Objective personality assessment of people in diverse cultures: European adaptations of the MMPI-2

This article examines the cross-national application of psychological tests and examines the generalizability of objective psychological assessment instruments. The most widely used and internationally adapted personality instrument, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), is highlighted to illustrate the adaptation of psychological tests across the barriers of language and culture. The problems and limitations of using questionnaire methods were noted and effective strategies for translating, adapting, and standardizing questionnaires in languages and cultures different from their country of origin are reviewed. The history of several European adaptations of the original MMPI and MMPI-2 is surveyed to illustrate the extensive research base for the test in Europe. Applications of the MMPI-2 in clinical and non-clinical (e.g. industrial) settings were noted. Current research is described and recommendations for future research are provided.     

My Group's Fate Is My Fate: Identity-Fused Americans and Spaniards Link Personal Life Quality to Outcome of 2008 Elections

People differ in their reactions to the outcomes of their group. Whereas some may revel in victory and mourn in defeat, others may internalize victory but distance themselves from defeat. Here, we sought to relate these divergent reactions to two forms of alignment with groups–identity fusion and group identification. Investigations of the 2008 elections in the United States and Spain revealed that people who were “fused” with their political party internalized both victory and defeat, but highly identified persons internalized only victory. We discuss how these findings bear on the conceptual distinctions between identity fusion and group identification.     

Reevaluating the initial impact of John Broadus Watson on American psychology: The necessity of comparative parameters

In recent decades, various studies have challenged the traditional view that John Broadus Watson's Behaviorist Manifesto prompted a psychological revolution. However, methodological hindrances underlie all these attempts to evaluate the impact of Watson's study, such as the absence of comparative parameters. This article remedies this problem by conducting a comparative citation analysis involving Watson and eight other representative psychologists of the time: J. R. Angell, H. Carr, J. M. Cattell, J. Dewey, G. S. Hall, W. James, E. L. Thorndike, and E. B. Titchener. Eight important American journals were scrutinized for the period between 1903 and 1923, a decade before and a decade after the publication of Watson's Manifesto. The results suggest that even if Watson's study cannot be taken as revolutionary, it had an impact between 1914 and 1923 that was close to Dewey's, Titchener's, and Thorndike's and higher than Angell's, Carr's, Cattell's, and Hall's, although distant from James's. Finally, some methodological implications of this study are discussed.     

Influence of the social context on use of surgical-lengthening and group-empowering coping strategies among people with dwarfism

Objective: To assess the role that social contextual factors exert on the way people with disproportionate short stature (dwarfism) cope with the negative consequences of discrimination. Method: Using multigroup structural equation modeling, we compare the coping process of people with dwarfism from Spain (N = 63) and the USA (N = 145), two countries that differ in the role played by organizations offering support to people with dwarfism. Results: In Spain, where organizational support is recent, a coping approach aimed at achieving integration with the majority group through limb-lengthening surgery prevails; in the USA, where the long-standing organization of people with dwarfism encourages pride in being a "little person" and positive intragroup contact, a coping strategy based on empowering the minority group dominates. Conclusions: Both strategies, each in its own context, are effective at protecting psychological well-being from the negative consequences of stigmatization; however, they exert their positive effects through different processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Why did Wundt abandon his early theory of the unconscious? Towards a new interpretation of Wundt's psychological project

Despite the numerous and important contributions brought by Wundt scholarship in recent decades, some aspects of his work remain unclear and poorly understood. The aim of this paper is to explore one of these aspects, namely, the relationship between philosophy and psychology in Wundt's thought. To this end, we shall discuss an important yet neglected moment in Wundtian psychology, which remains unexplained to date: Why did Wundt abandon his early theory of the unconscious? According to the interpretation offered here, this can only be adequately explained by his intense philosophical studies in the period preceding the publication of the Grundzüge in 1874. Finally, we will point out some implications of this analysis to the general interpretation of Wundt's psychological project.     

The Emergence and Development of Bekhterev's Psychoreflexology in Relation to Wundt's Experimental Psychology

After its foundation, the Laboratory for Experimental Psychology at Leipzig University became an international center for psychological research, attracting students from all over the world. The Russian physiologist and psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev (1857–1927) was one of Wilhelm Wundt's students in 1885, and after returning to Russia he continued enthusiastically his experimental research on mental phenomena. However, he gradually distanced himself from Wundt's psychological project and developed a new concept of psychology: the so‐called Objective Psychology or Psychoreflexology. The goal of this paper is to analyze Bekhterev's position in relation to Wundt's experimental psychology, by showing how the former came to reject the latter's conception of psychology. The results indicate that Bekhterev's development of a philosophical program, including his growing interest in establishing a new Weltanschauung is the main reason behind his divergence with Wundt, which is reflected in his conception of scientific psychology. Despite this, Wundt remained alive in Bekhterev's mind as an ideal counterpoint.     

Associative symmetry by pigeons after few-exemplar training

The present experiment investigated whether pigeons can show associative symmetry on a two-alternative matching-to-sample procedure. The procedure consisted of a within-subject sequence of training and testing with reinforcement, and it provided (a) exemplars of symmetrical responding, and (b) all prerequisite discriminations among test samples and comparisons. After pigeons had learned two arbitrary-matching tasks (A-B and C-D), they were given a reinforced symmetry test for half of the baseline relations (B1-A1 and D1-C1). To control for the effects of reinforcement during testing, two novel, nonsymmetrical responses were concurrently reinforced using the other baseline stimuli (D2-A2 and B2-C2). Pigeons matched at chance on both types of relations, thus indicating no evidence for symmetry. These symmetrical and nonsymmetrical relations were then directly trained in order to provide exemplars of symmetry and all prerequisite discriminations for a second test. The symmetrical test relations were now B2-A2 and D2-C2 and the nonsymmetrical relations were D1-A1 and B1-C1. On this test, 1 pigeon showed clear evidence of symmetry, 2 pigeons showed weak evidence, and 1 pigeon showed no evidence. The previous training of all prerequisite discriminations among stimuli, and the within-subject control for testing with reinforcement seem to have set favorable conditions for the emergence of symmetry in nonhumans. However, the variability across subjects shows that methodological variables still remain to be controlled.