A Web-Based Survey of AAASP Members' Ethical Beliefs and Behaviors in the New Millennium

Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP) members (N = 1121) were contacted via a series of five broadcast e-mail messages and asked to complete a web-based survey about their personal ethical beliefs and practices germane to the practice of applied sport psychology. The survey inquired about professional beliefs and behaviors of AAASP members using a survey similar to that of Petitpas et al. (1994) Petitpas, A., Brewer, B., Rivera, P. and Van Raalte, J. 1994. Ethical beliefs and behaviors in applied sport psychology: The AAASP ethics survey. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 6: 135–151. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], which was instrumental in the development and adoption of AAASP's ethics code. Surveys were completed and returned by 322 individuals. Several differences with small to moderate effect sizes were found in the ethical beliefs and behaviors between men and women, professionals and students, AAASP Certified Consultants and non-Certified Consultants, and individuals from physical education and psychology backgrounds. Furthermore, many challenges to respondents' ethical thinking and conduct were identified. Respondents provided suggestions about the dissemination of ethical information and the role of the Ethics Committee. The results provide initial support for potential changes in the current ethical principles and standards of AAASP.     

Intentional Peer-Mentoring Programs in Christian Schools: An Exploratory Study

This study investigated what Christian schools were doing with peer-mentoring programs. A total of 344 secondary schools accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) received a 19-question electronic survey that focused on the specifics of their peer-mentoring programs. A total of 80 schools responded, with 55% reporting organized peer-mentoring groups for students; 73% identified their groups as having been established for 6 years or less. This data, coupled with the lack of published research, indicates that there continues to be a need for further research in this area.     

Telling as Inviting to Trust*

How can I give you a reason to believe what I tell you? I can influence the evidence available to you. Or I can simply invite your trust. These two ways of giving reasons work very differently. When a speaker tells her hearer that p, I argue, she intends that he gain access to a prima facie reason to believe that p that derives not from evidence but from his mere understanding of her act. Unlike mere assertions, acts of telling give reasons directly. They give reasons by inviting the hearer's trust. This yields a novel form of anti‐reductionism in the epistemology of testimony. The status of testimony as a sui generis source of epistemic warrant is entailed by the nature of the act of telling. We can discover the nature of this illocution, and its epistemic role, by examining how it functions in the real world of human relations.     

The efficacy of teaching psychology students exposure and response prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder

The aim of the study was to investigate whether inexperienced student therapists could successfully learn exposure and response prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Twenty out of 21 outpatients completed treatment as delivered by ten psychology students. A total of 60 hours group supervision and approximately 30 hours with individual supervision was given to the students over the course of three semesters. Large effect sizes were observed for measures of symptoms and depression. Sixty-two percent ( N = 13) of the intent to treat group achieved clinical significant change and 81% no longer met the diagnosis criteria ( N = 17). The treatment effects observed at the 6 month follow-up period were promising. The results are encouraging for training students in evidence based treatment for specific disorders.     

ANONYMITY,STRENGTH OF ATTITUDE,AND THE INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC OPINION POLLS

Subjects were given questionnaires asking their responses to six statements on public issues. On some of the issues subjects were highly committed to their own views, while other issues were selected for the subjects' lack of knowledge and commitment. Some subjects were asked to respond anonymously, and others were led to believe that their responses would be made public. Each questionnaire contained a bogus distribution of responses from students at the subjects’ university. Each statement of interest was supported by the bogus majority in one questionnaire form and rejected by it in the other form. Several types of conformity were considered. For the low-commitment issues, subjects were influenced in the direction of the bogus consensus. For the high-commitment issues, the bogus consensus had no significant effect. Implications for understanding the effect of polls on public opinion are discussed.