The psychology of personhood: Conditions for a viable, neo-meadian pluralism

Two conditions for a potentially viable pluralism, based on recent interpretations of the work of George Herbert Mead, are discussed: (1) a shared conception of the psychological person acting in the biophysical and sociocultural world, and (2) a willingness to engage across differing sub-disciplinary perspectives. Even with these conditions in place, any such pluralism still faces significant challenges in avoiding ever-present challenges of creeping imperialism and interdisciplinary gloss.     

Celebrating argument within psychology: Dialogue,negation, and feminist critique

This article explores the celebratory aspect of psychological theories. In particular, it examines the celebration of dialogue, argumentation, and negativity, which is contained within recent critical theories of psychology. This psychological approach is compared with cognitive psychology's celebration of monologue. The relations between dialogical/rhetorical psychology and feminist critiques are examined. Following Habermas, it is suggested that it is necessary to point to instances of unconstrained argumentation in order to show that the utopian elements in the celebration of argument are based upon a realized psychology. It is suggested that one can look to the voices of women for such instances, in order to avoid incorporating patriarchal structures into the celebration. One such instance reveals the self-reflexivity of argumentation, and that the celebration of argument also involves preserving argumentation's other. Thus, the resulting argumentative psychology should not only be self-reflexive but should itself express and preserve its own sense of otherness.     

Adolescent popularity: A positive psychology course with a developmental foundation

Because positive psychology is still an emerging subfield, it can often be difficult to fit dedicated positive psychology courses into academic curricula, particularly at small colleges. This article describes ‘Adolescent Popularity’, a Special Topics course with a ‘balanced’ view of peer interactions that can fit naturally within the developmental offerings of most colleges. The course curriculum focuses on popularity-relevant issues of measurement (both quantitative and qualitative), social behaviors/characteristics (e.g., prosocial behavior, physical attractiveness, athletic achievement, and aggression), and peer relationships (including friendships, romantic relationships, and social groups). Suggested primary readings and course assignments are outlined. Ultimately, the goal of this course is for students to gain a deep understanding of popularity and peer relations during adolescence, as well as a general appreciation for the importance of researching positive aspects of human behavior.     

Requiem for analytical psychology: a reflection on Jung's (anti)catastrophic psychology

This article is an interpretation of analytical psychology in the light of the catastrophic vision and dreams that Jung had in 1913 and 1914. It is shown how the guiding spirit of Jung's psychological project is to be found in that psychic material. Then it is proposed that the completion of the symbolic catastrophe displayed in Jung's last vision (1961) points to the end of the psychological foundations upon which analytical psychology is built, and thus to its cultural obsolescence, extensive to any psychology grounded in Jung's notion of ‘soul’.     

Nurse psychologists: A unique group within health psychology

Since the mid-1980s commonalities between nursing and psychology have been explored, with subsequent establishment of a Nursing and Health Psychology Committee within the American Psychological Association's Division 38. A survey was undertaken to study this little-known, unique cadre of individuals with dual preparation in both nursing and psychology. Participants were queried regarding their educational preparations in both disciplines, current employment, theoretical and/or research interests, and current projects. Results of the survey provide information about the characteristics of this group. Dual preparation appears to offer certain advantages for the practice of health psychology.     

University psychology clinics in Australia: Their place in professional training

Abstract: There is universal recognition of the need for developmentally appropriate supervised clinical experience in professional psychology training. University clinics were established to provide a bridging function for postgraduate clinical psychology students, assisting the integration of psychological theory and research into real‐world clinical applications and professional identity development. The aim of training in university clinics is to provide opportunities for clinical practice and high‐quality supervision to monitor and shape clinical skills. The experiences gained in external practicum settings complement this initial training but cannot replace it. The recent introduction of Medicare rebates for psychology services has threatened the survival of university clinics because low‐cost psychological treatment is now available from experienced practitioners. This paper provides data on Australian university clinics collected before the introduction of Medicare. Concerted efforts are needed to protect university clinics in order to maintain standards required for accreditation of clinical psychology training programs. The potential impact of the loss of university training clinics is discussed and strategies to ensure their survival are suggested.     

Radio psychology: A comparison of listeners and non-listeners

The major objective of this study was the application of help-seeking models to the study of radio psychology. A total of 443 subjects was divided into two research groups, non-listeners (n = 246) and listeners (n = 197) to at least one of two Israeli radio counselling programmes dealing with parent-child and interpersonal relationships. Through telephone interviews the subjects' responses to the instruments designed specifically for this type of study were reported: listening motivations, attitudes towards psychological help and reasons for non-listening. The results revealed that while listeners do not necessarily perceive themselves as help-seekers they, as well as the non-listeners, attributed listening to the motivations of curiosity, comparison with others and attaining psychological knowledge. The results suggested that listening to radio psychology programmes is a means of facilitating the earlier stages of the help-seeking process.     

Mathematical psychology: Prospects for the 21st century: A guest editorial

The twenty-first century is certainly in progress by now, but hardly well underway. Therefore, I will take that modest elasticity in concept as a frame for this essay. This frame will serve as background for some of my hopes and gripes about contemporary psychology and mathematical psychology’s place therein. It will also act as platform for earnest, if wistful thoughts about what might have (and perhaps can still) aid us in forwarding our agenda and what I see as some of the promising avenues for the future. I loosely structure the essay into a section about mathematical psychology in the context of psychology at large and then a section devoted to prospects within mathematical psychology proper. The essay can perhaps be considered as in a similar spirit, although differing in content, to previous editorial-like reviews of general or specific aspects of mathematical psychology such as [Estes, W. K. (1975). Some targets for mathematical psychology. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 12, 263-282; Falmagne, J. C. (2005). Mathematical psychology: A perspective. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 49, 436-439; Luce, R. D. (1997). Several unresolved conceptual problems of mathematical psychology. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 41, 79-87] that have appeared in this journal.     

Dirty work, clean hands: The moral psychology of indirect agency

When powerful people cause harm, they often do so indirectly through other people. Are harmful actions carried out through others evaluated less negatively than harmful actions carried out directly? Four experiments examine the moral psychology of indirect agency. Experiments 1A, 1B, and 1C reveal effects of indirect agency under conditions favoring intuitive judgment, but not reflective judgment, using a joint/separate evaluation paradigm. Experiment 2A demonstrates that effects of indirect agency cannot be fully explained by perceived lack of foreknowledge or control on the part of the primary agent. Experiment 2B indicates that reflective moral judgment is sensitive to indirect agency, but only to the extent that indirectness signals reduced foreknowledge and/or control. Experiment 3 indicates that effects of indirect agency result from a failure to automatically consider the potentially dubious motives of agents who cause harm indirectly. Experiment 4 demonstrates an effect of indirect agency on purchase intentions.     

Positive psychology: Past,present, and (possible) future

A survey study and two experiments were done to test the hypothesis that social flow is more enjoyable than solitary flow. In the survey study it was found that recalled social flow experiences were rated more enjoyable than solitary flow experiences. In the first experiment when challenge and skill were the same across social and solitary conditions, social flow was reported to be more enjoyable than solitary flow. In the second experiment when the level of social interdependence was manipulated it was found that participants in highly interdependent teams reported more joy in flow than individuals performing less interdependently. In both experiments, people playing simple paddleball games reported and expressed more joy performing with others than alone. Taken together, the three investigations support the conclusion that doing it together is better than doing it alone. Solitary flow, while quite enjoyable, is not as enjoyable as social flow.     

Parallel lives: Community psychology in Latin America and the United States

Comparing the history of community psychology as it developed in the U.S. during the 1960s with the community psychology that developed 10 years later in Latin America, one is reminded of the title of Plutarch’s masterpice,Parallel Lives. Although there was very little contact or communication between the first community psychologists in these regions, very similar principles and orientations evolved. These similarities are particularly striking given the many ways in which the U.S. and Latin American contexts and histories differ. Since most readers are expected to be familiar with the history of community psychology as it developed in the U.S., this paper focuses primarily on the development of community psychology in Latin America in order to highlight areas of convergence as well as divergence from the U.S. experience. This paper is based on an address presented at the Fourth Biennial Conference, Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association, William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1993. The author acknowledges the valuable help received from J. R. Newbrough and from the referees in the revision of this paper.     

The growth of developmental thought: Implications for a new evolutionary psychology

Evolution has come to be increasingly discussed in terms of changes in developmental processes rather than simply in terms of changes in gene frequencies. This shift is based in large part on the recognition that since all phenotypic traits arise during ontogeny as products of individual development, a primary basis for evolutionary change must be variations in the patterns and processes of development. Further, the products of development are epigenetic, not just genetic, and this is the case even when considering the evolutionary process. These insights have led investigators to reconsider the established notion of genes as the primary cause of development, opening the door to research programs focused on identifying how genetic and non-genetic factors coact to guide and constrain the process of development and its outcomes. I explore this growth of developmental thought and its implications for the achievement of a unified theory of heredity, development, and evolution and consider its implications for the realization of a new, developmentally based evolutionary psychology.     

Positive organizational psychology,behavior, and scholarship: A review of the emerging literature and evidence base

The positive psychology movement seems to have stimulated new research and applications well beyond the discipline of traditional psychology. Among the various areas of inquiry, research and scholarship about positive organizations have received considerable attention from both researchers and practitioners. The current review examined the scholarly literature published between 2001 and 2009 on positive organizational psychology to provide a detailed picture of the current state of the field. This review sought to discover the overall growth rate, trends, and prevalent topics in the literature. It also aspired to provide an understanding of the empirical evidence for each topic through in-depth reviews. The findings suggest that there is a growing body of scholarly literature and an emerging empirical evidence base on topics related to positive organizations. Strengths, limitations, and implications of building a practical knowledge base for making significant improvements in the quality of working life and organizational effectiveness are discussed.     

Perceptions of unresponsive others: Attributions,attraction, understandability,and memory of their utterances

Analyses of the rules governing conversation have frequently pointed to the existence of a rule dictating that responses to others' communications should be relevant. Unfortunately, there have been few systematic theoretical analyses of the consequences of violations of the response relevance rule. The present research was designed to extend our previous analyses of the consequences of responsiveness in dyadic interaction to examine in detail the effects of irrelevant response on processing and retention of response content, and attributions concerning the speaker. It was argued that irrelevant responses will be processed and retained more poorly, because the preceding utterance will provide a less adequate context for their interpretation. In addition, it was argued that unresponsiveness will generally be attributed to the lack of one or more of four factors previously suggested to facilitate responsiveness: attention to the other, understanding of the preceding communication, adequate response repertoire, or motivation to be responsive—along with situational (e.g., distraction) or dispositional (e.g., incompetence) reasons for their absence. These processes were examined in the context of a political debate, in which the relevance of candidates' answers to the questions was varied. As expected, response relevance was shown to facilitate processing (as indexed by ratings of clarity and organization) and retention (both recall and recognition memory) of response content. Further, the unresponsive speaker was perceived to have less clearly understood the questions asked, to possess less knowledge of the facts and understanding of the issues concerning the questions raised, and to be less motivated to discuss the issues raised (as opposed to facilitating his self-presentational goals). Moreover, those attributions were accompanied by attributions of dispositional incompetence. Finally, the unresponsive candidate was perceived as less attractive than the responsive candidate.     

Evaluating pediatric psychology consultation services in a medical setting: An example

We examined the nature of referrals to a health center-based pediatric psychology service from 1990 to 1993 and assessed the satisfaction of health professionals with these services. Archival evaluation of 1467 records showed that over half of the consultation requests came from general pediatrics, pediatric neurology, and surgical services and that 70% of the psychological services were delivered on an outpatient basis. The most frequent referrals were for cognitive/neuropsychological evaluation and externalizing behavior problems. Pediatric psychology trainees were involved in 94% of the consultations. Survey of health professionals (n = 143) indicated very high overall satisfaction with the quality of services delivered. Presenting problems yielding the greatest likelihood for future consultation requests were behavior problems, child abuse, coping with illness, and depression/suicide. Results are discussed in the context of previous evaluations of pediatric psychology services and recommendations for future evaluation research.     

The psychology of life construction

The present article analyzes, from a historical perspective, the object of the study in the fields of vocational guidance and career management. It then considers the contemporary need to view workers as collaborators within organizations. Finally, in the third part, it presents tentative principles for the construction of a new paradigm called the psychology of life construction.     

A rose by any other name: Maintaining the name and highlighting the uniqueness of psychology as a health care profession

In this article, we reply to the comments made by Holden and Levant (preceding articles). While we agree with their goals of expanding the scope of practice of psychology, standardizing training, and educating the public and other health care professionals about the field of clinical psychology, we do not agree that changing the discipline's name to psychological physician is a necessary or sufficient means to these ends. We outline the bases for our disagreement with the name change proposal and provide other proposals for reaching the goals set forth by Holden and Levant.