Demonstrated that through a brief, didactic, demythologizing approach, college students' attitudes toward mental illness can be changed in a psychosocial or non-medical model direction. Results indicate that such an approach effectively can change students' somewhat negative constructs of mental patients in a positive direction. (Editor)

Investigates the feasibility of an alternative scoring procedure for the Semantic Differential (SD) that would permit easier analysis by psychotherapists so that the SD's use might increase as a measure of therapy process or outcome. (Author/RK)

Presentence evaluations conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists (clinicians) and correctional counselors (caseworkers) were subjected to multiple regression analyses in order to specify the relative contribution of inmate characteristics (offense severity and recidivism probability) and decision-maker response biases to sentencing…

An examination of the specific areas of agreement and disagreement among the Beck Depression Inventory (DI), the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Lubin Depression Adjective Check Lists (DACL) was made to see if all three measured the same aspects of depressive behavior and how they could be used together to optimize assessment of…

This research investigated the possibility that there exists a systematic difference in WAIS verbal and performance IQ indices. It was hypothesized that VIQ (verbal) scores on the WAIS tend to be significantly higher than PIQ (performance ability) scores. (Author/RK)

Outlines origins and evolution of family interaction research and argues that such research suffered from insufficient integration of implications of clinical viewpoint of family systems theory into research procedure. Describes experimental method for evaluating public verifiability of complex clinical notions. (Author/NB)

Provides a brief synopsis of the utility of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) short forms with psychiatric, medical and normal samples. Strengths and limitations of each MMPI short form are discussed. (Author)

This study examined preliminary effectiveness of one of the first Project Re-ED (Re-education of Emotionally Disturbed children) residential treatment centers for children. Data were collected at admission, at discharge, and up to 6 months postdischarge. Findings show substantial decreases in problem behaviors and improvements in personal…

This paper identifies typical sampling problems, including improper application of the Central Limit Theorem, that are associated with the probability-based sampling procedures currently used in clinical psychology research. It then presents two alternative research designs, the theory validation model and the extended case study model, which…

Employed the Personal Health Survey (PHS) to study patterns of symptomology related to physical and mental health in a population of 730 Ss, which consisted of five groups: felons, hospitalized alcoholics, unmarried mothers, college students and institutionalized schizophrenics. (Editor)

Reports on a series of methodological refinements used in developing a systematic rationale for the construction, standardization and interpretation of the Personal Health Survey (PHS), a 200-item questionnaire designed to screen pathological functioning in the psychophysiological support systems that underlie physical and mental health. The PHS…

Examines whether the degree of facilitating and debilitating test anxiety is different for students who volunteer for test anxiety desensitization workshops than it is for the general college population, whether test anxiety in urban community college students is correlated, and whether either or both of the AAT scales are predictive of student…

Describes an experiment in which a presumptively behavioral anxiety-management technique known as "cue-controlled relaxation" (Russell, Miller & June, 1975) was compared with a "deactivated" version of Borkovec's (1972) Avoidance Response Placebo treatment and with no intervention as means of reducing self-reported test…

Presents the maximum likelihood factor structure of the Family Environment Scale. The first bipolar dimension, "cohesion v conflict," measures relationship-centered concerns, while the second unipolar dimension is an index of "organizational and control" activities. (Author)

Validation issues that arise with measures of constructs and behavior are addressed with reference to general reasons for using assessment procedures in clinical psychology. A distinction is made between the representational phase of validity assessment and the elaborative validity phase in which the meaning and utility of scores are examined.…