The Eleventh Hour.

Discusses the efforts of the APA Central Office to correct the image of psychology on the network television show The Eleventh Hour. The author objects to APA's policing the image of psychology in entertainment media (not news, nonfiction features, or documentaries). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Should industrial/organizational psychologists be licensed?

A historical review of licensing among industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists demonstrates that the American Psychological Association (APA) policy on such licensing is inconsistent. Arguments for and against licensure for this group are presented. Job analysis and APA data are drawn upon to show that few I/O activities may pose the personal risk that would seem to require the protection of a license. Alternatives are discussed for changes in present APA policy and state licensing requirements. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Public interest activities of APA members.

Surveyed public interest activities of 990 American Psychological Association (APA) members. Activities are presented in terms of the percentage of Ss performing them, the amount of time invested during a 12-mo period, and the extent to which they were uncompensated. Results show that (1) slightly more than half of the activities were primarily uncompensated, (2) 4% of the Ss did no public interest work during the past year, and (3) 9% reported doing public interest work on almost a full-time basis. The median APA member reported spending nearly 300 hrs a year on public interest activity. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The language of psychology: APA style as epistemology.

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed., APA, 1994) is a guide for many aspects of professional writing for psychologists. In this article, the authors propose that APA style involves more than a set of explicit guidelines for presenting information; it also incorporates a variety of unarticulated practices that reflect fundamental attitudes and values of psychologists. The authors examine some of the less obvious characteristics of APA style to show how they support the discipline's commitment to the empirical method and the discipline's view of itself as a cumulative, collaborative enterprise. Students who enter the field of psychology acquire psychology's language conventions, and in doing so they also come to implicitly endorse important values of their discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Malpractice insurance: Update on sex claims.

Uses data from the malpractice insurance trust offered since 1976 to licensed psychologists who are members of the American Psychological Association (APA) to provide an update on the comments of S. L. Zelen (see record 1986-04801-001) regarding sexual intimacy in therapy. Data show that improper sexual behavior between therapist and patient has no gender boundaries. It is suggested that some mechanism needs to be developed for the APA Ethics Committee to learn of malpractice suits and their outcomes. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The APA Minority Consultation Program.

Presents preliminary results from the Minority Consultation Program begun by the American Psychological Association (APA) to increase the participation of minorities in the field of psychology. Results of visits by minority psychologists to 8 universities and colleges that requested such visits show generally positive results. Comments from participants are included. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The employment of APA members.

Describes the employment of members of the American Psychological Association (APA) and presents data collected through APA's 1978 Human Resources Survey, which was based on the responses of a stratified random sample of 6,551 members. Results show that involuntary unemployment is low, and underemployment is relatively rare. APA members are employed in a great variety of settings, and their work activities, salaries, and other employment characteristics are also varied. Trends in employment and the continuing need for data on the employment and utilization of psychologists are discussed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' attitudes and activities regarding nuclear arms.

Investigated the attitudes and activities of 297 members of the American Psychological Association (APA) concerning a nuclear freeze/disarmament, using a 20-item questionnaire. Results show that the majority of Ss agreed with the stance posited by the APA's Council of Representatives and were not supportive of psychologist/private citizen role separation. The majority of Ss participated in reading relevant literature, signing petitions, and engaging in informal discussions. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI differences between adolescent poor and good sleepers

Compared the MMPI profiles of 53 adolescent poor sleepers with those of 53 good sleepers. Results show that adolescents, like adults, show a highly significant relationship between neurotic personality functioning and poor sleep. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thrombin generation measured ex vivo following microvascular injury is increased in SLE patients with antiphospholipid-protein antibodies

Antiphospholipid-protein antibodies (APA) include lupus-type anticoagulant (LA) and antibodies recognizing complexes of anionic phospholipids (e.g. cardiolipin) and proteins (e.g. prothrombin and beta2-glycoprotein I). The presence of APA is associated with an increased risk of both arterial and venous thrombosis. However, the pathogenic mechanism leading to thrombosis in patients with APA remains unclear. We studied 32 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who were divided into two groups depending on the presence (n = 19) or absence (n = 13) of APA. Healthy volunteers (n = 12) matched by age and sex served as controls. In all subjects LA and IgG class anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) were determined. Thrombin generation was monitored ex vivo measuring fibrinopeptide A (FPA) and prothrombin fragment F1 + 2 (F1 + 2) in blood emerging from a skin microvasculature injury, collected at 30 second intervals. In subjects with antiphospholipid antibodies mean FPA and F1 + 2 concentrations were significantly higher at most blood sampling times than in controls. In some SLE patients with APA the process of thrombin generation was clearly disturbed and very high concentrations of fibrinopeptide A were detected already in the first samples collected. Two minutes after skin incision SLE patients without APA produced slightly more FPA, but not F1 + 2, as compared to healthy subjects. Mathematical model applied to analyze the thrombin generation kinetics revealed that APA patients generated significantly greater amounts of thrombin than healthy controls (p = 0.02 for either marker). In contrast, in the same patients generation of thrombin in recalcified plasma in vitro was delayed pointing to the role of endothelium in the phenomenon studied. In summary, these data show for the first time that in SLE patients with antiphospholipid-protein antibodies thrombin generation after small blood vessel injury is markedly increased. Enhanced thrombin generation might explain thrombotic tendency observed in these patients.     

Age of disability onset and adjustment: Is there any relationship?

The conclusions of M. S. Kessler and W. L. Milligan's (see record 1982-10167-001) study purporting to show a relationship between the age-of-disability-onset with self-esteem and with anxiety are rejected as unsupported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

American psychology is becoming more international.

Comments on an article by J. J. Arnett (see record 2008-14338-003) regarding the assertion that American psychology focuses too narrowly on Americans while neglecting the other 95% of the world’s population. The authors argue that while Arnett’s assessment was poignant, and his call for a more inclusive, international, and cross-cultural representation in American psychology was timely and admirable; they present data that show substantial progress has been made over the last 30 years, and we conclude that major APA journals are already becoming representative of the world’s research psychologists in some respects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A case of failure of generalization of imitation across drives and across situations.

Albino rats trained hungry to get food by imitating leader rats failed to show generalization when placed in a situation whereby they could avoid an electric shock by imitating leader rats. The imitator rats did not show a course of acquisition of shock-avoidance responses which differed significantly from that of controls who had not had prior imitator training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specialization within psychology.

Utilized the competencies reported by a random sample of 2,900 (20%) of psychologists who responded to both the National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel and to an American Psychological Association (APA) questionnaire dealing with qualifications to consult on public policy and social problems in 1968. The Register questionnaire allowed Ss to specify a maximum of 5 specialities, while the APA questionnaire respondents could check as many public policy or social problem areas as were applicable. A correlation matrix of psychological specialities with social problems and public psychological specialities were developed which revealed definite patterns of relationships, as well as many isolated but reasonable correlations. The 31 factors observed had a possible use for program planning in that they show the actual clustering of specialities for working psychologists rather than a traditional or theoretical grouping. Discussion of the matrix centered around 2 approaches: (a) examination of a particular social problem and the factors related to it; and (b) the specialty factor, its relationship to problems and the transferability of psychological skills to problem areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Statistical adjustments when comparing preexisting groups.

Gives an illustration to show why the analysis of covariance usually does not provide the appropriate adjustment to compensate for preexisting differences between nonexperimental groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Object constancy in schizophrenia: the enhancement of symbolic objects and conceptual stability.

The hypothesis that symbolic value has a greater influence on size judgments made by schizophrenic patients than on those made by controls was confirmed. The hypothesis that paranoid schizophrenics show greater constriction in their judgments of the range of sizes was confirmed; however, the hypothesis that non-paranoid schizophrenics show greater fluidity in their range of judgments than do the controls was not confirmed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Report of the 1964 Policy and Planning Board.

"In its 1964 meetings, the Policy and Planning Board of APA dealt with 5 main issues: (1) The status of the annual convention. (2) The financial problems of APA delegates to the meetings of affiliated organizations (3) The status of Fellowship in APA (4) Policy with respect to publications (5) The structure and function of the APA." The last 3 items are discussed with there being separate sections on "Background", "Discussion of Policy and Planning Board," and "Recommendations" for each. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transitive inferences by 4-year-old children?

Data from 2 experiments with 20 4-yr-old children show that when adequate precautions are taken to prevent problems of memory, young children can make transitive inferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Childhood Intellectual Decline of Adult Schizophrenics: A Reassessment of an Earlier Study.

An earlier study by the authors reported that children who become schizophrenic adults show a significant decline in intelligence-test performance between early and late childhood. The present study compares the earlier results with new control and standardization groups and determines that the previous conclusions were not justified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)