On Empty Bathtubs: A Reply to Meehl

In the present state of ambiguity, negative studies of the validity of psychodiagnostic tests can easily be generated. But such studies throw little light upon the capacities of the tests and are confounded by the utilization of clinical interpretations. It would be most advisable to deal first with the central problems: the need for an integrated theory delineating tests in terms of the areas of optimum assessment and levels tapped; and, the development of realistic expectations on the part of clinicians. The studies frequently cited as throwing question upon the validity of projective tools are rejected on three grounds: the unrealistic wording of the hypotheses (i.e., are these tests valid or invalid, rather than under what circumstances and in what areas are the tests valid); the failure to consider the populations and the background experience of the clinician; and the methodological weaknesses in the designs of the studies. While the author admits that in the long run Meehl may turn out to be correct in suggesting that projective techniques have little value, at the present time Meehl's case for such a conclusion seems weak and should not serve as a deterrent for further investigations and proper utilization of projective techniques.     

Improving construct validity: Cronbach, Meehl, and Neurath's ship

Smith's article "On Construct Validity: Issues of Method and Measurement" is a fine tribute to L. J. Cronbach and P. E. Meehl (1955) that clarifies the current state and future directions in the understanding of construct validity. Construct validity is a dynamic process, and fit indices need to be used at the service of understanding, not in place of it. The failure of a study or set of studies to support a construct, a measure, or the theory underlying it admits of many explanations, and the ways scientists interpret such failures are prone to cognitive biases and motivated reasoning. This suggests why metrics designed to index the extent to which observations match expectations can be useful prostheses to scientific judgments. As P. E. Meehl (1954) showed decades ago, quantitative, statistical formulas and indices tend to outperform informal, qualitative judgments, and this applies as much to the way researchers evaluate constructs and measures as to judgments in the consulting room.     

Six approaches to the explication of facet-level traits: examples from conscientiousness

Proponents of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality have argued for somewhat different conceptualizations of the factors. Ultimately, the factors are best understood by a specification of the traits (or facets) that define them, and these facets in turn must be clearly conceptualized. Using as examples the Conscientiousness facet scales of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, we discuss six approaches to understanding facet-level traits: (i) rational analysis of item content; (ii) characterization of the low pole, the psychological opposite; (iii) interpretation of external correlates; (iv) examination of secondary and tertiary factor loadings; (v) translation into the specialized languages of applied psychology; and (vi) case studies. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Augmentation-reduction and pain: reply to petrie

The comments by Petrie (1978) on our earlier paper (Elton, et al., 1978) are discussed. Clarification of procedures demonstrates that Petrie's comments do not warrant any modification of our conclusion that the relationship between perceptual reactance and pain has not been clearly established.     

Early education,intellectual development,and school performance: A reply to Arthur Jensen and J. McVicker Hunt

In this response to the critiques by Arthur Jensen and J. McVicker Hunt, we focus on three issues that clarity the results and conclusions of our original paper. These issues include the meaning of g, the permanence of effects produced by early education, and the educational significance of IQ gains produced by early education programs. In addition, since the nature of longitudinal studies insures the accumulation of new data to test and refine conclusions drawn from earlier data, we begin by briefly summarizing new data from our study pertinent to these three issues.     

Accreditation: A reply to mathers

Accreditation in counselling is meant not for the benefit of the counsellor but for the protection of the public. It is concerned more with guaranteeing certain standards of ethics than with the acclamation of status. Whatever method is used, it must avoid the pitfalls of conservatism and academicism which in other professions have been jointly responsible for the attack on accreditation itself as a process. Those involved in counselling and psychotherapy should not wait passively until Parliament acts, but need to be critically involved in bringing into being a system of accreditation which is both flexible and creative.     

High school drinking and its consequences

The present study surveyed 930 high school students regarding self-reported alcohol use, their perceptions of parents and peers, and the negative consequences of drinking. Two-fifths of males and one-fifth of females reported frequent problem (binge) drinking. Problem drinkers reported more negative consequences associated with drinking. In addition, problem drinkers reported greater susceptibility to peer pressure, perceived their peers as drinking more, and reported less parental monitoring and more use of alcohol by parents. The results demonstrate the importance of both parent and peer variables in adolescent substance use and highlight the negative consequences of drinking reported by high school students.     

High school polydrug users and abusers

Among 433 high school seniors, 12% were determined to be either polydrug users or abusers. In comparison to the non-polydrug users, polydrug users and abusers were significantly more likely to indicate: (1) physical abuse by and many conflicts with parents; (2) self-ratings of lazy, bored, rejected, and unhealthy, (3) serious suicidal thoughts, delinquent behavior, early use of marijuana and alcohol, and the tendency to drink more than six alcoholic drinks at a sitting; and (4) agreement with the following statements: "If something feels good, I usually do it and don't worry about the consequences" and "I try to play as much as possible and work as little as possible." These findings suggest that many polydrug users and abusers are either seeking pleasure or trying to escape pain. Because of the different reasons behind polydrug use, a variety of treatment and prevention strategies will be necessary to curb the polydrug problem among adolescents.     

Vagueness and incoherence: A reply to Burns

I would like to thank Terence Horgan, William Throop and especially my wife, Diane Schwartz, for helpful suggestions for improving this paper and for valuable and insightful discussions on the topic of vagueness. I would also like to thank Ithaca College for generously supporting the work on this paper with a Summer Research Grant.