Review of Toward a Psychology of the Scientist.

Reviews the book, Toward a Psychology of the Scientist by Sonja C. Graver (1981). The major themes of this highly condensed 92 page book are that all sciences are philosophic and that psychological research provides insight into how scientists formulate and revise theories. The author further contends that the development of science would be enhanced if all scientists (including psychologists) understood the primary importance of the role of theory, imagination and creativity in experimentation. The scientific model suggested is that progress in science occurs by way of reformulations of arbitrary world views, and that scientific activities would be enhanced if the subjective and psychological, particularly cognitive, aspects were stressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Beck Depression Inventory and Research Diagnostic Criteria: Congruence in an Older Population.

This study examined the congruence between conventional cutoff scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and selected diagnostic classifications of the Research Diagnostic Criteria in a sample of 102 elders seeking psychological treatment. Only 16.67% were misclassified by customary BDI cutoff scores. Minor Depressive Disorders were less clearly identified than Major Depressive Disorders or nondepressed status. Similar results were obtained in a second sample of elders not seeking treatment. Findings support the utility of the BDI as a screening instrument for identification of clinically depressed elders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

高职院校学生常见心理障碍分析及对策

根据Symptom Check list-90(简称SCL-90测试)结果看,高职院校学生在强迫症、忧郁、焦虑、敌对、偏执和精神病性等因子上和全国常模比较,存在显差异,并且高于全国常模平均水平。由于社会、家庭、自身等因素的影响,致使高职院校中相当一部分学生出现了不同程度的心理障碍。应采取大力开展心理健康教育、建立评估控制机制、做好心理咨询工作等项对策,帮助这些学生优化心理素质,提高心理健康水平。     

Perinatal exposure in later psychological and behavioral disabilities.

The purpose of this miniseries is to introduce the field of school psychology to prenatal and perinatal exposures that may result in later psychological and behavioral disability. These outcomes often remain clinically silent until later in development, such as school entry, when the cognitive, behavioral, and language tasks become more complex and demanding. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a codified special issue on this topic has appeared in the school psychology literature. We have endeavored to make this issue multidisciplinary and have been fortunate to attract leading figures from the fields of psychiatry, public health, neuropsychology, and school psychology. Each article in this issue discusses the implications for school psychology prevention, assessment, and intervention. Consistent with any progressive model of physical or psychological health, the general consensus of each article is that prevention is essential, and early assessment is clearly desirable to understand etiology and inform intervention. Thus, this Special Issue represents a beginning step toward more fully exploring and conceptualizing the relationship between prenatal and perinatal exposures and later educational and behavioral disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress, coping and psychological illness: A cross-cultural study.

This cross-cultural research study aimed to explore the relationship of stress and coping with psychological illness or symptoms among university students in Canada and India. The predictor variables were stress (hassles and life experience), 8 ways of coping (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988), and selected personal-social variables, namely, locus of control, self-esteem, and social support. The criterion variables were 9 psychological symptoms of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Spencer, 1982). The results revealed that the Indian students reported more psychological symptoms compared to the Canadian students. Stepwise multiple-regression analyses also revealed considerable differences between the 2 samples with respect to the contribution of predictor variables in accounting for variance in the BSI scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality theories facilitate integrating the five principles and deducing hypotheses for testing.

Comments on the original article "A New Big Five: Fundamental Principles for an Integrative Science of Personality," by Dan P. McAdams and Jennifer L. Pals (see record 2006-03947-002). In presenting their view of personality science, McAdams and Pals (April 2006) elaborated the importance of five principles for building an integrated science of personality. These principles are stances on evolution and human nature, dispositional signatures, characteristic adaptations, life narratives, and the differential role of culture. Their main emphasis involved differentiating these principles and indicating that they are all relevant to understanding personality. The discussion by McAdams and Pals certainly illuminates the various aspects of personality, but it also cries out for some greater, more systematic integration of the five principles into particular kinds of personality. It is not yet possible, in their approach, to identify different types of personality orientation and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of these orientations. As presented, their approach may be considered a start but hardly a finish. Here, the current author suggests that the metatheory of personality theories that he has proposed (Maddi, 1969/1996) could accelerate the needed integration of the five proposed principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative emotional memories in clinical treatment: Theoretical considerations.

The pursuit of empirically supported therapies has resulted in controversy and further division between practicing and academic clinicians. The current article provides an overview of a clinical biopsychological model that may serve to guide assessment and treatment of many psychological problems, with a selective review of the literature supporting the model. One particular area, negative emotional memories, is discussed in theoretical and practical terms as related to the development of clients' psychological problems and how certain therapists' behaviors can positively and negatively affect clients. Next, the theorized effects of psychological treatments on negative memories are discussed. The article concludes with a call for efforts to pursue a neuropsychological model of treatment based on hypothesized causal factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological assessment of candidates for solid organ transplantation.

The role of psychologists, who can assist in preparing clients for transplant surgery and support them postsurgery to sustain the complex maintenance protocol, is outlined. An overview of specific procedures used in the psychological evaluation and treatment of solid organ transplant patients, a discussion of general issues involved in treating these patients, and case vignettes are provided. As transplants become more common, the need for additional psychologists as part of multidisciplinary treatment teams increases. Because many patients live great distances from the transplant center, community psychologists may be enlisted to treat organ transplant patients and to collaborate with psychologists on transplant teams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practical and ethical assessment issues in rural, impoverished, and managed care settings.

The rising costs of new psychological tests, increased frequency of test revisions, and difficulty receiving authorization and reimbursement from managed care companies make it increasingly difficult for practitioners to provide the best standard of care to clients when conducting psychological and neuropsychological assessments. Practitioners, especially those in low-income and rural areas, may struggle with handling these practical realities while maintaining ethical standards in conducting psychological assessment. Suggestions for how to manage practical challenges faced by practitioners who provide psychological assessments, such as selecting tests when authorization or reimbursement by a third-party payer is restricted or denied, purchasing psychological tests on a budget, and providing assessments with a limited number of qualified staff are discussed. The authors also provide recommendations for the future prevention of these challenges through work with test developers, test publishing corporations, third-party payers, political action groups, and the psychology profession itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multicultural assessment supervision model to guide research and practice.

Multicultural assessment supervision is supervision of an assessment process in which the person assessed and the assessor are from different cultural backgrounds, the supervisor and the trainee are from different cultural backgrounds, or an instrument used in the assessment was developed with a cultural group different from that of the person assessed. A multicultural assessment competency model is presented to guide research and practice in multicultural assessment supervision. The model describes multicultural assessment competence areas, supervisor characteristics, supervision process variables, and supervision task areas important in the development of cultural competence in assessment practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)