review.

Objective: Following up on growing evidence that higher levels of conscientiousness are associated with greater health protection, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the association between conscientiousness-related traits and longevity. Design: Using a random-effects analysis model, the authors statistically combined 20 independent samples. In addition, the authors used fixed-effects analyses to examine specific facets of conscientiousness and study characteristics as potential moderators of this relationship. Main Outcome Measures: Effect sizes were computed for each individual sample as the correlation coefficient r, based on the relationship between conscientiousness and mortality risk (all-cause mortality risk, longevity, or length of survival). Results: Higher levels of conscientiousness were significantly and positively related to longevity (r = .11, 95% confidence interval = .05-.17). Associations were strongest for the achievement (persistent, industrious) and order (organized, disciplined) facets of conscientiousness. Conclusion: Results strongly support the importance of conscientiousness-related traits to health across the life span. Future research and interventions should consider how individual differences in conscientiousness may cause and be shaped by health-relevant biopsychosocial events across many years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do expectancies for reinforcement from smoking change after smoking initiation?

Expectancies are important predictors of smoking behavior. Recent research suggests that expectancies are not stable and vary across internal and external states and levels of cigarette consumption. Expectancies may also vary between individuals as a function of temperamental characteristics such as behavioral undercontrol (BU). Although pre-initiation expectancies have been linked to subsequent smoking behaviors, no study has assessed the effect of smoking initiation on expectancies. The present study was designed to test the hypotheses that both positive (PRE) and negative (NRE) reinforcement expectancies would increase following initiation, and that these changes would be moderated by BU. College students were interviewed 12–15 months apart. Those who initiated smoking between assessments (n = 69) were included in the present study. Linear mixed models showed a significant increase in PRE but not NRE from pre- to postinitiation. The relationship between NRE and time was moderated by BU, such that higher BU was associated with significantly larger post-initiation increases in NRE. Findings suggest that PRE and NRE change significantly following experience with smoking. Furthermore, undercontrolled, impulsive individuals may be particularly vulnerable to smoking with the intention of alleviating aversive states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do heavy smokers benefit from higher dose nicotine patch therapy?

Heavy smokers (N?=?408, smoking more than 25 cigarettes/day) were randomized to receive high-dose (25 mg) or standard-dose (15 mg) nicotine patch therapy delivered during the daytime only (16 hr) for a period of 6 weeks. Treatment effects of each dose were similar. The percentages of participants not smoking at 2-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups were 26 versus 20, 14 versus 16, and 14 versus 14 for the 15-mg and 25-mg doses, respectively. The higher dose was well tolerated, and adverse event profiles for both treatment doses were very similar. Stepwise Cox proportional hazards analyses indicated that initial postrandomization craving and baseline scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Instrument predicted time-to-relapse during treatment; only initial craving predicted relapse over the entire study interval (12 months). The results of this trial do not support the routine use of higher dose nicotine patch therapy in the treatment of nicotine dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)