Effects of Parental Acceptance-Rejection on Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: A Longitudinal,Multicultural Study

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Grounded in Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory, this study assessed children’s (N?=?1315) perceptions of maternal and paternal...     

Oral-Dependence and Gender: Factors in Help-Seeking Response Set and Self-Reported Psychopathology in Psychiatric Inpatients

Psychoanalytic theory suggests that orality and being female are positively related to adopting a help-seeking stance in the world. This may result in inflated scores on self-report psychological tests. These hypotheses were investigated using Rorschach-based, oral-dependence scores (Masling, 1986), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) help-seeking F minus K index (Gough, 1950; Meehl, 1951), and the MMPI clinical and supplementary scales. High orals are found to be more likely than low orals to adopt a help-seeking response set which in turn results in inflated scores on a number of MMPI clinical scales. Contrary to stereotypes, women are no more likely than men to be help seeking or oral dependent. Several other significant findings, including that orality is positively related to MMPI Scale 2 (Depression) scores for women, not men, are also discussed.     

From Structure to Process: On the Integration of AMPD and HiTOP

Summary: The development of a new scale suitable for research with the criminal offender was described. Based on the factor analysis of an item pool delineating sociopathic personality traits, five factors were derived to compose an 80-item criminal offender introspective report (COIR).     

Construct Validity of the Relationship Profile Test: Links with Defense Style in Substance Abuse Patients and Comparison with Nonclinical Norms

One-hundred fourteeen adults undergoing voluntary inpatient treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) completed the Relationship Profile Test (RPT; Bornstein et al. 2003), and Bond, Gardner, and Christian’s (1983) Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Analyses examined gender differences in RPT subscale scores and evaluated patterns of RPT-DSQ correlations in the SUD sample; a secondary analysis compared RPT scores in the present sample with those of Bornstein et al.’s (Journal of Personality Assessment 80:64–74, 2003) nonclinical sample. Results supported the construct validity of the RPT as a measure of destructive overdependence (DO), dysfunctional detachment (DD), and healthy dependency (HD) and provided preliminary clinical norms for the DO, DD, and HD scales. Findings also documented potential limitations of the RPT in SUD patients. Continued evaluation is needed to assess the utility of the RPT in clinical populations.     

Book reviews

Johnson-Laird, P. N. and Wason, P. C. (Eds). Thinking: Readings in Cognitiwe Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1977. Pp. xii+615. ISBN 0 521 21756 3. £17.50. (Also paperback ISBN 0 521 29267 0. £5.95.)

Marks, L. E. The Unity of the Senses. Interrelations among the Modalities. London: Academic Press. 1978. Pp. 289. ISBN 0 12 472960 6. £11.35.

Callaway, E., Tueting, P. and Koslow, S. H. (Eds). Event-Related Brain Potentials in Man. New York: Academic Press. 1978. Pp. ix+630. ISBN 0 12 155150 4. £22.00.

Clifford, B. R. and Bull, R. The Psychology of Person Identification. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1978. Pp. 254. ISBN 0 7100 8867 1. £7.95.

Albert, M. A. and Obler, L. K. The Bilingual Brain. New York: Academic Press. 1978. Pp. 302. ISBN 0 12 048750 0. £12.65.

Welch, R. B. Perceptual Modification: Adapting to Altered Sensory Environments. London: Academic Press. 1978. Pp. 346. ISBN 0 12 741850 4. £15.90.

Wales, R. J. and Walker, E. (Eds). New Approaches to Language Mechanisms. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 1976. Pp. 296. ISBN 0 7204 0523 8. $19.75.

Lomax, E. M. R. Science and Patterns of Child Care. San Francisco: Freeman. 1978. Pp. 247. ISBN 0 7167 0296 7. Hardback £5.50; paperback £3.70.

Armington, J. C., Krauskopf, J. and Wooten, B. R. (Eds). Visual Psychophysics and Physiology New York: Academic Press 1978 Pp 488 ISBN 0 12 062260 0. $29.50.

Williams, M. Brain Damage, Behaviour and the Mind. Chichester: Wiley. 1979. Pp. 187. ISBN 0 471 99704 8. £8.50.     

Forgetting the once-seen face: estimating the strength of an eyewitness's memory representation

The fidelity of an eyewitness's memory representation is an issue of paramount forensic concern. Psychological science has been unable to offer more than vague generalities concerning the relation of retention interval to memory trace strength for the once-seen face. A meta-analysis of 53 facial memory studies produced a highly reliable association (r=.18, d=0.37) between longer retention intervals and positive forgetting of once-seen faces, an effect equally strong for both face recognition and eyewitness identification studies. W. A. Wickelgren's (1974, 1975, 1977) theory of recognition memory provided statistically satisfactory fits to 11 different empirical forgetting functions. Applied to the results of field studies of eyewitness memory, the theory yields predictions relevant to fact finders' evaluations of eyewitness credibility. A plausible upper limit for witness initial memory strength corresponds to a probability of .67 of being correct on a fair six-person lineup. Furthermore, not only can the percentage of remaining memory strength be determined for any retention interval, but this strength estimate can be translated into an estimated probability of being correct on a fair lineup of a specified size.     

Evidence-Based Psychological Assessment

In recent years there has been increasing emphasis on evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP), and as is true in most health care professions, the primary focus of EBPP has been on treatment. Comparatively little attention has been devoted to applying the principles of EBPP to psychological assessment, despite the fact that assessment plays a central role in myriad domains of empirical and applied psychology (e.g., research, forensics, behavioral health, risk management, diagnosis and classification in mental health settings, documentation of neuropsychological impairment and recovery, personnel selection and placement in organizational contexts). This article outlines the central elements of evidence-based psychological assessment (EBPA), using the American Psychological Association's tripartite definition of EBPP as integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences. After discussing strategies for conceptualizing and operationalizing evidence-based testing and evidence-based assessment, 6 core skills and 3 meta-skills that underlie proficiency in psychological assessment are described. The integration of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences is discussed in terms of the complex interaction of patient and assessor identities and values throughout the assessment process. A preliminary framework for implementing EBPA is offered, and avenues for continued refinement and growth are described.