Ethical Training in Sport Psychology Programs: Current Training Standards

Ethical training in graduate programs is an important part of the professional development process. Such training has taken a position of prominence in both counseling and clinical psychology but seems to be lagging behind in the field of sport psychology. A debate exists about whether such training is necessary and, if so, how it should be provided. An important step in better understanding these issues is to identify how such training is currently taking place. This study surveyed the program directors of sport psychology programs listed in the Directory of Graduate Programs in Applied Sport Psychology (Burke, Sachs, & Schrader, 2002) about the ethical training that takes place in their programs and their perceptions of the preparedness of the students in their programs. Of those contacted, 54% (n = 47) responded to the e-mail based survey. The results from these respondents indicated that 64.4% of programs require training in ethics and that the training was most commonly integrated into other nonethics courses. Overall, respondents did not feel as if students were completely prepared for either the ethical or legal issues that they will face in their professional careers. The importance of ethical training and suggestions for improving ethical training are discussed.     

Graduate Socialization in the Responsible Conduct of Research: A National Survey on the Research Ethics Training Experiences of Psychology Doctoral Students

Little is known about the mechanisms by which psychology graduate programs transmit responsible conduct of research (RCR) values. A national sample of 968 current students and recent graduates of mission-diverse doctoral psychology programs completed a Web-based survey on their research ethics challenges, perceptions of RCR mentoring and department climate, whether they were prepared to conduct research responsibly, and whether they believed psychology as a discipline promotes scientific integrity. Research experience, mentor RCR instruction and modeling, and department RCR policies predicted student RCR preparedness. Mentor RCR instruction, department RCR policies, and faculty modeling of RCR behaviors predicted confidence in the RCR integrity of the discipline. Implications for training are discussed.     

Research Report: Students' knowledge of abnormal psychology

The present study aims to compare whether final year psychology students (n = 26) could answer more items on a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ) correctly on abnormal psychology than prospective psychology candidates (n = 77) and final year engineering students (n = 26). The three groups of students completed MCQs in five different fields of abnormal psychology namely; eating disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and depression, sexual disorders, and personality and compulsive disorders, respectively. They were also asked to indicate their confidence level in relation to the accuracy of the answers they had given. The results showed that final year psychology students scored higher on levels of accuracy, as well as confidence on all measures compared to the two other groups. On the subject of sexual disorders, engineering students scored higher than prospective psychology students. Implications of the present findings are discussed.     

When Expertise and Ethics Diverge: Lay and Professional Evaluation of Psychotherapists in Israel

This study investigated school psychology doctoral students' beliefs concerning their preparation for, and concern about, dealing with 12 ethical issues based on year in graduate school and whether they had taken an ethics course. Two hundred thirty-three doctoral students from 18 of the 44 American Psychological Association accredited programs in school psychology listed in the December 1996 issue of the American Psychologist completed ethical issues surveys. Results showed that students who had taken an ethics course and those with more years of graduate education said they felt more prepared to deal with ethical issues than students who had not taken an ethics course and who had fewer years of graduate education. Participants believed they were least prepared to deal with ethical issues involving child custody cases, possible ethical violations by colleagues, and potentially violent clients. Participants' concern about dealing with ethical issues was negatively related to their number of internship hours.     

Graduate school mentoring in clinical,counselling, and experimental academic training programs: an exploratory study

This study focused on graduate student mentoring within clinical, counselling and experimental psychology programs. A nationwide survey of 336 psychology graduate students indicated that counselling students reported higher levels of socioemotional support in their mentoring relationships, as well as higher overall levels of satisfaction, compared with clinical and experimental students. Clinical and experimental students, however, reported higher levels of selected outcome variables, such as research productivity. The relationships between mentoring qualities and several outcome variables were noted and discussed. This study adds to the developing literature concerning graduate student mentoring within professional psychology training programs.     

Multicultural competency in research: examining the relationships among multicultural competencies, research training and self-efficacy, and the multicultural environment

Research on multicultural competencies has mainly focused on the practice dimension of psychology training and practice. Little theoretical or empirical research has examined multicultural research training and self-efficacy. In this study, 119 psychology graduate students filled out a Web survey focusing on the research training environment, research self-efficacy, multicultural competency, the multicultural environment, and social desirability. Results showed that multicultural competency, research training, and the multicultural environment were related to multicultural research self-efficacy. Hierarchical regressions showed that multicultural competency predicted students' research anxiety; social desirability predicted multicultural research utility, multicultural competency, and the research training environment; and multicultural competency predicted students' confidence in research and perceptions that their graduate training programs were multicultural. Implications are discussed.     

Tracking the Training and Careers of Graduates of Advanced Degree Programs in Sport Psychology, 1994 to 1999

Responses from 87 graduate programs identified 814 graduates (master's degree, n = 618; doctoral degree, n =196) who received degrees from 1994 to 1999 with some type of emphasis in sport psychology (SP). Doctoral (n = 107) and master's (n = 147) graduates completed a survey that identified their demographics, educational background, current positions, incomes, career goals, and SP consulting aspirations and work. Most of the doctoral graduates (73%) found positions in academia/research. Almost half the master's graduates had SP-related jobs and most of the rest had jobs related to the discipline that housed their degree. Compared to 1989 to 1994 graduates (Andersen, Williams, Aldridge, &Taylor, 1997), the present graduates perceived more fulfillment of initial career goals, greater satisfaction with SP work, less frustration over SP career progress, greater ease in finding paid SP consulting work, and more confidence in fulfilling future career goals. Doctoral graduates with athlete consulting career goals had less training than the Andersen et al. graduates. The findings provide some guidance for current and prospective students regarding graduate training and career opportunities.     

The effectiveness of a simulation technique as an integral part of a school psychology training program

A modified Solomon design was employed to study the effects of a school psychology simulation package on the enacted and written response of a group of school psychology preservice students. Fifty-two school psychology students from five training programs enrolled in the last quarter of school psychology training prior to internship were divided into two groups. The experimental group (N=20) received the simulation experience, whereas the control group (N=32) did not. Results generally indicated the superiority of the experimental group and suggested that simulation as an integral part of a school psychology training program is an effective method of instruction. Pretesting in combination with the simulation training improved posttest performance more than simulation training alone.     

Multicultural training practices in community psychology programs

Surveyed the directors of 56 community psychology graduate programs to assess multicultural training practices and attitudes. Although most program directors agreed that multicultural training is important in their mission to educate students, less than half the programs (48%) required their students to take any relevant course work and only half of the programs surveyed had any faculty who were members of an ethnic minority group and one third had only one such faculty member. Furthermore, less than half the programs had a combination of training opportunities in place to integrate classroom, research, and field experiences relevant to multicultural issues. Finally, only 23% of program directors believed their training programs were successful for most students, suggesting the need to improve training.     

Doctoral training in statistics, measurement, and methodology in psychology: replication and extension of Aiken, West, Sechrest, and Reno's (1990) survey of PhD programs in North America

In a survey of all PhD programs in psychology in the United States and Canada, the authors documented the quantitative methodology curriculum (statistics, measurement, and research design) to examine the extent to which innovations in quantitative methodology have diffused into the training of PhDs in psychology. In all, 201 psychology PhD programs (86%) participated. This survey replicated and extended a previous survey (L. S. Aiken, S. G. West, L. B. Sechrest, & R. R. Reno, 1990), permitting examination of curriculum development. Most training supported laboratory and not field research. The median of 1.6 years of training in statistics and measurement was mainly devoted to the modally 1-year introductory statistics course, leaving little room for advanced study. Curricular enhancements were noted in statistics and to a minor degree in measurement. Additional coverage of both fundamental and innovative quantitative methodology is needed. The research design curriculum has largely stagnated, a cause for great concern. Elite programs showed no overall advantage in quantitative training. Forces that support curricular innovation are characterized. Human capital challenges to quantitative training, including recruiting and supporting young quantitative faculty, are discussed. Steps must be taken to bring innovations in quantitative methodology into the curriculum of PhD programs in psychology.     

Clinical Psychology Students’ Experiences of a Pilot Objective Structured Clinical Examination

There is a need to improve methods used to assess students’ clinical skills in postgraduate clinical psychology training, but research into the use of new competency‐based assessments are sparse. The current study examines the potential application of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to clinical psychology training. Commonly used in medical training, the OSCE requires students to demonstrate clinical skills across a number of standardised stations with trained actors playing the part of patients. A pilot OSCE was conducted with nine students from a psychology doctoral program. Participants completed a brief student feedback questionnaire and attended a focus group after the OSCE. They also completed the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory before and after the OSCE. The results showed that students viewed the OSCE as a valid, realistic, and fair assessment method. They reported high levels of anxiety during the OSCE but noted that the OSCE was a positive learning experience. These results suggest that OSCEs should be considered in clinical psychology training programs for the assessment of clinical competence. Further evaluations of the validity and reliability of the clinical psychology OSCE using a larger sample size are required. Other limitations and implications of the study are discussed.     

Implications of Technology for Social and Emotional Communication

Abstract

Communication technologies are transforming school psychology training and professional practices. To determine the effect of various communication technologies, this exploratory study contrasted three different communication modalities, including the receipt of messages via video, audio, and text. School psychology students were randomly assigned to those three conditions and asked to interpret the emotional intensity of a message conveyed in a case study concerning sexual and psychological abuse. Results showed different response patterns under the various conditions. Members of the group reading a text of the case study rated the emotional intensity as more extreme than did the members of the video and audio groups, both of whom had nonverbal affective information available to them. Practical implications for training and practice are discussed.     

What is Working,What is Not,and What We Need to Know: a Meta-Analytic Review of Business Ethics Instruction

Requirements for business ethics education and organizational ethics trainings mark an important step in encouraging ethical behavior among business students and professionals. However, the lack of specificity in these guidelines as to how, what, and where business ethics should be taught has led to stark differences in approaches and content. The present effort uses meta-analytic procedures to examine the effectiveness of current approaches across organizational ethics trainings and business school courses. to provide practical suggestions for business ethics interventions and research. Thus, the primary questions driving this research are as follows: (1) what course characteristics moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction?, and (2) have ethics education and training efforts improved? Findings suggest that professional, focused, and workshop-based training programs are especially effective for improving business ethics. However, results also reveal considerable problems with many of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of business ethics interventions. Practical suggestions for course design and evaluation in business ethics efforts are discussed along with future research needs.     

The moral of the story: The importance of applying an ethics lens to the teaching of positive psychology

In a short-time positive psychology has progressed into a scientific and multidisciplinary field of enquiry. It is now necessary for positive psychology to develop clear practice standards which will be collectively endorsed and upheld by members and those undergoing training in positive psychology. Teachers of positive psychology are in a prime position to disseminate ethical knowledge. Moreover, the objectives of ethics and positive psychology are closely aligned in their focus on achieving optimal outcomes; hence, the pairing of the two is ideal. Consequently, it would be ironic if positive psychology did not explicitly embrace ethical standards in guiding those training for a future in positive psychology. As a professional entity, positive psychology needs to provide more direction and encouragement for teachers, students, scholars and practitioners of positive psychology, and in time, this should be codified and discussed in positive psychology university degrees to promote consistency among its future members.     

N=1: An alternative research strategy for school psychologists

Single subject (N=1) research strategies deserve increased emphasis in the training of school psychologists. Single subject methodology has demonstrated credibility in research and in monitoring effects of professional interventions, but school psychology programs have typically not provided systematic training in this area. This paper suggests that N=1 research paradigms offer a promising supplement and, in some cases, an alternative to traditional large N between group strategies in school-based research; it reviews some examples of N=1 research design and methodology; it discusses some advantages and limitations of N=1 research strategies; and it argues that school psychology training programs must train graduate students in N=1 research and encourage this form of research methodology in practice.     

The MMPI: Does It Have a Place in Counseling Psychology Training?

Although a number of surveys have examined psychological assessment training in clinical psychology programs, studies about assessment training in counseling psychology programs have been all too few. This survey gathered information about the place of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in the training of counseling psychology students. A 3-page questionnaire was mailed to alt directors of APA-approved counseling psychology programs for completion by the individual primarily responsible for teaching the MMPI. Forty (85%) of the 47 questionnaires were returned, it was found that the MMPI (a) was taught in one or more courses in virtually all programs; (b) was viewed as useful by most respondents: and (c) was included, with same variability, in practicum training and on doctoral qualifying examinations. As in clinical psychology programs, the MMPI appeared to occupy a place of importance in the assessment training of counseling psychologists.     

Can Psychology Ethics Effectively Be Integrated into Introductory Psychology?

This study evaluated the integration of psychology ethics into an introductory psychology course. Students in two general psychology sections were exposed to an infusion of psychology ethics in teaching, research, and clinical practice, whereas students in two sections were exposed to traditional course content. Students completed a pre and post-test assessment including a psychology ethics questionnaire and open-ended responses to three ethics case studies. Students in the ethics group displayed a statistically significant increase in scores on both measures from pre to post-test. However, students in the traditional group showed no improvement in scores.