PsycCRITIQUES Blog

101 Ways to Increase Billing

In a review of the book Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment, Tracy Knight calls attention to an online petition sponsored by the Society for Humanistic Psychology (2011). The petition questions the inclusion of questionable "disorders in the proposed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual–5 (DSM–5)," in addition to expressing other concerns. Knight asks, and I join in asking, whether every behavior that might have negative consequences should be labeled a disease. If we are honest, making problematic human behaviors into diseases, disorders, and mental illness is a way to make money. We are attempting to enhance reimbursement; otherwise, we would turn most of our attention to work on prevention and the development of policies promoting healthy living environments and wellness. We would not fall over each other in the attempt to provide every service reimbursable through the third-party payment system of the medical industry.

Read the Review

The Addiction Addiction?
By Tracy A. Knight
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(12)

Competent Teaching Is an Ethical Issue

Professional psychologists (clinical, counseling, and other) complete extensive training programs to become licensed to practice. That training should give the public confidence that these psychologists will be competent and ethical or they will face sanctions. In my review of the book Teaching Ethically: Challenges and Opportunities, edited by Eric Landrum and Maureen McCarthy, I note that,

Competence in practice is a major item in the American Psychological Association's (2002) "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct" [section 2.01a], and that is generally understood to mean that psychologists receive appropriate training, followed by supervision and evaluation. When that does not happen, it is not ethical.

However, psychology teachers have no specified training designed to ensure competence. Is teaching really that much easier than counseling? Does this lack of training mean that undergraduate students are being subjected to legions of marginally competent teachers? We really don't know. I have attended dozens of teaching conferences and convention programs on teaching where the teachers I met were dedicated and creative. However, after 40 years of faculty life I am aware that cases of at least marginally competent teaching are not rare.

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP, Division 2 of APA) has done a lot to contribute to developing standards for excellence in teaching. Many of the contributors to Teaching Ethically are STP leaders, and this book is a fine example of consciousness raising. However, I believe we need more than books, reports, and "best practices" conferences, so I present these two suggestions:

• APA with STP should develop a model training program, including coursework and supervised experience.
• Completion of this program should become a requirement for hiring new faculty, at least in departments where teaching is the primary mission.

Read the Review

Ethical Challenges for Teachers
By James H. Korn
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(18)

When Does Science Go Too Far?

Project Nim is a documentary film depicting the life of the now-famous chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky who was raised by humans and taught to read sign language. In gathering research data on their subject over several years, scientists put Nim through a variety of hardships such as various transfers, poor living conditions at times, and forcing him into a variety of situations he was unprepared for.

The project revealed a number of insights about human–animal communication and the science of animal learning. At the same time, there is controversy as to whether the experiment should have even been started, in addition to whether the research study went on for too long. In her review of the film, Judith Stillion observes that this is an example where psychology lost its way and learned from it. Stillion goes on to say,

The film tries to show that there were no real villains in Nim's case, just human beings who did not have the vision to understand the consequences of their actions. With the benefit of hindsight, all of the principals in the project who were interviewed in the film were unanimous that this study was a mistake.

In considering the risks and benefits of these kinds of projects (also recall the Zimbardo Prison Experiment and the Milgram studies), to what extent do you believe scientific pursuit should compromise the well-being of other beings? How might a researcher best balance consideration of harm and the promise of scientific findings? To what extent do your views change when the subjects are humans, dogs, primates, or rats?

Read the Review

Psychology: Losing Its Way and Learning From It
By Judith Stillion
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(15)

Are For-Profit Universities Expanding Access or Exploiting Students?

Alliant University president Geoffrey Cox recently reviewed Andrew Rosen's book Change.edu: Rebooting for the New Talent Economy, and his review was generally sympathetic. However, Cox points out the inherent conflict between the need to maximize shareholder profits and the need to provide high-quality—and sometimes expensive—educational opportunities for students.

For-profit colleges are receiving increasingly close scrutiny from Congress, and critics claim for-profit schools routinely recruit poor, working-class, and unqualified students who are unlikely to graduate and who often default on the loans they take out to support their education. According to a recent New York Times article, "for-profit colleges enroll 12 percent of the nation's college students, [but] they soak up about 25 percent of the federal government's student-aid budget." The article further notes that fewer than half of students who enroll in 4-year for-profit schools graduate, and almost half of students who were paying back student loans in 2009 defaulted by 2010.

In toto, do for-profit universities expand access for underserved and nontraditional students who might not otherwise receive a higher education, or do they simply exploit vulnerable students to generate the highest possible returns on shareholder investments?

Read the Review

Higher Education's Brave New World—Again
By Geoffrey M. Cox
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(17)

Psychology and Race: Leaving a Legacy of Racism Behind

In their review of Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth, and Culture, Lundy Braun and Amed Logrono note the "re-emergence of research linking intelligence to race" and go on to state, "That this is happening now in the field of psychology is all the more troubling, given that there is no consensus on what actually constitutes this thing we call intelligence." In addition to this caution, I add that it is troubling because we do not really know what is meant by "race." Williams (2006) states,

For scholars who examine and analyze the germination, maturation, demise, and revival of particular ideas from one historical epoch to another, the malleability of most ideas is axiomatic. Yet the questions of how and why certain ideas retain their essential valuations for centuries are, for most historians of ideas, more problematic—especially in the case of an idea as volatile as that of race. (p.120)

Braun and Logrono note the implications of our research endeavors failing to critically examine the meaning of race for areas as diverse as forensics and education. Given discussions of disparities, I add health to the list of research areas in need of examination where the discourse on race is concerned.

Setting aside the studies of the impact of the social assignment of race on relationships, resources, opportunities, and life outcomes, I tend to think that most studies of race are consciously or unconsciously alluding to race as a biological construct. However, we cannot know this if we do not ask. How often do reviewers of journals critically consider this issue, and what are the consequences of this discipline's failure to address what is meant by "race" on the value of psychology’s contributions to science? As psychologists, we proudly participated in The Decade of Behavior (2000–2010) and loudly trumpeted our ability to assist society in meeting some of its greatest challenges, racism included. At this juncture it is important that we ask ourselves where we intend to lead society where issues of race are concerned.

Reference

Williams, V. J. (2006). The social sciences and theories of race. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Read the Review

Can Science Explain the Concept of Race?
By Lundy Braun and Amed Logrono
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(16)

Are Optimists Healthier?

In their review of Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin's book The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life From the Landmark Eight-Decade Study, Martha Crowther and Chao-Hui Huang point out a number of surprising findings:

For example, people tend to think that cheerfulness and optimism are benefits to health and well-being; however, these positive personality traits may play a negative role in health outcomes as cheerful and optimistic people tend to underestimate the threats of risky health behaviors during their pursuit of happiness. Conversely, worrying may not always exert a detrimental effect on one’s health. In fact, worrying combined with conscientiousness may be a protective factor for health and longevity.

Other studies coming from positive psychology suggest a largely salutary relationship between optimism and health. All things considered, are optimistic people healthier?

Read the Review

Secrets to a Long, Healthy Life: Uncovering Myths About Longevity
By Martha Crowther and Chao-Hui Huang
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(15)

It Seems So Counterintuitive

Relatively few psychology books capture the public's attention the way Steven Pinker's books do. For example, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined has been reviewed in Scientific American, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Phil Zimbardo is perhaps the only other major psychologist whose scholarly books have received such popular acclaim.

Writing in PsycCRITIQUES, David Geary, Drew Bailey, and Benjamin Winegard praise the book, noting,

Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined is a brilliant analysis of the decline in human violence over the past several centuries and of the social and psychological processes associated with this decline.

Pinker's major premise in Better Angels is that the world is becoming far less violent, and he makes a compelling case, marshalling extensive historical and statistical evidence. However, if Pinker is right, why is his argument so counterintuitive, and why does it seem like we are living in such a violent age?

Read the Review

Strategic Cooperation and the Rise of the Modern World
By David C. Geary, Drew H. Bailey, and Benjamin Winegard
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(11)

Media Violence Research: How Could Results Be Better Conveyed to the Public?

In their review of Steven Kirsh's Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research (2^nd ed.), Craig Anderson and Sara Prot note that the media violence literature is nuanced and complicated, and researchers have not been successful in communicating research findings to the general public. They note journalism's obsession with getting "both sides of the story," the deep pockets of the video game industry, and a general fear of censorship and its deleterious effects. They comment,

Two additional, related aspects of the failure of media effects researchers to effectively communicate what has been known for decades are that (a) violent media effects are inherently complex and (b) most scientific summaries of the vast research literature are difficult for the educated layperson to comprehend (e.g., Anderson et al., 2010).

Why haven't psychologists been more effective in communicating their research findings on media violence to the general public?

Read the Review

Myths and Facts About Youth and Violent Media
By Craig A. Anderson and Sara Prot
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(14)