ABSTRACT
In this article, we provide an introduction to the special series on ethical issues in assessment. We establish as its purpose the provision of some general principles and guidelines to help practitioners grapple with the ethical issues that may be characteristic of their particular settings. We provide a very brief synopsis of the articles that follow. The relationship between ethical practice and risk management is briefly discussed.
Subject(s)
Ethics, Professional , Personality Assessment/standards , Psychology, Clinical/standards , Humans , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Risk Management , United StatesABSTRACT
In this article, we argue that the student's first lessons in ethical decision making in personality assessment are in those assessment courses that have a practice component. In these courses, the student has an opportunity to experience in vivo how ethical problems are identified, addressed, and resolved. The faculty member's demonstration of a process wherein the ethical principles activated are highlighted and explored, will enable students to internalize a model for addressing future dilemmas. Four particular ethical situations are considered: (a) the students' procurement of personal experience with personality testing, (b) the identification of assessment participants, (c) the development of informed consent procedures for assessment participants, and (d) classroom presentations. This discussion does not provide concrete solutions to ethical problems but offers a consideration of the relevant ethical principles that any adequate solution must encompass.
Subject(s)
Education, Graduate/methods , Ethics, Professional/education , Personality Assessment/standards , Psychology, Clinical/education , Psychology, Clinical/standards , Confidentiality/standards , Humans , Informed Consent , Role Playing , United StatesABSTRACT
This article provides the therapist with a three-factor framework for understanding and constructively responding to members' termination in the inpatient group. The first factor is the context in which the inpatient group takes place. It will be argued that how the broader system defines and treats termination affects the group process at the time of termination. The second factor is the therapist's countertransference. Three especially common reactions (disappointment, abandonment anxiety, and powerlessness) will be described. The third factor is the characteristic need of inpatients at termination time. Each factor is described in terms of its potential impact on the termination process. Techniques and suggestions are offered that aim to mitigate the destructive forces of each factor and to enhance the therapeutic value of the termination event for the patient.
Subject(s)
Inpatients , Patient Discharge , Psychotherapy, Group , Countertransference , HumansABSTRACT
We compared the Rorschach performance (using the Comprehensive System; Exner, 1986) of 29 unipolar depressed, 15 bipolar depressed, and 18 bipolar manic inpatient subjects (N = 62) classified on the basis of the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC; Spitzer, Endicott, & Robbins, 1985). The three main groups differed from one another on a variety of variables, especially those related to ideation and information processing. One finding of particular importance was that bipolar depressed subjects, like bipolar manic and unlike unipolar depressed subjects, showed a high level of cognitive slippage. These results suggest that the Rorschach possesses utility in the differential diagnosis of affective disorders.
Subject(s)
Bipolar Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Hospitalization , Rorschach Test/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Bipolar Disorder/psychology , Cluster Analysis , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
The selective exposure hypothesis argues that the false consensus effect occurs because people base their estimates about the prevalence of behaviors, beliefs, and traits on a mental sample of those around them, overrepresenting others who are similar. It was hypothesized that psychiatric patients would be less subject to the false consensus effect because they would recognize the deviance of their peers and avoid using them to make estimates. Sixty male and female college students and 32 psychiatric patients estimated the percentage of average Americans who endorsed 32 behaviors, beliefs, and self-descriptive traits. Contrary to prediction, the psychiatric patients' estimates were no less likely than the college students' to exhibit false consensus effects.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/psychology , Self-Assessment , Social Perception , Adolescent , Adult , Attitude , Chronic Disease , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Peer Group , ProbabilityABSTRACT
Cohesiveness, an essential element in successful therapy groups, is difficult to establish and maintain in inpatient settings where group membership is constantly changing. Cohesiveness can be increased by the use of a closed group model, in which all members begin the group on a specified day and remain in the group for a predetermined number of sessions. Such groups must work through four developmental phases. The first phase, in which group members overidentify with the problems of other members, is followed by a phase characterized by disenchantment with the group. In the third phase members seek to achieve both independence and intimacy simultaneously, and the final phase involves separation from the group. According to the author, the primary disadvantage of closed therapy groups is that they can be used only in certain settings.
Subject(s)
Psychotherapy, Group/methods , Adult , Dependency, Psychological , Female , Goals , Group Processes , Hospitals, Psychiatric , Humans , Identification, Psychological , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Psychological , Psychotherapy, Brief/methodsSubject(s)
Countertransference , Psychoanalytic Therapy , Psychotherapy, Group , Hospitals, Psychiatric , HumansSubject(s)
Models, Psychological , Psychotherapy, Brief/methods , Psychotherapy, Group/methods , Adolescent , Adult , Conflict, Psychological , Female , Group Processes , Human Development , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The present experiment tested the hypothesis that as the visual salience of stimuli decreases, the use of nominal representations as a basis for matching forms increases. The visual salience manipulation was based upon psychophysical studies showing that the dimension compactness possesses higher visual salience for the human observer than the dimension jaggedness. Subjects were asked to judge whether two successively presented forms were the same or different with respect to their position on the compactness or jaggedness dimension. Reaction times suggested an inverse relationship between the use of nominal representations and the visual salience of the dimension employed as a criterion for matching.
Subject(s)
Form Perception , Humans , Judgment , Pattern Recognition, Visual , Reaction TimeSubject(s)
Cues , Feedback , Self Concept , Social Facilitation , Female , Humans , Male , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
The present experiment tested the hypothesis that nominal processing increases as stimulus complexity increases. Subjects indicated whether two 4- or 12-sided forms, separated by an interval of .5 or 4.0 sec., were the same or different. "Same" responses corresponded to matches for physical or nominal identity. Longer RTs for high complexity than low complexity forms suggest that complexity affects the efficiency of visual processing rather than the occurrence of nominal processing. An interaction between type of match and interval, due to the longer RTs for matches of nominally identical forms at only the .5-sec. interval, indicates that at this interval, matches for physical and nominal identity are made with visual and nominal representations respectively.
