Gold medal award for life achievement in the applications of psychology: Paul Everett Meehl.

Presents the citation and biography for Paul Everett Meehl, recipient of the American Psychological Association's Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Applications of Psychology. Meehl received this award for seminal contribution to the understanding and measurement of personality and the prediction of human behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paul E. Meehl as Scientist and Colleague.

The author summarizes some of his memories and thoughts concerning Paul E. Meehl as a scientist and colleague. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizotaxia, schizotypy, and schizophrenia: Paul E. Meehl's blueprint for the experimental psychopathology and genetics of schizophrenia.

Paul E. Meehl proposed a model of the cause and pathogenesis of schizophrenia and related states in the early 1960s (Meehl, 1962), which he later revised in 1990 (Meehl, 1990). His model emphasized a genetically influenced aberration in neural transmission that could eventuate in clinical schizophrenia, nonpsychotic schizotypic states, or apparent normalcy depending on the coexistence of other factors. His model embodied the core ideas of the diathesis-stressor framework that would come to dominate experimental and developmental psychopathology for the next 40 years. The author reviews Meehl's model of schizotaxia, schizotypy, and schizophrenia and reviews and clarifies some frequent misunderstandings of the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meehl's contribution to clinical versus statistical prediction.

Paul E. Meehl's work on the clinical versus statistical prediction controversy is reviewed. His contributions included the following: putting the controversy center stage in applied psychology; clarifying concepts underpinning the debate (especially his crucial distinction between ways of gathering data and ways of combining them) as well as establishing that the controversy was real and not concocted, analyzing clinical inference from both theoretical and probabilistic points of view, and reviewing studies that compared the accuracy of these 2 methods of data combination. Meehl's (1954/1996) conclusion that statistical prediction consistently outperforms clinical judgment has stood up extremely well for half a century. His conceptual analyses have not been significantly improved since he published them in the 1950s and 1960s. His work in this area contains several citation classics, which are part of the working knowledge of all competent applied psychologists today. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paul E. Meehl's Contributions to Personality Assessment.

Many of Meehl's interests converged in his work on personality assessment. In empirical research, development of the K scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and various scales of other tests are noteworthy, but his most profound contributions were conceptual and philosophical. Essays on the role of base rates in clinical decision and on construct validity in psychological tests provided vital insights on core issues in assessment. The concept of nomological nets allowed systematic investigation of unobservable theoretical entities, with liberating effects on all natural sciences. An active clinician, Meehl understood deeply the complexities of professional service, but his insistence on empirical validation as the ultimate arbiter of the value of any procedure required all attainable rigor in the scientific foundations of clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paul Meehl: Past and future lessons for the field.

Paul Everett Meehl (1920-2003) was an intellectual giant who made important contributions to several fields of thought. The present special section focuses on his contributions to psychopathology, personality, and methods of psychological inquiry. The editors identified six specific topic areas within these broad domains and invited a specialist on each topic to write a discussion. These authors were invited to review Meehl's contributions and clarify their historical significance and current relevance. In addition, two authors contributed personal perspectives on Meehl, revealing that Meehl profoundly affected psychological science by routes other than his publications and formal talks. Rather, his voluminous correspondence and his personal relationships allowed him to engage numerous colleagues in his passionate pursuit of ideas and insights. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paul Meehl as methodologist-philosopher of science: The formulation of metascience.

Paul Meehl's contributions to methodology and the philosophy of science extend well beyond his widely known writings in such areas as construct validity and statistical significance testing. I describe one of Meehl's less well-known, but potentially most important, methodological undertakings: his work on metascience, or the science of science. Metascience could ultimately revolutionize our conceptualizations and understanding of science and provide considerable help to practicing scientists and scientific endeavors, including efforts to advance the development and appraisal of theories in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Carving nature at its joints: Paul Meehl's development of taxometrics.

This article presents a brief summary of Paul Meehl's development of taxometrics. Of special concern is the question, Why did Paul Meehl develop taxometrics? It is shown that taxometrics played an integral role in Meehl's broader research program on the genetics of schizotaxia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for distinguished professional contributions to knowledge: Paul E. Meehl.

Recognizing the diversity of roles and activities in which many professional psychologists are engaged, beginning in 1979, Professional Awards have been presented to individual members of the Association whose distinguished contributions have served to advance psychology as a profession in the areas of knowledge, professional practice, and public service. In 1993, the recipient of the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge was Paul E. Meehl. Meehl's citation, biography, and selected bibliography are presented here. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)