COMPsych: A computerized software information system

This paper describes the development of COMPsych, a computerized system to disseminate information about software dealing with ail aspects of psychology. The need for such a service, the various components, and the general operation of the system are described. The system will contain a catalog of commercial and public domain software, a library of freeware, a directory of computer users, and a bulletin board.     

MacPsych: An electronic discussion list and archive for psychology concerning the Macintosh computer

MacPsych is an electronic mail discussion list and an electronic archive for those using the Macintosh in psychology. The discussion list allows psychologists from around the world to ask questions and discuss issues relating to the use of the Macintosh in psychology. The archive is a place where list members may share software and other files of relevance. The Society for Computers in Psychology sponsors the discussion list, and the journalBehavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers has designated the archive as the distribution site for Macintosh software and files described in its pages. Those interested may join the list by sending electronic mail to macpsych-request@stolaf.edu. The archive can be accessed via anonymous ftp at ftp.stolaf.edu in the directory pub/macpsych.     

The development of counselling psychology in a clinical psychology service

This paper will describe one Clinical Psychology department's efforts to incorporate Counselling Psychology into the service. It is written from the experience of the Chartered Counselling Psychologist.     

SuperLab: General-purpose Macintosh software for human experimental psychology and psychological testing

SuperLab is a general-purpose psychology testing package for the Macintosh. SuperLab presents static visual and auditory stimuli in blocks of trials, each trial consisting of a user-specified sequence of stimuli. Responses can be recorded from the keyboard or from switches connected to an I/O board. Stimuli can be contingent on subjects’ responses, allowing feedback based on response accuracy. Timing uses Time Manager routines from the Macintosh Toolbox. Data are recorded in a text format with tabs delimiting fields, allowing analysis and presentation by other Macintosh spreadsheet, statistics, and graph-making applications. SuperLab has a Macintosh user interface for developing experiments. Psychological tasks can also be designed and modified with any application that generates a text format file.     

Pocket-sized psychology studies: Exploring daily diary software for Palm Pilots

Daily dairies, also known as experience sampling methods (ESM) or everyday experience methods, are a common methodology utilized to provide insight into momentary psychological processes. Traditionally, such studies often have utilized paper-and-pencil surveys administered several times each day over a span of several days or weeks. However, advances in technology now allow these studies to be conducted using palmtop computers (i.e., personal digital assistants; PDAs). Three software packages for running these studies on the Palm operating system were explored and compared on a number of features. Specifically, ESP (Experience Sampling Program, by Feldman Barrett & Barrett, 2001), iESP Version 3.2 (Intel Experience Sampling Program, by Intel Research Seattle & the University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering Department), and PMAT Version 2.0 (Purdue Momentary Assessment Tool, by the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University) were examined, with their key features compared. These advances in software for running diary studies include a number of features that provide researchers with methods and information previously unavailable in diary studies and may expand the range of possibilities in diary study designs.     

Emergency psychology: a mobile service for police crisis calls

The Emergency Treatment Center, a new program of crisis intervention services, has been in operation since February 1975. This seven-day-week, twenty-four-hour-a-day program backs up ten Northern California police departments to provide help to people who are experiencing psychological emergencies such as violent family fights, suicide attempts, and severe emotional disturbance; in addition, the Center responds to any kind of crisis call involving adolescents. The population of the area served is approximately 750,000 of whom approximately 110,000 are adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age.     

Guidelines for planning and evaluating school psychology service delivery systems

Contemporary standards of professional practice (e.g., American Psychological Association, 1977) and recent educational compliance legislation (e.g., PL 94–142) emphasize the delivery of appropriate school psychological services geared to a range of school-age children with special needs. Thus, school psychologists must pay increased attention to the development of school psychology service delivery systems. Toward this end, guidelines are presented for planning and evaluating school psychology service delivery systems. The guidelines are set forth in order that school psychologists might consider them and adapt them to local circumstances. The eight principles which comprise the guidelines have been used by the author in planning and evaluating school psychology service delivery systems in several public school districts. One particular school district will serve to illustrate the utilization of the guidelines.     

The state of the psychology health service provider workforce

Numerous efforts to describe the health service provider or clinical workforce in psychology have been conducted during the past 30 years. The American Psychological Association (APA) has studied trends in the doctoral education pathway and the resultant effects on the broader psychology workforce. During this period, the creation and growth of the PsyD degree and the formalization of the predoctoral internship placement system (the APPIC Match) have been well noted, but efforts to gain a complete understanding of professional practice are lacking. Specifically, piecemeal research on the provider workforce has led to the study of specific subpopulations using varying approaches and definitions of those providing direct clinical service. Consequently, estimates of the supply and need for health service providers are distinctly divergent and generate protracted debate in organized psychology. The APA membership directory and the APA Doctorate Employment Surveys have traditionally been relied on for workforce analyses. Yet, these data have become characterized by limited generalizability in recent years because of declining survey response rates and the fact that APA member data may not be as representative of the entire psychology health service provider population as they were previously. The 2008 APA Survey of Psychology Health Service Providers targeted these limitations by including nonmember psychologists in the sampling frame. Results revealed emerging themes in the demographics, work settings, and delivery of health services of the psychology health service provider workforce. Future areas of research for APA and organized psychology to undertake in addressing need and demand are suggested.     

Roles for software technologies in advancing research and theory in educational psychology

While reviews abound on theoretical topics in educational psychology, it is rare that we examine our field's instrumentation development, and what effects this has on educational psychology's evolution. To repair this gap, this paper investigates and reveals the implications of software technologies for researching and theorizing about core issues in educational psychology. From a set of approximately 1,500 articles published between 1999 and 2004, we sampled illustrative studies and organized them into four broad themes: (a) innovative ways to operationalize variables, (b) the changing nature of instructional interventions, (c) new fields of research in educational psychology, and (d) new constructs to be examined. In each area, we identify novel uses of these technologies and suggest how they may advance, and, in some instances, reshape theory and methodology. Overall, we demonstrate that software technologies hold significant potential to elaborate research in the field.     

Postdoctoral education and training for clinical service providers in health psychology

It was recommended by the 1983 National Working Conference on Education and Training in Health Psychology (Stone, 1983) that 2 years of postdoctoral education and training be mandated for future licensed health service providers in health psychology. The background for requiring this postdoctoral training, a model for education, criteria for developing programs, issues of funding, and a rationale for accepting this mandate are presented. Highlighted are the stable and consistent growth of health psychology, the need to expand the period of clinical training to meet the many advances in the field, and the challenges that exist for the fully trained clinical health service provider.     

心理学在社会服务体系中作用的思考——以复原力建设为例

在社会心理服务体系建设中, 心理学到底起着什么样的作用?怎样才能更好地构建全面系统的多主体社会心理服务体系?在社会心理服务体系建设中如何推动心理学自身的发展?这些问题一直受到广大心理学者的关注。以复原力为例, 通过对个体、团队以及社区心理复原力建设路径的理论总结, 加上实践案例, 以期为社会心理服务体系建设提供知识借鉴与参考, 并反思心理学在此过程中的作用与角色。心理学专业研究团队可以通过整合其在社会支持体系中的应用, 推动心理学在社会服务体系中的应用。