Origin and evolution of the term "psychology."

Presents a historical review of the term "psychology." It is noted that while the word contains Greek elements, it does not have origins in Greek antiquity. This study suggests that the word originated in the 16th century "to refer to 1 aspect of spiritual being" and was 1st used as a title of academic lectures by Philipp Melanchton (1497-1560). Further development of the term through the mid-19th century is presented, including a table providing a chronology from Melanchton through Herbert Spencer's "Principles of Psychology" (1855). (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further comment on the risky shift.

In commenting on D. Cartwright's (see record 1973-31210-001) article on "risky shift" research, the author suggests that the term "risky shift" is somewhat misleading and proposes the alternative "shift to increased risk" to reflect that it is the abstract process of reaching group consensus, which is not conceived in terms of risk or caution, that is most interesting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of children's understanding of the metalinguistic term word..

Designed 3 experiments to assess 24 preschool (mean age 64.63 mo), 24 1st-grade (mean age 76.25 mo), and 24 2nd grade (mean age 88.61 mo) children's understanding of the term word. A modified aural discrimination task was used in which Ss were required to discriminate word from nonword stimuli along only 1 dimension at a time. Exp I tested Ss' discrimination of words and sounds. Exp II examined word–phrase differentiation. Both of these experiments followed previous research in examining children's comprehension of the term word in relation to nouns. Exp III examined Ss' understanding of word with stimuli from a variety of form classes. Results indicate that Ss' word concepts have been underestimated in past research suggesting that young children lack an adequate word concept: although preschool Ss did not understand the term properly, by 1st grade word was understood. These experiments also show that Ss benefited from brief training in which they were taught to attach the metalinguistic label word to their developing concept of the word as a unit of spoken language. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some semantic constraints of culture-specific geography.

Takes exception to use of the term "Eastern neighbors" in referring to the Japanese in the J. R. Weisz et al (see record 1985-19979-001) cross-cultural study of the psychology of control. Use of such geographically restricted terms places a linguistic constraint on thinking. Direction-free population terms (e.g., Asiatic, European) are preferred. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Carl Rogers, "counseling," and the Minnesota point of view.

With reference to D. Super's (1989) discussion of C. Rogers's (1942) use of the word "counseling" in the title of his 1st psychotherapy book, the decision to use this term was based on a desire to evoke greater interest in nondirective counseling/psychotherapy among counselors who might otherwise avoid a treatise on psychotherapy because of its specialized medical connotation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Shrink" or "expander": An issue in forming a therapeutic alliance.

Discusses the use of the term shrink to designate a therapist and suggests that such usage may indicate attitudes or expectations regarding how a therapist is perceived. It is suggested that misunderstandings need to be confronted and corrected early on if patients are to form the trust and openness necessary for an effective therapeutic alliance. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's narrow escape and the discovery of transference.

Contends that Freud discovered transference in connection with material derived from his treatment of Emma Eckstein. The last chapter of Studies on Hysteria by J. Breuer and S. Freud (1895) in which Freud's 1st published use of the term transference occurs, can be read as a working through of the crisis that occurred when Eckstein nearly died. This concept, it is argued, explained Freud's patient's disturbed feelings toward him as a "false connection" and thereby helped to free him of feelings of personal involvement in her libidinal demands. The story of the troubled circumstances under which Freud discovered transference provides insight into the defensive nature of the concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Mariner's "lay analyst."

Comments on A. S. Mariner's (see record 1967-08073-001) article about professional education in the mental health field and argues against Mariner's use of the term "lay analyst" to refer to nonmedical analysts. Mariner also underestimated the numerical strength and the vigor of such analysts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A highly significant comment.

Notes that the term significant has a meaning to statisticians that is very specific and that significant should not be used as a synonym for important. The term reliable is suitable for these situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the empirical validity of the "Take-the-best" heuristic as a model of human probabilistic inference.

The boundedly rational "Take-The-Best" heuristic (TTB) was proposed by G. Gigerenzer, U. Hoffrage, and H. Kleinb?lting (1991) as a model of fast and frugal probabilistic inferences. Although the simple lexicographic rule proved to be successful in computer simulations, direct empirical demonstrations of its adequacy as a psychological model are lacking because of several methodical problems. In 4 experiments with a total of 210 participants, this question was addressed. Whereas Experiment I showed that TTB is not valid as a universal hypothesis about probabilistic inferences, up to 28% of participants in Experiment 2 and 53% of participants in Experiment 3 were classified as TTB users. Experiment 4 revealed that investment costs for information seem to be a relevant factor leading participants to switch to a noncompensatory TTB strategy. The observed individual differences in strategy use imply the recommendation of an idiographic approach to decision-making research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whatever happened to neurosis? An overview.

Discusses the decision to eliminate the term "neurosis" from the DSM-III. The history of the term is traced; weaknesses of DSM-II pertaining to neurosis are presented; theoretical and political processes in the deletion procedure are described; and an overview is given of the current resolution as presented in DSM-III. Instead of neurosis, "neurotic disorder" and "neurotic process" were distinguished to reduce potential theoretical bias. The process may or may not be seen by the clinician as causal in the disorder, but those of all theoretical persuasions should be able to agree on what the disorder is. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nomenclature syndrome.

Questions the significance the term identity crisis has placed on the phenomenon of the maturing person in a changing world. The age-old endeavor to understand oneself better may not require the attention it has been receiving in the form of "new" treatment approaches. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The highly inappropriate calibrations of statistical significance.

Comments that an article had used the term "highly significant" to describe an empirical result. The author considers such a modifier to statistical significance is entirely inappropriate on 2 counts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using Quasi F to prevent alpha inflation due to stimulus variation.

Suggests that the nominal alpha level may be very inflated in much of the published literature where the conventional F test is used. This alpha inflation is often caused by ignoring stimulus variation or treating it as a fixed effect. This problem is illustrated in a variety of areas, and the use of Quasi F ratios as a means of achieving generality over both Ss and stimuli is discussed. Monte Carlo experiments are reported that examine the performance of the Quasi F in a variety of realistic situations in which the data violate distribution and homogeneity of variance assumptions. In general, the Quasi F has proved to be robust, and it is suggested that more general use of such tests would greatly increase the reliability of the published data base. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of categorical representations for above and below spatial relations in 3- to 7-month-old infants.

A series of experiments examined the abilities of infants to form categorical representations for the spatial relations above and below. Exp 1 provided evidence that 3–4 mo olds can form categorical representations for above and below when a diamond shape was presented above or below a horizontal bar. Exps 2 and 3 showed that 3- and 4-mo olds did not form categorical representations for above and below when a number of discriminably different shapes (e.g., a diamond, a triangle, a dot) appeared above or below the bar. These more abstract categorical representations for above and below were formed by 6- to 7-mo olds (Exp 4). The findings suggest an experientially or maturationally based trend, from concrete to abstract, in the categorical representation of common spatial relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Yesterday and tomorrow: Development of early understanding of the terms.

Data from 90 2-, 3-, and 4-yr-old children indicate that there is a differential pattern of comprehension of the terms "yesterday" and "tomorrow" among the 3 age groups. Findings also suggest that the Ss learned the terms in an asymmetrical manner, with "yesterday" being understood as having 2 referential aspects (i.e., a time other than this day and past time) and "tomorrow" being understood only in terms of future reference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does statistical language constitute a "significant" roadblock to readers' interpretations of research results?

Critics of statistical hypothesis testing mention how such tests mislead unsuspecting readers into believing that a statistically significant outcome is important and that a nonsignificant outcome is unimportant. Specifically, they mention how the term significant is misleading. In 3 experiments, the authors investigated whether statistical language influences readers' interpretations of research results. For "statistically na?ve" college students reading brief research abstracts, the term significant contributed somewhat to an overinterpretation of the results' importance. But for reading lengthier abstracts and articles, language per se was associated with no negative outcomes. Although the authors argue that "significant" language changes should not be mandated for quantitative research studies in scientific journals, if such changes are mandated, then use of the term statistical is recommended as a straightforward solution to the problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing compliance by improving the deal: The that's-not-all technique.

Seven experiments with 426 adolescents, undergraduates, and adults were conducted to examine the effectiveness of a compliance procedure known as the that's-not-all technique. The procedure involves offering a product at a high price, not allowing the customer to respond for a few seconds, then offering a better deal by either adding another product or lowering the price. Exps I–II demonstrated the effectiveness of this procedure over a control group that was given the better deal initially. Exps III–IV suggested that this effectiveness may be partially explained through a norm of reciprocity that calls for the customer to respond to the seller's new offer. Exp V suggested that the effect also results from an altering of the anchor point Ss use to judge the new price. Exp VI indicated the effectiveness of the procedure cannot be explained by the S perceiving the lower price as a bargain. Exp VII, which examined the differences between the that's-not-all and the door-in-the-face procedures, implied that the former technique is more effective than the latter. Overall findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the that's-not-all technique. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)