PsycCRITIQUES Blog

What Is the Relationship Between the Psychological and Economic Consequences of Linguistic Diversity?

In his review of the book How Many Languages Do We Need? The Economics of Linguistic Diversity by Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber, Harry Whitaker notes that,

Although this book focuses on economic outcomes, Ginsburgh and Weber do take economic theory to a personal level in the discussion of the costs of learning a second (or third) language.

However, the discussion does not include the psychological advantages (or disadvantages, if any) of having a linguistically diverse society or of individuals learning a second or third (or more) language. What are the psychological (e.g., cognitive, affective, personality, behavioral) advantages and disadvantages to living in a linguistically diverse society? What are the psychological advantages and disadvantages for individuals who learn additional languages? How are these related to the economic advantages and disadvantages?

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The Perils of Polyglottism
By Harry A. Whitaker
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(1)

How Can Psychology Help Decrease the Wrongful Conviction Rate?

Leslie Rosen, reviewer of Conviction of the Innocent: Lessons From Psychological Research edited by Brian L. Cutler, asks an important question with her review title: "Psychological research has much to say: So why don't the courts, police departments, and legislatures listen?"

It is a question to be taken seriously given that, in the past 22 years, 281 prisoners with a 13-year average length of prison stay have been exonerated through DNA evidence (The Innocence Project). Cutler's book addresses the many facets of this problem, including those who are most likely to be wrongfully convicted (youths and those with cognitive impairments due to mental illness and intellectual disabilities), the significant impact of bias throughout the process of evidence selection, evaluation and presentation, and the psychological phenomena of confirmation bias and belief preservation leading a detective/officer to focus on only one suspect and interpret evidence in a way that best implicates that person.

What additional research is needed to inform recommendations for improving the legal process and decreasing the conviction rate of innocent people? What recommendations could be offered now, given the current body of knowledge? Has progress been made, or are the courts, police departments, and legislatures just not listening?

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Psychological Research Has Much to Say: So Why Don't the Courts, Police Departments, and Legislatures Listen?
      By Leslie B. Rosen
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(3)

Ethics for Whom?

Janet Matthews's review of the two-volume APA Handbook of Ethics in Psychology raised two concerns for me regarding educating all psychologists in the full range of ethical issues. My first concern is "a tendency to focus on those parts of the code that are specifically relevant to one's major activities without viewing the code in its entirety." For several years I taught an ethics course for graduate students in I/O and experimental psychology. Topics included competency, dual relationships, and other issues typically of primary concern to clinicians. We had guest teachers familiar with state licensing and clinicians' struggle to gain prescription privileges. The general idea was that all psychologists are responsible for the ethics of every psychologist. I wonder how many graduate programs share that idea.

My second concern is that the cost of these volumes will limit their use by and impact on students. Matthews believes they are worth the $395 price. Certainly large libraries will buy the set as will most departments, although probably mainly those with accredited professional programs. However, these hefty volumes are out of the price range of the many departments and libraries whose budgets have been cut or were not large to begin with. None but the wealthiest (1%?) graduate students will even consider a purchase. This will be another money-maker for APA Publications, but I doubt that the majority of psychologists (99%?) will see these books.

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Ethics 101: Philosophical Foundations to Practical Applications
By Janet R. Matthews
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2012 Vol 57(2)

Can Relationships Between Adult Children and Their Parents Sometimes Be "Toxic"?

In their review of Poisonous Parenting: Toxic Relationships Between Parents and Their Adult Children, J. Douglas Pettinelli, Katie M. Heiden Rootes, and Christine Schneider note that clinicians often encounter adult children who are suffering from "toxic relationships" with their parents who, according to the book, can be classified as either pageant, dismissive, or contemptuous parents. The reviewers point out, however, that the parent–child relationship is not one-dimensional or linear, and more attention to family diversity issues is warranted due to the "unique impacts of gender, culture, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and religion on multigenerational family dynamics."

Is the term "toxic relationships" or the parent typologies described in the book useful for research and/or clinical practice? If yes, how? If no, why not?

What are some examples of the unique impacts of culture, gender, religion, etc. on family dynamics? How might clinicians effectively use this information to help improve these troubled relationships?

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Too Much Pathology, Not Enough Repair
By J. Douglas Pettinelli, Katie M. Heiden Rootes, and Christine Schneider
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2011 Vol 56(48)

How Do We Approach Research on Our Increasing Use of Technology?

In her review of Sherry Turkle's book Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other, Marianne LaFrance notes that Turkle expresses concern about whether virtual intimacy degrades real intimacy and what happens when people (including children and youth) would rather text than talk; however, LaFrance notes that Turkle does not base her concerns on current research.

What should be the research goals in investigating the causes and effects (positive or negative) of being increasingly online, whether through cell phones, texting, e-mail, social networking, or other forms of communication? What do we know, either from psychological research or from research in other areas (such as communication), and what do we still need to know? What may be some of the mediators and moderators of these effects?

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We, Lonely Robots
By Marianne LaFrance
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2011 Vol 56(51)

Have We Advanced Our Knowledge of Biracial Children and Their Parents?

In his review of Michael Connor and Joseph White's edited volume Black Fathers: An Invisible Presence in America (2^nd ed.), Chammie Austin states,

Although Connor and White state in the preface that "no attempt was made to cover all types of fathers" (p. x), conspicuously absent from the discussion of Black fathers is any chapter on fathers of biracial children. This omission is especially dubious, given the significant number of African American fathers of biracial/multiracial children (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). Furthermore, this exclusion is also questionable, given the discussion earlier in the text of slave owners fathering Black children. Several scholars (e.g., Lusk, Taylor, Nanney, & Austin, 2010) have written about the challenges facing biracial youth, and the absence of one's father is certain to exacerbate those challenges.

Are psychologists making significant strides in understanding the growing population of biracial children in the United States? Do we adequately understand their socialization, identity development, issues around any stress and coping related to discrimination, and development of their own friendships and romantic relationships? And, do we adequately understand the issues faced by parents of biracial children?

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Beyond Baby Daddy: A New (Better) Understanding of African American Fatherhood
By Chammie Austin
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2011 Vol 56(41)

Are Campuses Prepared for Handling Potential Threats Posed by Severely Disturbed Students?

Reviewer E. Scott Geller says of the book This Is Not a Fire Drill: Crisis Intervention and Prevention on College Campuses,

[it] educated me substantially about the complexity of the issues surrounding the seemingly straightforward task of identifying severely disturbed students and removing them from the university community if they impose a possible danger to themselves or others.

Geller has been a faculty member of Virginia Tech (VT) for over 40 years and was there at the time of the tragic shooting in April 2007 when senior Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed over 30 students and injured at least 26 others. In his review, Geller highlights the following discussion in the book:

After the VT disaster, for example, laws were passed by the Virginia legislature that "have wide-ranging implications for clients, counseling centers, and universities themselves" (p. 108) and "will result in a significant alteration of business as usual, potentially for university counseling centers across the country" (p. 122). Will these changes be beneficial to the prospect of preventing disasters caused by university students? A lawyer and current president of the National Behavior Intervention Team Association says "no," claiming such policy change "is ill-considered," mainly because it "potentially undermines the clinical relationship, creates incentive for the subject to lie" (p. 122), and decreases the probability of a long-term student–counselor relationship.

Have the colleges/universities you are familiar with made changes to policies and procedures to monitor for and respond to potential threats from severely disturbed students? Do you consider the policies/procedures justified or adequate/inadequate? What is your opinion of how they affect the student-counselor relationship?

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Empowerment for Crisis Prevention and Recovery: What Does It Take?
By E. Scott Geller
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2011 Vol 56(39)

Psychology’s Role and Responsibilities in the High-Stakes Testing Agenda

In an insightful and informative review of High-Stakes Testing in Education: Science and Practice in K–12 Settings, Mark D. Shermis raises several important questions. Psychologists have been involved in the enterprise of high-stakes testing since its initiation in the United States. However, have we been diligent in assessing the consequences of our involvement? Should an assessment of the current place of such testing in our society be a part of psychology's research agenda?

Shermis addresses two points of particular note that I ask my colleagues to consider. He expresses concern for the "consequential validity" of tests, or what happens to students who fail to meet established criteria on tests. In addition, he notes that there are

questions regarding whether high-stakes testing may have narrowed the curriculum, whether there is even a match between instructional time allotted and the domains tested, and the degree to which the assumption of equity of instructional quality across classrooms is reasonable.

Given this state of affairs, aren't psychological disciplines such as school and educational psychology obligated to turn some portion of their attention to these issues?

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Is Public Education Improved Through High-Stakes Testing? Can It Be?
By Mark D. Shermis
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2011 Vol 56(41)