A state of anarchy and a call to arms: The research and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder

Despite rapid growth and high visibility since the publication of DSM III, the research and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder have generally been characterized by confusion and a failure to generalize from or to build on earlier findings and clinical experience. Several structural, psychological, and political reasons why this particular field is fraught with such confusion are discussed.     

Ecological and ethical issues in virtual reality research: A call for increased scrutiny

We argue that moral judgment studies currently conducted utilizing virtual reality (VR) devices must confront a dilemma as a result of how virtual environments are designed and how those environments are experienced. We first begin by describing the contexts present in paradigmatic cases of naturalistic moral judgments. We then compare these contexts to current traditional (vignette-based) and VR-based moral judgment research. We show that, contra to paradigmatic cases, vignette-based and VR-based moral judgment research often fails to accurately model the situational features of paradigmatic moral judgments. In particular, we compare and contrast six recent VR studies to support our view that only simulations high in context-realism and perspectival-fidelity can produce “virtually-real experiences.” After analyzing the constituents of a virtually-real experience, we go on to propose guidelines for the creation of VR studies. These guidelines serve two purposes. First, we aim to increase the ecological validity of such studies to advance our understanding of moral judgments. Second, we believe that such guidelines should inform how Institutional Review Boards assess VR research. We show that our guidelines are urgently needed, given the current lax review standards in place.     

The professional identity of counselling psychologists in health care: a review and call for research

Despite (a) anecdotal evidence which suggests that it is possible to be a counselling psychologist in non-traditional settings, and (b) the potential integration of counselling psychology foci with the medical model, there has been some discussion about whether counselling psychologists who practice in health care settings might experience a change in their professional identity. Professional identity is defined here as a sense of connection to the values and emphases of counselling psychology. The retention of professional identity seems important for counselling psychologists in health care settings. This is considering that the application of counselling psychology principles has the potential to make their contributions unique among mental health professionals in the health care arena. Here, the authors describe the evolution of ‘counselling health psychology’ and address issues of professional identity. Limitations of existing literature are examined. Recommendations for future research are also made.     

The state of mentoring research: A qualitative review of current research methods and future research implications

Research regarding mentoring relationships has flourished during the past 20 years. This article reviews the methodology and content of 200 published mentoring articles. Some of the major concerns raised in this review include over reliance on cross-sectional designs and self-report data, a failure to differentiate between different forms of mentoring (e.g., formal versus informal), and a lack of experimental research. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.     

The state of mentoring research: A qualitative review of current research methods and future research implications

Research regarding mentoring relationships has flourished during the past 20 years. This article reviews the methodology and content of 200 published mentoring articles. Some of the major concerns raised in this review include over reliance on cross-sectional designs and self-report data, a failure to differentiate between different forms of mentoring (e.g., formal versus informal), and a lack of experimental research. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.     

The inclusion of antisocial behavior in the construct of psychopathy: A review of the research

The psychopathic personality, or the construct of this disorder, has a long and contentious history. Psychopathy has been identified anecdotally for centuries; however, the ability to accurately define this construct continues to challenge researchers and clinicians. Of preliminary concern is the relevance of antisocial behavior to this disorder. Theoretical conceptualizations of psychopathy have changed over the past 65 years. Some have stressed the interpersonal and affective deficits of psychopathy [Cleckley, H. (1941). The mask of sanity (1st ed.). St. Louis, MO:C.V. Mosby.], while later conceptualizations have included both personality traits as well as antisocial behavior as criteria of psychopathy [Hare, R. D. (1991/2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems]. This article will review the literature, particularly the relevance of antisocial behavior to the core personality structure of the psychopath. In doing so, historical theories will be reviewed, followed by later theoretical and empirical research. A great deal of this research has been conducted over the past 15 years, since the publication of the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; [Hare, R. D. (1991/2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems]). The PCL-R has provided the field of psychopathy research with a consistent measurement device, and, therefore will be discussed at length. The limitations of the psychopathy construct will be discussed as well as needed future research and the policy implications of such research.     

The viability of crowdsourcing for survey research

Online contract labor portals (i.e., crowdsourcing) have recently emerged as attractive alternatives to university participant pools for the purposes of collecting survey data for behavioral research. However, prior research has not provided a thorough examination of crowdsourced data for organizational psychology research. We found that, as compared with a traditional university participant pool, crowdsourcing respondents were older, were more ethnically diverse, and had more work experience. Additionally, the reliability of the data from the crowdsourcing sample was as good as or better than the corresponding university sample. Moreover, measurement invariance generally held across these groups. We conclude that the use of these labor portals is an efficient and appropriate alternative to a university participant pool, despite small differences in personality and socially desirable responding across the samples. The risks and advantages of crowdsourcing are outlined, and an overview of practical and ethical guidelines is provided.     

Entrepreneurship research and practice: a call to action for psychology

Entrepreneurship is a major source of employment, economic growth, and innovation, promoting product and service quality, competition, and economic flexibility. It is also a mechanism by which many people enter the society's economic and social mainstream, aiding culture formation, population integration, and social mobility. This article aims to illuminate research opportunities for psychologists by exposing gaps in the entrepreneurship literature and describing how these gaps can be filled. A "call to action" is issued to psychologists to develop theory and undertake empirical research focusing on five key topic areas: the personality characteristics of entrepreneurs, the psychopathology of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial cognition, entrepreneurship education, and international entrepreneurship. Methodological issues are discussed and recommendations provided. It is shown that psychologists can help identify the factors that influence new venture creation and success and inform the construction of public policy to facilitate entrepreneurship.     

A call for research on planned vs. unplanned suicidal behavior

Unplanned acts of suicidal behavior involve little preparation or forethought whereas planned acts may be carefully conceived and implemented. Planned acts are associated with greater depression, hopelessness, and lethality, but there are meager data on other factors associated with planning. The prevention of planned and unplanned acts may require different strategies, but in either case improved knowledge is required to tailor prevention efforts. Improved knowledge can be facilitated by the acceleration of validation studies on assessments of planning, taking steps to avoid the conflation of assessments of planning with measurements of psychopathology such as impulsivity, and the use of controlled research designs.     

Women as victims of corporate crime: A call for research on a neglected topic

Criminologists have paid less attention to white‐collar than to street crime, to victims than to offenders, and to women than to men, either as victims or as offenders. In fact, we have been unable to locate even a single study that focuses specifically on women as victims of corporate crime. We present several case studies that indicate that women are indeed often victimized by corporate activities. We argue that research on this topic is both necessary and timely. Feminist analysis may explain why little attention has been paid to this issue so far and also provides a theoretical framework for future research.     

Evolution and relationships: A call for integration

In this introduction to the special issue on evolutionary approaches to relationships, we first review some of the major theories and milestones that have shaped and informed modern evolutionary thinking. In doing so, we discuss some of the major evolutionary theories that are most relevant to interpersonal relationships, and we describe how these theories are structurally linked. We then discuss the importance of theorizing about and studying phenomena from multiple levels of explanation–ultimate, ontogenetic, and proximate. Several misconceptions that continue to plague evolutionary psychology are then discussed, and we suggest ways in which evolutionary psychologists have unwittingly created, perpetuated, or sometimes exacerbated certain misconceptions. We conclude that the science of relationships could benefit from an infusion of more evolutionary thinking, and we propose that evolutionary psychology could benefit by having more relationship researchers.     

Violent children and youth: A call for attention

Journal of Behavioral Education -     

A call for dialogue: psychotherapists and psychologists specialising in psychotherapy

The development of psychotherapy as an independent discipline in many countries in Europe has stimulated debate within the field of psychology as to what constitutes psychotherapy as a specialism of psychology. The authors, both clinical psychologists who pursued further training in psychotherapy, offer a reflection in this paper on the historical battle between psychiatry and psychology for ‘ownership’ of psychotherapy, describe recent developments in Europe to clarify this specialism within psychology and discuss the distinctive contributions that psychologists offer in developing psychotherapy as a specialism within the discipline. The aim of the paper is to begin a dialogue both within the profession of psychology and outside the profession, with our psychotherapy colleagues, that can develop into an interdisciplinary discourse and a more mutually respectful professional environment.     

Scientific LogAnalyzer: a web-based tool for analyses of server log files in psychological research.

Scientific LogAnalyzer is a platform-independent interactive Web service for the analysis of log files. Scientific LogAnalyzer offers several features not available in other log file analysis tools--for example, organizational criteria and computational algorithms suited to aid behavioral and social scientists. Scientific LogAnalyzer is highly flexible on the input side (unlimited types of log file formats), while strictly keeping a scientific output format. Features include (1) free definition of log file format, (2) searching and marking dependent on any combination of strings (necessary for identifying conditions in experiment data), (3) computation of response times, (4) detection of multiple sessions, (5) speedy analysis of large log files, (6) output in HTML and/or tab-delimited form, suitable for import into statistics software, and (7) a module for analyzing and visualizing drop-out. Several methodological features specifically needed in the analysis of data collected in Internet-based experiments have been implemented in the Web-based tool and are described in this article. A regression analysis with data from 44 log file analyses shows that the size of the log file and the domain name lookup are the two main factors determining the duration of an analysis. It is less than a minute for a standard experimental study with a 2 x 2 design, a dozen Web pages, and 48 participants (ca. 800 lines, including data from drop-outs). The current version of Scientific LogAnalyzer is freely available for small log files. Its Web address is http://genpsylab-logcrunsh.unizh.ch/.     

Internet accessibility and usage among urban adolescents in Southern California: implications for web-based health research.

The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual's characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California. Measures of Internet use included Internet use at school or at home, Email use, chat-room use, and Internet favoring. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations between Internet uses with selected demographic, psychosocial, behavioral variables and self-reported health statuses. The proportion of students who could access the Internet at school or home was 90% and 40%, separately. Nearly all (99%) of the respondents could access the Internet either at school or at home. Higher SES and Asian ethnicity were associated with higher internet use. Among those who could access the Internet and after adjusting for the selected demographic and psychosocial variables, depression was positively related with chat-room use and using the Internet longer than 1 hour per day at home, and hostility was positively related with Internet favoring (All ORs = 1.2 for +1 STD, p < 0.05). Less parental monitoring and more unsupervised time were positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (ORs for +1 STD ranged from 1.2 to 2.0, all p < 0.05), but not related to at school Internet use. Substance use was positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (OR for "used" vs. "not used" ranged from 1.2 to 4.0, p < 0.05). Self-reported health problems were associated with higher levels of Internet use at home but lower levels of Internet use at school. More physical activity was related to more email use (OR = 1.3 for +1 STD), chat room use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD), and at school ever Internet use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD, all p < 0.05). Body mass index was not related to any of the Internet use-related measures. In this ethnically diverse sample of Southern California 7(th) grade students, 99% could access the Internet at school and/or at home. This suggests that the Internet is already a potential venue for large scale health communication studies. Adolescents with more psychosocial risk factors or detrimental health behaviors were more likely to use the Internet. Therefore, if used properly, Internet interventions could effectively address the high risk populations. Additional research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the positive and negative consequences of Internet use among adolescents.     

Science and behavior therapy: A survey of research in the 1970s

A representative sample of a decade of contributors to the journals Behavior Therapy, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry was asked to report on their motivations for conducting studies that had been published in that journal. Results indicated that the primary motivation of behavioral researchers was to build on prior research through gathering and analysis of data to illuminate applied-clinical issues and validate treatment procedures. Few researchers reported consultation arrangements or efforts to replicate as their motivation for research. Most respondents described the training model in which they had received their doctoral education as oriented toward a scientist-practitioner approach rather than one that focused primarily on research, therapy or assessment training. Most respondents noted that their philosophy of behavior therapy at the time of the study in question to be applied behavior analysis or social-learning theory with far less being affiliated with a neobehavioristic mediational S-R model or cognitive behavior modification. These results are discussed within the context of the relevance of clinical research in behavior therapy and professional psychology.     

The judgment comes with healing in its wings: A call for rational detachment

The necessity to criticize Pellegrino and Thomasma's ‘A philosophical basis of medical practice’ on all methodological levels of scientific practice is defended; a transcendental critique such as their approach is inconsistent with the possibility of science, a theoretical refutation of their work which is internally inconsistent due to its phenomenological/pragmatic stand, an empirical critique of their readings of historical and sociological findings, and a rejection of the possible application of their approach as its social effects sustain or enhance ideological notions about health, healing and the medical practice. Due to the scope of the work under criticism and the breadth of our critique, we cannot give a detailed account on every issue mentioned here.