Federal Funds to Train Clinical Psychologists for Work with Underserved Populations: The Bureau of Health Professions Graduate Psychology Education Grants Program

This paper describes the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) Graduate Psychology Education program (GPE), which supports projects that train health service psychologists for work with underserved populations. BHPr history and funding criteria are discussed, as are those of BHPr's parent organization, the Health Resources Service Administration. BHPr objectives and methods for support of clinical psychology training parallel those that BHPr has used to support training in other heath professions. The paper also describes three psychology internship training programs in academic medical settings that competed successfully for BHPr GPE funding in 2002. The three training projects differ significantly in training rotation sites, target populations with which trainees work, and the other health care professions that partner with psychology in interdisciplinary training—but they are similar in that each project provides an example of a program that effectively satisfied BHPr criteria for expanding psychology's scope of practice with underserved populations.     

Anomaly detection in the right hemisphere: The influence of visuospatial factors

Previous research with both brain-damaged and neurologically intact populations has demonstrated that the right cerebral hemisphere (RH) is superior to the left cerebral hemisphere (LH) at detecting anomalies (or incongruities) in objects (Ramachandran, 1995; Smith, Tays, Dixon, & Bulman-Fleming, 2002). The current research assesses whether the RH advantage for anomaly detection is due to the RH superiority for visuospatial skills or is a distinct cognitive process. Sixty undergraduate participants completed tasks assessing anomaly detection, mental rotation, and global and local perceptual abilities. The results demonstrate that anomaly detection is negatively correlated with mental rotation. These findings suggest that anomaly detection is not simply a function of visuospatial skills.     

Telling perfectionists about their perfectionism: Effects of providing feedback on emotional reactivity and psychological symptoms

A randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of receiving feedback in a sample of maladaptive perfectionists. A total of 60 young adults were randomly assigned to a feedback intervention or control group. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was utilized to analyze the effects of perfectionism over time, as well as the effects of treatment condition on the relationship between perfectionism and outcomes. Measures of interest included emotional reactivity, self-esteem, and psychological distress. Findings revealed that providing feedback to maladaptive perfectionists reduced self-reported global symptomatic distress as well as emotional reactivity. The results are discussed in light of treatment implications, especially with regard to the manner in which perfectionists respond to therapeutic interventions. Overall, study findings suggest that a brief, low-cost feedback intervention is effective at decreasing psychological distress in maladaptive perfectionists and may serve as a beneficial precursor to individual therapy or counseling.     

Leader power and leader self-serving behavior: The role of effective leadership beliefs and performance information

In this research we investigated the role played by leader power in determining leader self-serving behavior. Based on an integration of insights from research on the determinants of leader behavior and the power-approach theory, we hypothesized that with higher leader power leader self-serving behavior is determined more by internal states like effective leadership beliefs and less by external cues like performance information. We found support for this prediction across two experiments and one organizational survey assessing leader behavior along a self-serving–group-serving continuum. Overall, these results suggest that whether leaders benefit the collective or act self-servingly is not a function of their power per se but rather that leader power determines the extent to which internal belief states or external cues influence leader self- versus group-serving behavior.     

Contour entropy: a new determinant of perceiving ground or a hole

Figure-ground perception is typically described as seeing one surface occluding another. Figure properties, not ground properties, are considered the significant factors. In scenes, however, a near surface will often occlude multiple contours and surfaces, often at different depths, producing alignments that are improbable except under conditions of occlusion. We thus hypothesized that unrelated (high entropy) lines would tend to appear as ground in a figure-ground paradigm more often than similarly aligned ordered (low entropy) lines. We further hypothesized that for lines spanning a closed area, high line entropy should increase the hole-like appearance of that area. These predictions were confirmed in three experiments. The probability that patterned rectangles were seen as ground when alternated with blank rectangles increased with pattern entropy. A single rectangular shape appeared more hole-like when the entropy of the enclosed contours increased. Furthermore, these same contours, with the outline shape removed, gave rise to bounding illusory contours whose strength increased with contour entropy. We conclude that figure-ground and hole perception can be determined by properties of ground in the absence of any figural shape, or surround, factors.     

Perceived control and health

Perceived control (PC) is defined as thebelief that one can determine one’s own internal states and behavior, influence one’s environment, and/or bring about desired outcomes. Two important dimensions of PC are delineated: (1) whether the object of control is located in the past or the future and (2) whether the object of control is over outcome, behavior, or process. A variety of constructs and measures of PC (e.g., efficacy, attribution, and locus of control) are discussed in relation to these dimensions and selected studies are reviewed. The issues, controversies, and limits of the research on perceived control and health are addressed in terms of the antecedents and consequences of perceived control. Investigations should clearly conceptualize the object of perceived control, use measures that match the conceptualization, and when attempting to manipulate control, directly measure perceived control. The relation between PC and health outcomes is complex, and different aspects of PC may interact to affect health outcomes.     

A guide to family/school interventions for the family therapist

When presented with a behavioral problem or symptom expression that involves two systems, such as a serious school-related problem, the therapist needs to design an approach that will intervene effectively and expeditiously in both systems. This paper offers a guide to stages of problem escalation and therapeutic intervention that is intended to aid the problem-solver's thinking processes in approaching a troubled situation that involves two systems, the school and the home.     

Further explorations in empowerment theory: An empirical analysis of psychological empowerment

Developed empowerment theory and replicated previous research on citizen participation and perceived control. Few investigators have designed studies that specifically test empowerment theory. This research further extends a theoretical model of psychological empowerment that includes intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral components, by studying a large randomly selected urban and suburban community sample and examining race differences. Results suggest that one underlying dimension that combines different measures of perceived control may be interpreted as the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment, because it distinguishes groups defined by their level of participation in community organizations and activities (behavioral component). The association found between the intrapersonal and behavioral components is consistent with empowerment theory. Interaction effects between race groups and participation suggest that participation may be more strongly associated with the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment for African Americans than for white individuals. Implications for empowerment theory and intervention design are discussed. The authors express appreciation to Steven Rosenstone who was the Principal Investigator for the Detroit Area Study from which the data for our study is based. We also thank Deborah A. Salem and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.