Student–educator sex in clinical and counseling psychology doctoral training.

This study assessed reported rates of sexual liaisons between students and educators during doctoral training in clinical or counseling psychology. One thousand American Psychological Association members (600 women & 400 men) were anonymously surveyed with a mailed questionnaire; response rate was 51%. Though only 2% of the male respondents reported sexual contact with an educator, 15% of the female respondents reported having had such contact. The modal liaison was between a 40-year-old, married male educator and a 30-year-old, single female student in her 2nd year of graduate training. No sexual contacts occurred in the absence of a working relationship. Respondents were, in retrospect, more likely to view the sexual relationship as coercive, ethically problematic, and a hindrance to the working relationship compared to how they viewed it at the time it occurred. The authors suggest changes in professional training and revisions to the ethics code. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlations redux.

Correlational analysis is a cornerstone method of statistical analysis, yet most presentations of correlational techniques deal primarily with tests of significance. The focus of this article is obtaining explicit expressions for confidence intervals for functions of simple, partial, and multiple correlations. Not only do these permit tests of hypotheses about differences but they also allow a clear statement about the degree to which correlations differ. Several important differences of correlations for which tests and confidence intervals are not widely known are included among the procedures discussed. Among these is the comparison of 2 multiple correlations based on independent samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of parents with and without disabilities raising teens: Information from the nhis and two national surveys.

Objectives: To contrast families headed by parents with disabilities raising children ages 11-17 years with families headed by parents without disabilities. Study Design: There were 3 sources of data: (a) the National Health Institute Survey (National Center for Health Statistics, 2000), (b) a previous national survey (L. T. T. Barker & V. Maralani, 1997), (c) a new national survey of parents with disabilities (n = 273) and their teens (ages 11-17 years; n = 246) and a control group of parents without disabilities (n = 48) and their teens (n = 37). Main Measure: Participants completed a survey designed for this study. Results: Parents with disabilities were generally quite similar to parents without disabilities, with some notable differences, particularly in employment and income. Deaf parents exhibited certain differences from parents with other disabilities. Conclusion: Survey responses provided a snapshot of parents with disabilities and their families from community samples, including aspects in which disabled and nondisabled participants were similar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonparametric estimators of effect size in meta-analysis.

When observations are normally distributed, the sample standardized mean difference is a consistent and asymptotically efficient estimator of effect size in meta-analysis. However, in some cases the observations are far from normally distributed, and a nonparametric index of effect magnitude is desirable. The logic of the estimator proposed by H. C. Kraemer and G. Andrews (see record 1982-11171-001) is extended to provide related nonparametric estimators of different parameters that may be appropriate under other experimental conditions. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Survey of Tables of Probability Distributions

This article is a survey of the tables of probability distributions published about or after the publication in 1964 of the Handbook of Mathematical Functions, edited by Abramowitz and Stegun     

Approximations for trimmed Fisher procedures in research synthesis

When combining the results of independent studies it often happens that some studies are potentially aberrant either in quality or in actual values. Because aberrant studies are often at the extremes, we may wish to trim some of the largest and smallest effects. In such a case the use of p-values may well serve as a diagnostic method. However, the use of ordered effects changes the distribution of the underlying statistics. We provide a discussion of the exact distribution of the trimmed version of the Fisher procedure. Because of the complexity of the exact distribution, several approximations are presented. These alternatives are applied to a meta-analysis on the effect of the dose of a drug on the risk of mortality.     

Testing correlated correlations.

Tests for the equality of independent correlations are well-established in the literature, as are tests for the equality of 2 dependent correlations. However, tests for the equality of more than 2 dependent correlations seem not to have been studied. Motivated by a particular set concerning blood pressure for 3 cohorts, we provide large sample tests and related confidence regions for dealing with hypotheses concerning correlated correlations arising from a multivariate normal model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

FFT computation with linear processor arrays using a data-driven control scheme

We consider the practical design of linear controllers to meet a given set ofH ₂ specifications. TheQ-parametrization reduces the problem to a quadratic minimization subject to multiple quadratic constraints, which we solve using semi-definite programming (SDP) methods. Each SDP iteration requires calculating a primal and dual search direction and minimizing the cost function along the plane defined by these search directions. The primal direction requires solving a least squares problem whose normal equation matrix is composed of a block-Toeplitz portion plus other structured matrices. We make use of Kronecker products and FFT's to greatly reduce the calculation. The dual search direction and plane search are accelerated by low-rank representations of the SDP structured matrices.As an example, we design controllers which explore the optimal tradeoff between in-band residual and out-of-band enhancement of acoustic radiation from a (mathematically modeled) submerged spherical shell, while simultaneously constraining two sensitivity measures. For this example we show that significant reduction in out-of-band enhancement is possible with only minor in-band penalties.This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-94-C-0128     

Clustering estimates of effect magnitude from independent studies.

One method of combining results of a series of studies is to calculate the average of the estimates of effect magnitude obtained from each study. The average estimate of effect magnitude may be misleading, however, when all studies do not share a common effect-magnitude parameter. When the effect-magnitude parameters (correlation coefficients or standardized mean differences) are heterogeneous across studies, it is often desirable to cluster studies into groups that are homogeneous with respect to the effect-size parameter. The present paper presents 2 procedures for clustering correlation coefficients and standardized mean differences when each estimator is based on the same number of observations. One procedure yields disjoint clusters and the other yields possibly overlapping clusters. In each case a method for determining the statistical significance level of the clusterings is given. Preliminary tests of homogeneity of a set of correlations or standardized mean differences are also given. The accuracy of the significance levels when estimators are based on different sample sizes is also studied. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child custody evaluations when one divorcing parent has a physical disability.

Objective: To explore how parents' physical disability status might impact the process of divorce-related child custody evaluations and custody decisions, the level of training received by psychologists regarding assessment of parents with physical disabilities, and whether psychologists recognize that testing persons with physical disabilities requires specialized knowledge. Study Design: Survey mailed in 4 waves. Participants: 206 child custody evaluators (31% response rate). Outcome Measures: A survey regarding custody evaluations, a custody questionnaire, evaluation practices, education and training regarding disability, demographics, and a question about the purpose of the study. Results: Almost 70% had performed ≥1 child custody evaluation involving a parent with a physical disability. Over 85% of participants reported no training with regard to such evaluations, and 49% reported no training regarding any disability issues. 65% stated they would use the same tests without modifications, regardless of disability status of the parent. Conclusions: Recommendations include mandated training on disability for child custody evaluators, graduate training on disability accommodations in assessment, specifying conditions when evaluating parents with disabilities, more information regarding accommodations in custody evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)