Review of The science of learning disabilities.

Reviews the book, The science of learning disabilities, by K. A. Kavale and S. R. Forness (1985). Kavale and Forness assert that the field of learning disabilities has become a pseudoscience. They state that the purpose of their book is to demonstrate how the field of learning disabilities strayed from its scientific course and suggest how it can regain its scientific status. To accomplish their goals, the authors emphasize the importance of scientific inquiry, the history of the learning disabilities field, and possible solutions to the problems they depict as currently being characteristic of the field. The field of learning disabilities, they assert, strayed from the scientific method by emphasizing empirical associations per se without the proper formulation of theories regarding learning disabilities. The authors fulfill their stated goals of describing how many in the learning disabilities field drifted away from the scientific method and by outlining how the field can regain its scientific status. The review of the history of the learning disabilities field is comprehensive and informative. This book is written in a scholarly, unemotional style. Although its exploration of the scientific method, that forms the basis of the authors' arguments, is simple and consistent with that provided in most introductory texts in the sciences, the authors' discussions of research findings are, at times, complex. Readers who are not familiar with meta-analytical techniques are encouraged to obtain some familiarity with these before reading this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Full Circle: Spiritual therapy for the elderly.

Reviews the book, Full Circle: Spiritual therapy for the elderly by Kevin Kirkland and Howard McIlveen (1999). This book describes "Full Circle", a program developed by the authors to provide spiritual therapy for seniors with dementia, including the Alzheimer type. The program is called spiritual therapy because it is "for facilitating healing, resolution, remembering, and experiencing of the sacred, the complete, the joyous, the whole" (p.x). Detailed information is provided on how to conduct "Full Circle." The format consists of having a group of seniors sitting in a circle together for singing, holding hands, sharing stories, discussion, and prayer. The main emphasis is on singing familiar hymns and/or secular songs, but "Full Circle" also provides opportunities for life review and reminiscence. The book can be a valuable resource for those working with residents in long-term facilities. However, I doubt it very much whether one can simply conduct "Full Circle" purely on the basis of this book without considerable professional experience of working with cognitively impaired seniors. In short, I find the book helpful, but not fully developed. The authors are to be commended for addressing such an important issue in a clear and readable way. For those working with seniors, this book, despite its shortcomings, will be a useful resource for spiritual care and music therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Art and Visual Perception.

Reviews the book "Art and visual perception," by Rudolph Arnheim (see record 1955-03680-000). In reading this book, one realizes why more psychologists have not been concerned with art. Art is a technical specialty in its own right and one must be expert both in psychology and in either creative art or the history of art to write on art. Arnheim's book brings the scientific knowledge of a trained psychologist to bear on the fundamental problems of visual art as it has developed through the ages. The discussion is always with reference to concrete works of art. Many original drawings, diagrams, and figures illustrate basic principles and important points. The writing is superb. The book is full of penetrating insights into questions of art and also into many problems of concern to the psychologist. Fundamentally this book is an argument against the usual art historian's approach, so well described by Arnheim as the purely subjective point of view, that what a person sees in a work of art "depends entirely on who he is, what he is interested in, what he has experienced in the past, and how he chooses to direct his attention". A book which reflects so well the author's urbanity, catholicity, and keenness of mind, as well as his technical grasp of the scientific and the artistic, is no small achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Learning About Learning Disabilities, Third Edition.

This article reviews the book, "Learning about Learning Disabilities, Third Edition" (see record 2004-21912-000), edited by Bernice Wong. This book is comprised of a selection of chapters authored by well-known authors in the field of learning disabilities. The book was developed for use with advanced undergraduate and graduate students with the intent to provide current information soundly based in research in the field. The chapters in the book are organized into three thematic sections. The first section deals with conceptual, historical, and research aspects of learning disabilities. The second section comprises chapters on reading comprehension, writing, math, social competence, strategy instruction, working with adolescents, issues in service delivery, and developing communities of practice. The third section focuses on a life span approach to learning disabilities. This book does what it purports to do. This is a well put together selection of readings. It may not be appropriate for advanced undergraduate students with no previous background knowledge or experience with learning disabilities due to the level of the book. The information provided in each chapter is current and soundly based in research. In addition to the research presented, the majority of the chapters also include practical implications of the research to teaching settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The complexity of learning disabilities.

Reviews the book, Learning about learning disabilities (2nd ed.) by B. Wong (1998). This book is a reasonably comprehensive survey of the state of the art. The book has many worthwhile chapters and will be of interest to advanced-level students, investigators, and clinicians in the field. This book is intended for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. It is a collection of chapters; the individual chapters are quite good but the authors of these individual chapters appear not to have read the other chapters. The student using this book and even the more seasoned investigator or clinician familiar with the field will find it very frustrating that there is no synthesis across chapters. Students reading this book will not have the background knowledge and sophistication of the authors of these chapters. Although it is suggested that this be used as a textbook, it is missing some very important information, and there is not much synthesis. I think that some students may become frustrated at the lack of both integration and consistency among the diverse chapters. There is a technical problem in that a significant number of bibliographic entries are incorrect. Compiling a reference list is tedious but not to have an accurate one is frustrating to the reader who may want to consult some of the references. No book is perfect. However, this book is an interesting balance of many positive and some troublesome features. It is comprehensive and provides a view of a fascinating field. The authors and editor are to be congratulated for their efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Facilitating treatment adherence: A practitioner's guidebook.

Reviews the book, Facilitating treatment adherence: A practitioner's guidebook by Donald Meichenbaum and Dennis C. Turk (see record 1987-98489-000). Any health care practitioner is likely to approach a book on how to increase adherence with interest; it is a topic that touches all professionals involved in clincial practice. As a clinical psychologist, I looked to this book to assist with issues facing me daily with clients--how to get them to do what both they and I agree would be beneficial to them and their overall well being. Meichenbaum and Turk promise a "how-to" guidebook and, generally, have adhered to this undertaking well. The authors begin with a section on the nature of the problem of adherence, including a discussion and definition of treatment adherence (as opposed to compliance, which suggests less of an active role by the client), its incidence and assessment. The second chapter in Part I examines the many possible factors that affect adherence. Part II turns to procedures that could be used to enhance adherence. Section III provides an integration of the procedures and discussion anticipating what may go wrong in applying the procedures. The last chapter is partly written with tongue in cheek--applying what they have stated about clients to health care providers and why they will not adhere to the recommendations made in the book. This book is thorough, practical, and timely, and it balances coverage of the relevant research with application to practices and discussion of clinical concerns. Given such a common problem, this book is long overdue, and in fact, much more research effort and clinical training should be placed in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Assessing culturally and linguistically diverse students: A practical guide.

Reviews the book, Assessing culturally and linguistically diverse students: A practical guide by Robert L. Rhodes, Salvador Hector Ochoa, and Samuel O. Ortiz (see record 2006-12379-000). This book provides school practitioners with a practical guide to the assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children that may help reduce inappropriate referral and placement practices. The book is divided the book into three sections, the first of which focuses on the demographic, legal, and educational issues related to CLD students. The second section takes on a practical, "how to" approach to assessment. The final section proposes an integrated format for assessing cognitive and academic ability. This book is unique in that it provides a practical "how to" handbook of multicultural assessment with the culturally and linguistically diverse learner. The book is well-organized and presented in a logical manner. It begins with a clearly defined problem (i.e., disproportionality of CLD students in special education) and provides a comprehensive discussion on related background information. The authors then take the next step by providing suggestions and information that will help the professional take ownership of and change the problem. This book will be a helpful tool for providing the practitioner with information related to the disproportion of CLD students in special education. This book's foundation in current research, practical suggestions, and reproducible materials make it a worthy edition to any practitioner's library. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social support networks: Informal helping in the human services.

Reviews the book, Social support networks: Informal helping in the human services, edited by James K. Whittaker and James Garbarino (1983). Whittaker and Garbarino have compiled an excellent compendium describing social support systems. The introductory chapters review the history and present political, economic, theoretical, and practical implications of fostering and using the resources of family, community, and self-help groups to alleviate a variety of human problems. The chapters that follow, contributed by experts in their respective fields, give a "state of the art" overview that describes how informal networks operate in mental and physical health care, services to the elderly, child welfare, day care, aid to divorced families, schools, delinquency prevention and treatment, drug abuse treatment, and treatment of those with developmental disabilities. Rehabilitation psychologists should find the book helpful. It constitutes a necessary first step for those interested in developing the area of social support networks by researching the conditions under which various types of help are indeed helpful or harmful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological and behavioral aspects of physical disability—A manual for health practitioners.

Reviews the book, Psychological and behavioral aspects of physical disability—A manual for health practitioners by James E. Lindemann (1981). According to the authors indication in the preface, this book is a guide for professionals who work with people with serious physically disabling conditions. It aims to provide information and "how-to" suggestions for evaluation and treatment of physical disabilities. The book focuses on helping people make decisions, acquire skills, and seek experiences that permit them most fully to enjoy the competency and satisfaction of human existence. It is based on the emerging development in behavioral medicine and health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of WISC-IV advanced clinical interpretation.

Reviews the book, WISC-IV Advanced Clinical Interpretation edited by Lawrence G. Weiss, Donald H. Saklofske, Aurelio Prifitera, and James A. Holdnack (2006). Since the release of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition in 2003 (WISC-IV), a host of accompanying texts have been written with the intent to help clinicians navigate their way through the latest rendition of this gold standard g-factor test. However, what sets this book apart is that it was written by authors heavily involved in the development of the WISC-IV and its associated norms. Wechsler himself stated, regarding the first author, "in so many ways this is his instrument" (Wechsler, 2003, p. iii). With that type of endorsement, perhaps it is appropriate that the authors' express their lofty intention that this book, in conjunction with their earlier tome (WISC-IV Clinical Use and Interpretation, Scientist-Practitioner Perspectives), become the standard reference for all individuals using the WISC-IV. Accordingly, the book aims to provide both graduate students and experienced psychologists with a more nuanced understanding of index and subtest score interpretation. As an initial comment, upon review of all the chapters, the book title appears to be somewhat of a misnomer. As the chapters progress, it appears that the authors intend to prepare readers for an in-depth discussion of the WISC-IV Integrated. Moreover, it appears that most of the new content in this book (i.e., interpretative information not in the Wechsler manuals) seems to be accomplished within the context of the WISC-IV Integrated. This suggests that the content would be more aptly conveyed to potential readers by changing the title to "Advanced Clinical Interpretations with the WISC-IV Integrated." Overall, readability was sometimes hampered by a dense writing style and redundant content. However, for the savvy clinician with time to pursue an advanced level of analysis, this book does bring together information regarding how to interpret the WISC-IV Integrated using both the idiosyncratic context of the child and a myriad of relevant statistical information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Why Don't You Listen to What I'm Not Saying?

Reviews the book, Why Don't You Listen to What I'm Not Saying? by Judith Milstein Katz (1981). This tiny volume reads like 13 enjoyable undergraduate lectures: enjoyable because the writing style is light rather than ponderous. Katz challenges the view that reality exists independent of our interpretation of it. The central theme of the book is that we create our social realities because all interpersonal behaviour is ambiguous. We generate hypotheses or theories about the behaviours of others. Each of these hypotheses is based on assumptions of differing weights. Our weighting of an assumption, our preference for a particular hypothesis, influences the probability of finding "evidence" to back up our preferred assumption/ hypothesis. Our hypotheses and theories become self-fulfilling prophesies. The focus of the book is mainly on the interpretations of the social interactions of marital (or near-marital) partners, with some additional illustrations from parent/child interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of MMPI-168 codebook.

Reviews the book, MMPI-168 codebook by Ken R. Vincent et al (1984). This book is an effort to present an actuarially devised system for use with the MMPI-168, a widely researched short form of the MMPI. It is an effort to move the MMPI-168 out of the category of screening instrument and into the area of a significant assessment instrument. The authors emphasize that the value in using the MMPI-168 and its complementary actuarial system will be its utility with patients having poor motivation, illiteracy, or physical disabilities. Psychologists using the MMPI-168 must be aware of several basic concerns, particularly those involved in research. For example, it is a different test from the MMPI, involving only the first 168 items, and it is normed on a nonrandomized sample of private psychiatric clinic patients. In examining the utility of brief assessment instruments, it would be of value to compare the utility of the MMPI-168 or other "short forms" to a validated structured interview procedure. There is no doubt that these types of assessment tools are needed in the field of rehabilitation psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Tests and assessment.

Reviews the book Tests and Assessment (1985) by Jacqueline Schakel. From its broad title, this book might be classified as a general textbook on assessment for anyone who is learning about testing procedures. Indeed, in the preface, the authors present their book as a text for undergraduate courses on testing in general psychology, and for graduate courses in counseling, vocational, educational, and industrial psychology as well as for "students in counselor education, guidance and counseling, educational administration and other disciplines." Although the book does have some useful general sections on tests and assessment, it is clear that the real audience for this book is less extensive than the authors state. The examples used, tests reviewed, and issues discussed are chiefly for students in personnel and guidance or vocational psychology. If you are such a student or teach assessment courses to students in these programs, read on. Parts of this book may interest you. If you are a school psychologist or teacher of school psychology, you will find this text limited. The overall organization of the book could have been improved by reviewing the theories of person-environment interaction (upon which the authors claim to base their treatment of assessment) before their discussion of specific assessment tools and integrating a discussion of this theoretical basis throughout the book. In summary, this book does not offer the broad treatment of assessment issues and the focus on the kinds of assessment required in schools which are necessary to school psychologists. It provides some useful reviews of tests for guidance and vocational decision making, some concise explanations of assessment concepts, and a well-written section on some specific testing controversies that may be useful to students in the counseling field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Parent-child interaction and development disabilities: Theory, research, and intervention.

Reviews the book, Parent-child interaction and development disabilities: Theory, research, and intervention by Kofi Marfo (see record 1988-98167-000). The growing interest in social support family-centered interventions for developmentally disabled children has found expression in this volume. The editor has outlined an ambitious set of objectives for the book, including "the integration of theoretical, research and clinical perspectives" on parent-child interactions with handicapped children. While certainly not the first attempt to apply a family focus to this population (e.g., Gallagher & Vietze, 1986), this book provides both a multidisciplinary approach to the field with an emphasis on data presentation. The book is divided into four major parts: (1) social-emotional aspects of parent-child interaction, (2) maternal response style and language development, (3) issues in intervention and evaluation, and (4) a review of parent-child observational systems. Each section is preceded by a brief introduction to the authors and topics to be covered. Although this method of organization enhances the cohesion of each section, certain topics are covered in much greater depth than others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Interpersonal psychotherapy of depression.

Reviews the book, Interpersonal psychotherapy of depression by Gerald L. Klerman, Myrna M. Weissman, Bruce J. Rounsaville, and Eve S. Chevron (1984). The authors state their intention to "describe the theoretical and empirical basis for interpersonal psychotherapy of depression," and also "offer a guide to the planning and conduct of the therapy." They do both, and waste no words. The book is organized into three parts. In the first part, the authors present an overview of the theory of the interpersonal approach of the use of interpersonal psychotherapy for depression, objectively offer both favorable and unfavorable findings from completed studies, and outline several studies in progress. The chapters in Part Two clarify how one conducts interpersonal therapy of depression. Part Three addresses the combination of psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy and the professional requirements of the therapist. This book is clearly written, well referenced, and easily understood by beginners who might not have the perspective, as well as by busy veterans who want to learn something new without plowing through mountains of theory and data. It would be useful for students in training, and extremely valuable to the legions of relatively inexperienced front-line mental health center therapists who are required to use time-limited approaches with depressed patients, often without having much structure for what they are doing. More experienced therapists who treat ambulatory depressed patients will add to their clinical skills and enjoy the process. The authors have turned their manual into a useful book that competes most favorably with other texts on short-term approaches to therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Art therapy with families in crisis: Overcoming resistance through nonverbal expression.

Reviews the book, Art therapy with families in crisis: Overcoming resistance through nonverbal expression, edited by Debra Linesch (see record 1993-97453-000). The aim of this book is to demonstrate the effectiveness of utilizing art therapy within a family therapy context. The editor's explicit intent is "to focus on the nature of the relationship between the art experience and the curative process as it becomes part of treatment intervention." The book contains seven chapters. The first and last chapters are written by the editor. In the first chapter she conceptualizes the "potentially profound connections between the process of making art and the experiences of family therapy" and in the last chapter she summarizes the theoretical framework for the use of family art therapy. Chapters 2 through 6, each written by a different author, provide clinical material and graphic illustrations demonstrating how various forms of art media can become effective tools for enhancing the therapeutic experience. Non-verbal techniques can be productively utilized to tap processes sealed over by defenses such as intellectualization. It remains to be seen whether these techniques can be adapted by the psychotherapist who conducts family therapy but has no previous training in using art therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The adaptive design of the human psyche: Psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology, and the therapeutic process.

Reviews the book, The adaptive design of the human psyche: Psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology, and the therapeutic process by Malcolm O. Slavin and Daniel Kriegman (see record 1992-98703-000). The authors have been "absorbed and possessed" for some 25 years by "vexing questions...about whether psychoanalytic notions about the seemingly irrational, conflict-filled nature of the human mind could be reconciled with the Darwinian search for the fundamentally adaptive designs that govern all living creatures" (p. vii). They are knowledgeable and sophisticated psychoanalytic theorists eminently qualified to address such questions, experienced and insightful clinicians, and deeply informed students of modern evolutionary knowledge and theory. This book records their current thinking; their passionate quest for answers continues. This review discusses three significant contributions this book makes to psychoanalytic thought: (a) Slavin and Kriegman's discussion of how evolutionary biology is relevant to psychoanalytic discourse, (b) their analysis of the underlying assumptions of two main psychoanalytic narratives--the classical and the relational--and their integration of these narratives into a new synthesis informed by evolutionary biology, and (c) their exploration of the hidden adaptive dimensions of familiar psychodynamic processes when these processes are viewed in an evolutionary context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The process of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book "The process of psychotherapy," by H. V. Ingham and L. R. Love (see record 1954-07599-000). In the preface the authors state "This book is an attempt to describe the ways in which a psychotherapist works. . . . Anyone engaged in psychotherapy is concerned with both an understanding of people and an appreciation of the ways of dealing with them. Certainly much more consideration has generally been given to a presentation of dynamic theory or to using the advantages of combining both fields than to efforts at describing how psychotherapy is conducted." The authors have been singularly successful in avoiding raising and discussing problems either of "dynamic theory" or the relation of theory to psychotherapeutic practice. It is difficult to evaluate this book because we are not told for whom it is intended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychologists Caught: A Psychologic of Psychology.

Reviews the book, Psychologists Caught: A Psychologic of Psychology by Lewis Wolfgang Brandt (1982). This book is about metapsychology, the psychology or psycho-logic, of psychologies. Its basic question is: What determines the particular psychology, theory and method, that a psychologist advocates and practices? Consistent with his emphasis on individual psychohistory, Brandt begins his book with an autobiographical chapter explaining how he personally came to reject American behaviourism and to embrace a phenomenological-Gestalt form of psychoanalysis. This work will be found most interesting and liked best by those, who, like Brandt, have a relativistic bent of mind, who are persuaded that Hume and Kant discovered the natural limits of philosophical thought, who read Hayek and Feyerabend with approbation, or who just enjoy vigorous intellectual discussion for its own sake. Behaviourists and other "technical" psychologists will probably not like it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Understanding countertransference: From protective identification to empathy.

Reviews the book, Understanding countertransference: From protective identification to empathy by Michael J. Tansey and Walter F. Burke (see record 1989-97388-000). This book includes an excellent historical review of the literature, including "four decades of silence" (1910-1949) on the subject of countertransference. They offer the reader definitions of important terms such as projective identification, empathy, etc., and also an extended discussion of how countertransference may be used by a psychotherapist to produce good results in the analysis of a patient and how it may also prove destructive. At the end they summarize the "various threads" of the book and suggest possible future work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)