Tackling ethical dilemmas in personality assessment.

This is a useful and thought-provoking special series about ethical issues in personality assessment. All of the articles in this special series are discussed. Some common themes and guidelines emerge from the articles. Given the complexity of many ethical dilemmas, it is important to follow a decision-making model. Several models are presented in this series. One must learn the rules and common ethical dilemmas that occur in the setting one is in. Current ethical problems should be used to prevent similar problems in the future. It is important to consult with other professionals before acting. Finally, work should be done to increase exposure of psychologists to common ethical problems in the field of personality assessment.

Children's fantasy play and emotional understanding.

Examined the relation between affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play and emotional understanding. Sixty-six children in the 1st and 2nd grades played with puppets (Affect in Play Scale; Russ, 1993), answered questions about their understanding of emotions (Kusche Affective Interview-Revised; Kusche, Greenberg, & Beilke, 1988), and completed a measure of verbal intelligence (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III; Wechsler, 1991). The major finding of this study was that consistent, yet modest, relations were found between dimensions of fantasy play and emotional understanding. Cognitive dimensions of fantasy play, but not affect expression, were related to facets of emotional understanding. These relations were independent of verbal ability. A composite fantasy play score accounted for a significant amount of variance in a composite emotional understanding score when verbal ability was accounted for. Variations in the pattern of correlations for girls and boys suggest sex differences in the relation between fantasy play and emotional understanding. Implications for clinical research and interventions are discussed.

Play, creativity, and adaptive functioning: implications for play interventions.

Discussed the importance of play in creative problem solving and its implications for play interventions. Theory and research in the areas of play and creative cognitive processes and play and creative affective processes are reviewed. Play has been associated with the development of creative problem solving. Creative problem solving is thought to be a resource for everyday coping and adjustment. Play intervention studies that investigate the effects of specific aspects of play on specific criteria would be appropriate for the creative problem-solving and coping area. A systematic program integrating laboratory research on play and creativity, research on play techniques, and play intervention with specific populations is needed.

Matching preparatory intervention to coping style: The effects on children's distress in the dental setting.

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the effects of matching preparatory interventions to patient's coping styles. METHODS: Participants were 61 children, with a restricted age range of 6 through 9 years old (mean age was 7.9 years), who underwent dental restoration. Participants were randomly assigned to an information intervention, a relaxation intervention, or a control condition. Play and parent-report of sensitization/repression were indices of coping style. The first hypothesis, that play would relate to sensitization/repression, was tested using Pearson correlations. The second hypothesis, that interventions that were congruent with patients' coping styles would be more effective than incongruent interventions, was tested using MANCOVAs. RESULTS: No relation was found between play and coping style. The "congruency hypothesis" was supported for self-reported distress immediately following the intervention. On behavioral distress variables, the interaction between sensitization/repression and condition was contrary to the congruency hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for future research and clinical intervention with pediatric populations were discussed.

Relationships among affect in play, interpersonal themes in fantasy, and children's interpersonal behavior.

Relationships among children's affective expression in fantasy play, interpersonal themes in projective stories, and concurrent interpersonal behaviors were investigated in 49 children. Participants completed a play task, a projective storytelling task, and a brief IQ measure. Peer and teacher ratings provided measures of interpersonal functioning. Results found that access to and comfort with affect is related to the ability to think in interpersonal ways. Neither affective expression in play nor interpersonal themes in projective stories were related to actual interpersonal behavior.

Sex differences, sex roles, and projection on the TAT: matching stimulus to examinee gender.

We examined the assumption that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) examinees identify more with stimulus characters of the same sex as themselves and therefore produce more projective material when tested with these gender matched cards. Repeated measures analyses of variance and t tests showed no increase in projection as a result of matching gender or sex role of subject to card stimulus. Results do not support the clinical utility of the separate male and female sets of TAT cards.

Affective expression in children's fantasy play, primary process thinking on the Rorschach, and divergent thinking.

The relationships among expression of primary process thinking on the Rorschach, affective expression in fantasy play, and divergent thinking were investigated in first and second grade children. Sixty children received the rorschach (Holt's scoring system), a play task (Affect in Play Scale), and the Alternate Uses Test. Major hypotheses were supported because the amount of primary process thinking on the Rorschach (frequency and percent) was significantly, positively related to amount of affective expression and primary process expression in play. Also, expression of affect in play (frequency, variety, integration, and comfort) was significantly, positively related to divergent thinking, independent of IQ for both boys and girls. On the Rorschach, percent of primary process was significantly related to divergent thinking for boys. The results suggest that the ability to think imaginatively in a free-association style and the ability to have access to affect-laden material are related processes.

Primary process thinking, divergent thinking, and coping in children.

The relationships among primary process thinking, divergent thinking, and coping were investigated in fifth-grade children. Specifically, it was hypothesized from psychodynamic theory that access to and integration of primary process thinking would be positively related to divergent thinking and that both integration of primary process and divergent thinking would be predictive of coping ability. The Rorschach (Holt's scoring system) and Alternate Uses Test (spontaneous flexibility score) were administered to 53 fifth-grade children. Zeitlin's Coping Inventory, a teacher's rating scale, was the coping measure. Results confirmed the hypotheses for boys in that the percentage of primary process and the Adaptive Regression score on the Rorschach were significantly related to divergent thinking, r(27) = .33, p less than .05 and r(27) = .34, p less than .05, respectively. Divergent thinking was significantly related to teachers' ratings of coping ability for boys, r(27) = .58, p less than .01. There were no significant relationships among the variables for girls. These sex differences in the pattern of correlations are consistent with previous findings.

Primary process thinking and anxiety in children.

The relationship between primary process thinking and two measures of anxiety was investigated in fourth- and fifth-grade children. Holt's Scoring System for Primary Process Responses on the Rorschach was the measure of primary process thinking. The major hypotheses were supported for boys in that frequency of expression of primary process material was positively related to behavioral manifestations of anxiety as measured by the Teacher's Rating Scale. Also, controlled access to and integration of primary process was negatively related to teacher's ratings of anxiety. There were no significant results for girls. Primary process measures were not related to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Possible reasons for the different relationships between the primary process measures and the anxiety measures are discussed.

Sex differences in primary process thinking and flexibility in problem-solving in children.

The relationship between primary process thinking and flexibility in problem-solving was investigated. Specifically, it was hypothesized from psychodynamic theory that primary process integration on the Rorschach (Holt's scoring system) would be positively related to the capacity to shift problem-solving strategies on the Luchins' water-jar test. The Rorschach and water-jar test were individually administered to 47 third grade children. The hypothesis was confirmed for boys in that the Adaptive Regression score on the Rorschach was significantly related to performance on Luchins' water-jar test (r = .64, df = 16, p < .01). This relationship remained significant when IQ was partialed out (r = .59, df = 16, p < .01). There was no relationship between primary process integration and flexibility in problem solving for girls (r = .02, df = 26, NS). These results and sex differences were replicated with a second sample of children. Consistent sex differences also were found in the amount of primary process material expressed. Girls showed a significantly smaller percentage of primary process material than boys. Primary process integration was also related to Iowa test achievement scores, independent of IQ. This finding is consistent with previous studies.

Primary process integration on the Rorschach and achievement in children: a follow-up study.

The purpose of the present study was to follow-up children who had participated in a previous study which investigated the relationship between primary process integration and achievement. The major hypothesis of this follow-up study was supported in that Adaptive Regression (Holt's primary process integration measure on the Rorschach) was significantly positively related to reading achievement (r = .52, p < .001) and to overall achievement (r = .49) in third-grade children. These relationships remained significant when IQ was partialed out. Second-grade AR scores were significantly predictive of third-grade reading (r = .29, p < .05). The correlations between third-grade AR scores and achievement are similar in magnitude to second-grade correlations between these variables. This finding points to the consistency of the relationship between primary process integration and achievement over a one-year period.

Teaching psychological assessment: training issues and teaching approaches.

Clinical psychology graduate programs need to pay attention to important issues involved in teaching psychological assessment, if graduate students are to be adequately prepared. Recent studies have suggested a gap between academic training in psychological assessment and internship expectations. Graduate students are not as well prepared as many internship settings would like. In addition to learning the fundamentals, students need help in dealing with issues of categorizing individuals, using tests in helpful ways, taking responsibility for decision-making, and developing a balance between critical evaluation of tests and appreciation of their usefulness. Teaching approaches for dealing with these issues are discussed. The importance of academic and clinical agencies working together is stressed. Goals for graduate training in assessment are suggested.