Artistic Creativity and Rorschach Whole Responses

The present experiment investigated artistic creativity as it functions in the production of whole responses to Rorschach ink blots. The number, percentage, and quality of whole responses produced by a group of artists were compared to that of a group of nonartists under two instructional sets (regular instructions versus whole response set). Artists and nonartists did not differ significantly in whole response quality. Artists and nonartists gave significantly more whole responses under the whole response set, but artists produced a significantly greater number of whole responses, regardless of instructions. Artists gave a significantly greater proportion of whole responses only under regular instructions. These results give statistical verification to the discriminatory power of Rorschach whole responses in the identification of artistic creativity.     

Sexual Aspects of Rorschach Administration

The factor structure of the items of the 1962 16PF Form A was examined on a sample of 499 air traffic controllers. It was found that the test does indeed measure the primary factors it purports to measure although several of the factors found did not correspond well with the ideal pattern to be expected with the 16PF on this special, highly selected sample of American males. The results were not as discouraging to the 16PF user as would be indicated by other recent studies which shared certain methodological shortcomings.     

Centrality Preferences in Choices Among Similar Options

Three explanations were explored for the finding that people prefer the middle option rather than the extremes when choosing from an array of similar options. In Study 1, 68% chose the middle item from a set of three highlighters and three surveys, whereas 32% chose an item from either end, p < .0001. In Study 2, 71% selected the middle chair from a row of three chairs that were either all empty, or had a backpack occupying either one of the two end chairs, p < .0001. These results support a minimal mental effort principle rather than a preference for symmetry rule. In Study 3, 54.2% recalled more graphic items from the center poster of a 3-poster collage, whereas 31.3% and 14.5% recalled more items from the left and right posters, respectively, p < .004. These findings lend additional support to a focus of attention explanation.     

Temporary Fatigue Effects in a Gross Motor Skill

75 male college Ss were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups to investigate the comparative effects of initial and initial-plus-interpolated total-body physical fatigue upon learning and performance of a gross motor skill. Each S was tested on the Mirror Target Toss Test before and after the appropriate experimental condition allotted to his group: initial, initial-plus-interpolated, and rest. The data were transformed into learning scores by the percent of possible improvement method and analyzed by a simple analysis of variance. Despite substantial effects on the performance curves, neither initial nor interpolated fatigue had any permanent effect on the acquisition of skill.     

Testing four explanations for the better/worse-than-average effect: Single- and multi-item entities as comparison targets and referents

In six experiments, we tested four explanations for the better/worse-than-average effect (B/WTA) by manipulating the number of items comprising the target or referent of direct comparison. A single-item target tended to be rated more extremely than a single-item or a multi-item referent (Experiments 1–3). No B/WTA was obtained, however, when a multi-item target was compared with either a single- or multi-item referent (Experiments 4 and 5). A bias favoring a multi-item target was found only if cohesiveness among the items was increased through instructions (Experiment 6). The Unique-Attributes Hypothesis generally provided the best explanation the findings; the focalism explanation also demonstrated some empirical viability. The results suggest that important preferential decision-making outcomes can be affected by both the number of items and whether items are strategically manipulated to serve as targets or referents of comparison.     

Ethics and Values as Major Factors Related to Multicultural Aspects of Counselor Preparation

Counselors and future counselors face a variety of challenges as society becomes more diverse and laden with differing value systems. As the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice (American Counseling Association, 1995) is changed to become more inclusive of the values held in a diverse society, changes in counselor preparation to incorporate these changing values are necessary. The authors discuss how values and ethics inform counselor preparation and recommend the application of J. A. Banks's (1981, 1988) multicultural educational pedagogy to counselor preparation programs.     

Model of Effects of Adult Attachment on Emotional Empathy of Counseling Students

The effects of adult attachment on emotional empathy were investigated using a sample of master's‐degree level counseling students. Through structural equation modeling, the authors found that the latent attachment dimensions of avoidance and anxiety work in tandem in their effects on empathy. Lower avoidance and higher anxiety were associated with highest levels of empathy. Results are discussed in terms of attachment theory and the wounded healer concept, with implications for counselor trainees, counselor educators, and counselor supervisors.     

Does Counseling Need the Mind?

In this article, the author argues that the language used in counseling practice is largely a common sense language using mentalistic words. Basic mentalistic assumptions and challenges to those assumptions are outlined. The practical consequences of retaining or discarding mentalism in counseling are discussed. The author concludes that mentalistic language persists in counseling practice because it offers a useful vocabulary, but that the counseling field could benefit from adopting a path similar to that used in the cognitive sciences.     

The cognitive and affective dimensions of moral conviction: implications for attitudinal and behavioral measures of interpersonal tolerance

The present studies investigate the role of both cognitive and affective dimensions of moral conviction in contributing to negative interpersonal responses. After demonstrating that the cognitive and affective dimensions of moral conviction are distinct constructs, the studies show that the cognitive dimension is sufficient to produce many forms of interpersonal intolerance. Simply believing an issue to be moral (i.e., objectively grounded, non-negotiable) results in greater intolerance for (Study 1), less sharing with (Study 2), and greater distancing from (Study 3) people with divergent attitudes. The emotional intensity with which beliefs are experienced is not alone explanatory. Nonetheless, it interacts with moral beliefs to produce the highest levels of interpersonal intolerance, distancing from dissimilar others, and context insensitivity. This interaction pattern between moral beliefs and affect was specific to emotional intensity and not other measures of attitude strength (Study 3).