On Probabilistic Computer-based Test Interpretations and Other Expert Systems

Computer-based test interpretation (C.B.T.I.) reports are becoming well established in psychology. To date, most C.B.T.I. reports have been focused on selecting the correct global paragraph to apply to a given client. An alternative approach is to use C.B.T.I. services to provide highly technical and sophisticated statistical summaries of the individual client's responses. Such summaries can be tests of major hypotheses about the individual client resulting in probabilistic statements about the likelihood of a client being a member of a group or being accurately described by the statement. Such probabilistic C.B.T.I. reports may represent a major contribution to the individual clinician's tool-kit.
Les compte-rendus ďinterprétation des tests utilisant les ordinateurs (C.B.T.I.) sont un fait bien établi en psychologic Jusqu'à cette date, la phipart ďentre eux se centraient sur le choix de la séquence globale correcteà appliquer a un client donné. Une alternative consiste à utiliser les services du C.B.T.I. pour obtenir des résumés de réponses de clients hautement techniques et sophistiqués sur le plan statistique. De tels résumés peuvent fournir des hypothèses majeures sur un client, en apportant des données probabilistes sur sa participation à un groupe ou sur des détails précis du rapport. Ce genre de compte-rendus probabilistes C.B.T.I. pourraient représenter une contribution majeure à la panoplie du clinicien.     

试析联结主义范式对婴儿发展的解释

用联结主义范式作为解释婴儿发展的机制已成为当前认知发展研究的新趋势。本文以婴儿分类和客体永久性为范例,分析了这一范式在解释婴儿发展方面的理论潜力及不足。     

Refining Computerized Test Interpretations: An In-Depth Approach

Comprehensive individual psychological evaluations of a small sample of subjects were used to identify shortcomings and suggest improvements in a computerized system for interpreting 16PF and CAQ scores. This approach is offered as a supplement, rather than an alternative, to the usual large sample correlational method. It is argued that such procedures mask desirable refinements by substituting a large number of subjects for detailed and accurate assessment of individual cases. Results of this analysis supported the general accuracy of the computerized system, but revealed gaps in the information provided and suggestedu alternatives for perfecting the system.     

Counseling and Culture: Some Issues

Counseling educators are alerted to three issues central to the relationship between counseling and culture: the etic-emit distinction, the sociology of knowledge, and modernity.     

Women Employment Issues: Test Yourself

The author clarifies major issues of women employment by means of a self-administered true-false questionnaire. Answers may surprise and, perhaps, enlighten employment counseling professionals.     

《周易》比、履、离、泰四卦爻辞零释

《周易》比卦初六爻辞"有孚盈缶"之"缶"当读为"饱","盈缶"即"盈饱"。履卦初九爻辞"素履"之"素"帛书《易经》本作"错",当读为"踖"。"踖履",就是敬慎地行走。离卦初九爻辞"履错然"之"错"帛书《易经》本作"昔",阜阳汉简《周易》作"■",本字亦当作"踖",义为敬慎。泰卦六四爻辞"不戒,以孚"之"戒"字通"革",当训为改、除去。"不戒,以孚"即"不革,以孚",也就是"不改,以孚"。     

Using Percentile Bands for Meaningful Descriptive Test Score Interpretations

The author addresses practical issues concerning test score interpretation. Percentile bands are recommended for reporting to clients the extent and the limits of what test scores reveal. A variety of suggestions and examples are provided for rendering interpretations meaningful.     

Assessment of the Barnum Effect in Computer-Based Test Interpretations

A prototypic experiment for validating computer-based test interpretations (CBTIs) was conducted. Undergraduates (N = 63) completed the Comprehensive Personality Profile Compatibility Questionnaire (CPPCQ; Craft, 1987). One treatment group rated real CBTIs for relative accuracy, and another group rated bogus CBTIs. A significant main effect for differences in ratings indicated that the real CPPCQ profiles were rated as 74.5% accurate whereas the bogus CBTIs were rated as 57.9% accurate. Several covariate effects were tested, but none were significant.     

Research With the Draw-A-Person Test: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

A number of methodological, statistical, and conceptual problems are inherent in research with the Draw-A-Person Test (DAP). These difficulties invalidate the theoretical position that an individual's gender-role identification is reflected in the sex of the figure drawn. The complexity of these problems affects the evaluation of the DAP and illustrates the need for multiple approaches to its interpretation.     

The Spirituality of Human Consciousness: A Catholic Evaluation of Some Current Neuro-Scientific Interpretations

Catholic theology??s traditional understanding of the spiritual nature of the human person begins with the idea of a rational soul and human mind that is made manifest in free will??the spiritual experience of the act of consciousness and cause of all human arts. The rationale for this religion-based idea of personhood is key to understanding ethical dilemmas posed by modern research that applies a more empirical methodology in its interpretations about the cause of human consciousness. Applications of these beliefs about the body/soul composite to the theory of evolution and to discoveries in neuroscience, paleoanthropology, as well as to recent animal intelligence studies, can be interpreted from this religious and philosophical perspective, which argues for the human soul as the unifying cause of the person??s unique abilities. Free will and consciousness are at the nexus of the mutual influence of body and soul upon one another in the traditional Catholic view, that argues for a spiritual dimension to personality that is on a par with the physical metabolic processes at play. Therapies that affect consciousness are ethically problematic, because of their implications for free will and human dignity. Studies of resilience, as an example, argue for the greater, albeit limited, role of the soul??s conscious choices in healing as opposed to metabolic or physical changes to the brain alone.     

Some Legal Issues in Counselling and Psychotherapy

Although substantial legal difficulties can face anyone trying to recover compensation from counsellors for breach of their legal duties, such claims can in principle succeed. Counsellors ought to take particular care to provide a physically safe setting for the counselling session. Advice given to the client can lead to liability both to the client and to third parties who may be affected. The impact of the client's actions on third parties can justify, and less often compel, departures from confidentiality. The importance of keeping client records has to be balanced against legal obligations imposed on counsellors in various situations to make such records available for inspection by the client or third parties.     

NPOs in China: Some Issues Concerning Internet Communication

The characteristics of Internet communication enable political, social, and cultural participation from the grassroots not only because the platforms provided by the Internet are open to all and inherently interactive but also because users are able to maintain their anonymity. Although, in theory, Internet communication is well-suited to the purposes of non-profit organization(s) (NPO(s)), in practice, Chinese NPOs do not to take full advantages of the Internet because of their bureaucratic and elitist approach. However, many Chinese who were once passive observers have been transformed into active participants as a result of Internet communication. This is significant because a civil society in China can only be achieved by the efforts of agents, not observers. Internet users have been actively learning the goals of civil society and participating in civil and political activities on the Internet, while Chinese NPOs rarely use the medium for advocacy.