JOB CLASSIFICATION APPROACHES AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VALIDITY GENERALIZATION RESULTS

This paper compares two job classification methods for showing the appropriateness of cognitive tests in settings that were not involved in supplying data for a validity generalization analysis. One approach was an elaborate quantitative procedure that involved a lengthy job inventory and a multivariate item analysis. This approach was shown to be highly successful when applied to the responses from 1179 job inventories collected in 54 petroleum-petrochemical plants from 30 different companies. The other procedure involved simple job classification judgments by supervisors and incumbents. This latter approach was shown to be as effective, but was much less time consuming and costly. Professional and legal implications of these findings are discussed.     

EXPERT AND NAIVE RATERS USING THE PAQ: DOES IT MATTER?

A finding by Smith and Hakel (1979) is that job expert ratings on the PAQ correlate highly with ratings obtained from college students who are given no information about jobs other than their titles. One possible explanation for this finding is that the PAQ measures only trivial or common knowledge about work that both experts and naive observers possess. This particular view, of course, has serious implications for the use of the PAQ. In this paper we point out a problem in the way Smith and Hakel calculated the convergent validity between expert raters and naive raters. We also present the results from a replication study that indicate convergent validities are much lower than those reported by Smith and Hakel. Additional points are presented in order to caution against the interpretation that the PAQ measures only common knowledge about jobs.     

Growth counseling: A dialogue with Howard Clinebell

This interview describes an emerging tenor in pastoral psychology, growth counseling. Philosophically cultivated by the Human Potentials Movement, this school of counseling has genetic components in biblical theology, as well as intrapsychic and interpersonal psychotherapy. Church-related issues are also linked, especially crisis intervention models for the laity and the pastoral counselor's unique vantage for ministry. In addition to these characteristics, the dialogue underscores two other concerns many health care professionals share: (1) a deemphasis of psychopathology via a renewed emphasis of the human growth drive; and (2) the therapeutic complementarity of affirmation vis-à-vis empathic confrontation.He is also Research Chairman of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors' Southeast Region, as well as Book Review Editor for thisJournal.     

What can we mean by “cognition,” and does it make any sense?

Practitioners of Rational-Emotive Therapy easily identify themselves with the broad camp of cognitive behavior therapy. However, the meaning of the term cognition is often unclear. Six possible meanings are outlined: (1) mental event, (2) symbolic overt behavior, (3) symbolic covert behavior, (4) pragmatic convention, (5) unreportable behavior and (6) hypothetical construct. This paper aims to: (1) clarify what we can mean when we talk about cognition, and (2) identify which meanings keep us in the tradition of empirical science and which take us to the realm of spooks and nonsense.Hank Robb works as a private practitioner. He is an Associate Fellow and approved Supervisor of the Institute of Rational-Emotive Therapy, New York, as well as a Diplomate in Counseling Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology.     

Sex Differences in Clinical Pain: A Multisample Study

A recent meta-analysis of the experimental pain literature revealed effect sizes of .55 for pain threshold and .57 for pain tolerance, indicating a moderate difference in pain perception between men and women, with women reporting an increased sensitivity to pain. The current study investigated the relationship between sex and clinical pain ratings, in patients seeking care at a tertiary care facility. Five samples of chronic pain patients were recruited from several diverse clinics associated with the University of Florida. Analyses of clinical pain ratings revealed similar effect sizes for all samples, ranging from –.07 to –.25, indicating small differences, with women reporting higher levels of clinical pain. This is the first paper to report effect sizes for differences in report of pain in samples of chronic pain patients presenting for treatment at a tertiary care facility.     

JUDGMENTS OF LEARNING AT DELAYS:

Abstract— Nelson and Dunlosky (1991) found that judgment-of-leaning (JOL) accuracy (measured using G) was nearly perfect if the JOL was made several minutes after study (the delayed-JOL effect ). However, over time, the distribution of judgments changed radically. When JOLs were made immediately, subjects typically used the middle of the scale, after a delay, more than 50% of judgments were made using the ends of the scale (Dunlosky & Nelson, 1994, Experiment 1). We replicated the delayed-JOL effect and found a similar rating shift. Is the delayed-JOL effect an artifact produced by this shift, or does it reflect true metamemory improvement? Monte Carlo simulations allowed us to separate these effects. Shifting judgments to ends of the scale did inflate JOL accuracy somewhat. The bulk of the delayed-JOL effect, however, resulted form increases in calibration. We conclude that the delayed-JOL effect reflects true metamemory improvement.     

Love and the addicted physician

This paper reviews the cases of two addicted physicians. One is dead and the other alive and well as a result of the heroic and compassionate effort of his friends. We offer speculations regarding the physicians' special vulnerabilities and the role of a tough love in transcending these vulnerabilities.     

Effects of parental involvement in teacher training1

Successful intervention programs in school settings are characterized by individualized instruction, teacher training and parental involvement. A program including those characteristics was implemented for the development of competence in Mexican sixth-graders from eight classrooms. A course in child development was offered in the control classrooms for teachers alone, in the experimental classrooms for teachers and parents together. The idea of developing children's competence by setting a common superordinate goal for parents and teachers does receive modest but real support. The reaction of the community to the program demonstrates the responsiveness and resourcefulness of low income families when presented with an opportunity to act and act effectively in behalf of their children's development.