No description available.

Graduate students in clinical psychology are taught to conduct research with the expectation that, in the future, they will become producers of research. Few clinical psychologists, however, actually produce much research. In attempting to explain this failure to fulfill expectations, Pasewark has suggested (as one of several plausible hypotheses) that graduate training programs may, unintentionally, be discouraging students' interest in research. A pilot study by the present author supported this supposition. The present study was designed to evaluate the validity of Pasewark's hypothesis on a national level and to examine the research attitudes of clinical psychology graduate students in relation to those of other psychology graduate students. A four-page, predominately closed-ended questionnaire was constructed with items covering the following areas: students' career goals, involvment in research achievement, satisfaction with research training and feelings about graduate school in general. Fifty percent of U.S. psychology departments having clinical training programs approved by the APA were randomly selected for inclusion in the study. During the Fall semester of 1978, Department Chairpersons were asked to distribute questionnaires to students in their departments; 69 percent of those approached agreed to do so. Six Directors of professional training programs were also contacted and three agreed to participate. A total of 3,847 questionnaires were distributed. The overall return rate for students was 53 percent. This meant participation in the survey by approximately 19 percent of all psychology graduate students at universities offering APA approved clinical programs (N = 1,893). For the three professional schools, N = 139. Results of the survey suggest that, on the whole, graduate students in psychology are interested in conducting research. Generally, their interest in research grows with experience and exposure to the process of research. These findings are true for students in clinical psychology as well as for students in other specialties. Results, therefore, run counter to Pasewark's hypothesis. Nevertheless, compared to other psychology graduate students in an academic setting, clinical students are less interested in research. Those in non-applied areas of psychology are the most interested in research, followed by those in applied areas other than clinical. Students in professional training programs are the least interested in research of all groups studied; however, even they have not abandoned research altogether. Other significant findings which emerged from the study are as follows: (1) A student's career goals are related to the student's attitude toward research. (2) Clinical students' primary identification is as a practitioner. (3) Obtaining statistically significant results in one's research is related to a positive attitude toward research in general. (4) Students tend to project their own training needs onto others. (5) Using a Research Productivity Measure which was developed, the level of student research productivity in a department was found to be related to faculty research productivity. (6) A vocal minority of clinical students voiced extreme dissatisfaction with their graduate education. (7) Interest in research was found to be related to criticism of the questionnaire. The contributions of the present study are discussed in light of the psychological literature. Implications for graduate training are considered and directions for future research are suggested.

This endeavor emerges out of a context of widespread consultation around a clearer, internationally recognizable practice framework for psychology in South Africa, as well as the implications of programme design as demanded by current tertiary education restructuring. This climate of change has prompted the investigation of ideas for restructuring undergraduate psychology courses to meet the needs of the students, the profession and the society. A specially designed questionnaire and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory were administered to 508 psychology students at all levels of undergraduate study. Analysis focused on why students chose to study psychology at university, and situated this within career choice theory as well as the effects of personality, gender and population group membership. Results reflect two main student trends: students who are interested in a career in psychology, and those who see psychology as an adjunct to other career choices. The importance of broader national and global trends on the psychological discipline in a multicultural and diverse context is emphasized. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

The lack of the teaching of scientific critical thinking is seen as a major problem in the American educational system by many current educators, theorists, and researchers. Using Introductory Psychology students as subjects, the present study attempted to improve these skills by teaching students using new research method materials as part of classroom instruction. The students were measured with a test developed for the study. The new materials were found to improve students' scientific critical thinking ability over students in courses not using the new materials. These materials can be helpful in improving students' ability to evaluate scientific claims presented in the media. / Department of Psychological Science

No description available.

This study questions whether it is possible to show greater interviewer agreement on client's problems as a result of training. The study examined the comparison of the behavioral assessment interview, the psychodynamic assessment interview, and a no-training control interview. Additionally, four other dependent variables were examined which related to effectiveness of interview format: proportion of problems identified of those mentioned by the client, number of problems mentioned by the client, total number of problems identified by the interviewer, and number of interviewer errors per interview. The results demonstrated that behavioral interviewers had significantly higher agreement than the psychodynamic and no-training control. Behavioral interviewers were also significantly comprehensive in that they better identified a higher proportion of the problems mentioned by clients than the other two groups. Consistently, although not significantly, the behavioral interviewers identified more problems overall than the other two groups, although the number of problems mentioned by clients did not vary by group. The surprising findings of the study is that behavioral interviewers made significantly more errors per interview than the others, despite their effectiveness in obtaining interviewer agreement on client problem reports.

The problem of this study was to compare the effect of a contingency management approach with that of a lecture approach in an introductory psychology course.

M.Ed. / Entering the profession of psychology entails participating in professional roles and tasks that deal directly with human contact and development. Therefore, practicing psychology comprises a highly personalised nature, hence the personal self of the psychologist also comes into play. The development of the professional and personal nature of the psychologist occurs during different stages of becoming a psychologist. One such stage is that of being an intern. An intern has completed the theoretical aspect of a masters in psychology course and is involved in the practical aspect of the degree. This study explores the stage of being a psychology intern. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the experiences of a particular group of psychology interns in relation to their personal self and professional self. As a result a greater understanding surrounding a particular internship experience is hoped to be achieved. The design of the study was qualitative and involved formulating a literature review. This literature review discusses the stages of professional development, tasks and roles and internship experiences. This provides the theoretical framework for this study and should enhance the understanding of the phenomenological experience of interns. Hence, the research approach and theoretical framework adopted was based on existential, phenomenological, ecosystemic and constructivistic principles. Data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with three psychology interns. All participants completed their internships at the same institute in South Africa. When this study began, I, the researcher was also an intern, thus I am one of the participants. Data was also gained from my own personal reflective and research journal. The literature review, together with the results of this study assist in developing an understanding around the personal self and the professional self of the intern. It is hoped that the information gained from this study will assist future interns in creating meaning for their internship experiences.

As an introduction to the style and format of this research report, I feel that a foreword would serve useful to the reader. The name of the research, the development of self of therapist in therapy training was carefully considered to represent the feel of this research report. When one considers a looking glass, better known today as a mirror, a couple of processes happen simultaneously. A mirror provides us with a superficial indication of who we are. The phrase shattered assumptions comes directly from this metaphor; we are whom we see ourselves as. A mirror, to work, needs to provide us with a reflection. For us to be able to develop assumptions about ourselves, we need to see our image reflected within the mirror. For us to look closely at ourselves, to see our hidden flaws and faults, we need to move up close to the mirror, and really look closely and intently into that mirror. And what we see, is no more than a reflection of ourselves- but it is us, the us that others in the world see us as. This research report is an analysis. It is a close inspection into the mirror of the development of self in therapy training, but more than analysis, the artefacts presented in this report, are a mirror. And within that mirror, within this research, a reflection is occurring, a reflection of me, of me on my path to development of self-of-therapist. / Mrs. H. Dunbar-Krige Dr. E. Fritz

Mindfulness-based interventions can improve teachers' capacities for attention and emotion regulation, as well as their prosocial dispositions like compassion and forgiveness. The purpose of this set of research studies (including three case studies and a larger non-randomized treatment -- control group quasi-experimental study) was to examine whether or not capacities like these, learned through participation in a mindfulness training (MT) program for teachers, become embodied and show through as changes in teachers' mindful behavior in the classroom -- specifically, their ability to be calm, clear-minded and kind-hearted in their speech and behavior with students in the classroom. These studies used first-person, teacher reports and third-person, observer measures to assess potential MT-program-related impacts on changes in teachers' classroom speech and behavior over time. Results from survey and interview data showed change in teachers' perceptions of their mindful classroom behavior. The case studies showed evidence of change in teachers' calm, clear and kind classroom speech and behavior as rated by observers. Results in the larger study again showed change in treatment teachers' perception of their mindfulness in the classroom over time compared to controls, but no evidence was found for observed changes in speech or behavior in the classroom. Methodological, developmental and intervention-related interpretations and implications of the findings are presented and directions for future research are discussed.