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The American Psychologist 2006The evidence-based practice movement has become an important feature of health care systems and health care policy. Within this context, the APA 2005 Presidential Task...
The evidence-based practice movement has become an important feature of health care systems and health care policy. Within this context, the APA 2005 Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice defines and discusses evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP). In an integration of science and practice, the Task Force's report describes psychology's fundamental commitment to sophisticated EBPP and takes into account the full range of evidence psychologists and policymakers must consider. Research, clinical expertise, and patient characteristics are all supported as relevant to good outcomes. EBPP promotes effective psychological practice and enhances public health by applying empirically supported principles of psychological assessment, case formulation, therapeutic relationship, and intervention. The report provides a rationale for and expanded discussion of the EBPP policy statement that was developed by the Task Force and adopted as association policy by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2005.
Topics: Evidence-Based Medicine; Humans; Mental Disorders; Practice Patterns, Physicians'; Psychology
PubMed: 16719673
DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.61.4.271 -
Perspectives on Psychological Science :... Nov 2017Psychology has historically been concerned, first and foremost, with explaining the causal mechanisms that give rise to behavior. Randomized, tightly controlled... (Review)
Review
Psychology has historically been concerned, first and foremost, with explaining the causal mechanisms that give rise to behavior. Randomized, tightly controlled experiments are enshrined as the gold standard of psychological research, and there are endless investigations of the various mediating and moderating variables that govern various behaviors. We argue that psychology's near-total focus on explaining the causes of behavior has led much of the field to be populated by research programs that provide intricate theories of psychological mechanism but that have little (or unknown) ability to predict future behaviors with any appreciable accuracy. We propose that principles and techniques from the field of machine learning can help psychology become a more predictive science. We review some of the fundamental concepts and tools of machine learning and point out examples where these concepts have been used to conduct interesting and important psychological research that focuses on predictive research questions. We suggest that an increased focus on prediction, rather than explanation, can ultimately lead us to greater understanding of behavior.
Topics: Humans; Machine Learning; Psychology
PubMed: 28841086
DOI: 10.1177/1745691617693393 -
Annual Review of Psychology Jan 2018In 2010-2012, a few largely coincidental events led experimental psychologists to realize that their approach to collecting, analyzing, and reporting data made it too... (Review)
Review
In 2010-2012, a few largely coincidental events led experimental psychologists to realize that their approach to collecting, analyzing, and reporting data made it too easy to publish false-positive findings. This sparked a period of methodological reflection that we review here and call Psychology's Renaissance. We begin by describing how psychologists' concerns with publication bias shifted from worrying about file-drawered studies to worrying about p-hacked analyses. We then review the methodological changes that psychologists have proposed and, in some cases, embraced. In describing how the renaissance has unfolded, we attempt to describe different points of view fairly but not neutrally, so as to identify the most promising paths forward. In so doing, we champion disclosure and preregistration, express skepticism about most statistical solutions to publication bias, take positions on the analysis and interpretation of replication failures, and contend that meta-analytical thinking increases the prevalence of false positives. Our general thesis is that the scientific practices of experimental psychologists have improved dramatically.
Topics: Humans; Psychology; Publishing
PubMed: 29068778
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011836 -
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology May 2019Despite psychological scientists' increasing interest in replicability, open science, research transparency, and the improvement of methods and practices, the clinical... (Review)
Review
Despite psychological scientists' increasing interest in replicability, open science, research transparency, and the improvement of methods and practices, the clinical psychology community has been slow to engage. This has been shifting more recently, and with this review, we hope to facilitate this emerging dialogue. We begin by examining some potential areas of weakness in clinical psychology in terms of methods, practices, and evidentiary base. We then discuss a select overview of solutions, tools, and current concerns of the reform movement from a clinical psychological science perspective. We examine areas of clinical science expertise (e.g., implementation science) that should be leveraged to inform open science and reform efforts. Finally, we reiterate the call to clinical psychologists to increase their efforts toward reform that can further improve the credibility of clinical psychological science.
Topics: Biomedical Research; Humans; Implementation Science; Psychology, Clinical; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 30673512
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095710 -
Integrative Psychological & Behavioral... Dec 2022When they discuss the Danish academic situation, Szulevicz, Lund and Lund (2021) address three questions about the academic training of psychology researchers: (a) why...
When they discuss the Danish academic situation, Szulevicz, Lund and Lund (2021) address three questions about the academic training of psychology researchers: (a) why do Danish master's students in psychology more frequently choose the qualitative method for their research?; (b) what are psychology students working on?; and (c) what are they interested in? These three questions have led us to reflect on researcher training and the political and educational model universities adopt for psychology master's courses, not only in the Danish context, but also in other general contexts. In this commentary, we will discuss one strictly normative issue: what should the scientific ideal be for training researchers in psychology? Or more accurately: how can psychology contribute to discussions about the scientific ideal of researcher training in this knowledge area?
Topics: Humans; Universities; Psychology; Biomedical Research; Denmark; Education, Graduate; Students, Health Occupations; Psychology, Educational; Models, Educational; Politics
PubMed: 36284070
DOI: 10.1007/s12124-022-09715-2 -
Personality and Social Psychology... Nov 2023Social psychology's disconnect from the vital and urgent questions of people's lived experiences reveals limitations in the current paradigm. We draw on a related...
ACADEMIC ABSTRACT
Social psychology's disconnect from the vital and urgent questions of people's lived experiences reveals limitations in the current paradigm. We draw on a related perspective in social psychology-the sociocultural approach-and argue how this perspective can be elaborated to consider not only social psychology as a historical science but also social psychology of and for world-making. This conceptualization can make sense of key theoretical and methodological challenges faced by contemporary social psychology. As such, we describe the ontology, epistemology, ethics, and methods of social psychology of and for world-making. We illustrate our framework with concrete examples from social psychology. We argue that reconceptualizing social psychology in terms of world-making can make it more humble yet also more relevant, reconnecting it with the pressing issues of our time.
PUBLIC ABSTRACT
We propose that social psychology should focus on "world-making" in two senses. First, people are future-oriented and often are guided more by what could be than what is. Second, social psychology can contribute to this future orientation by supporting people's world-making and also critically reflecting on the role of social psychological research in world-making. We unpack the philosophical assumptions, methodological procedures, and ethical considerations that underpin a social psychology of and for world-making. Social psychological research, whether it is intended or not, contributes to the societies and cultures in which we live, and thus it cannot be a passive bystander of world-making. By embracing social psychology of and for world-making and facing up to the contemporary societal challenges upon which our collective future depends will make social psychology more humble but also more relevant.
Topics: Humans; Psychology, Social; Psychology
PubMed: 36628932
DOI: 10.1177/10888683221145756 -
Journal of Community Psychology Jul 2021A review of the Journal's nearly five decades of publications revealed an early commentary entitled "Common sense Community Psychology" (Thorne, 1974) reflecting on... (Review)
Review
A review of the Journal's nearly five decades of publications revealed an early commentary entitled "Common sense Community Psychology" (Thorne, 1974) reflecting on early decisions about the discipline's professional identity and interactions with targeted communities of color and need stimulated this commentary. Considered are ways we distinguished ourselves from our parent, clinical psychology, and its focus on emotional and behavioral disorder treated through psychotherapeutic interventions. Thorne's examination of alternative pathways that the discipline could have followed are considered relative to current challenges confronting communities of color and need.
Topics: Emotions; Humans; Psychology
PubMed: 33411360
DOI: 10.1002/jcop.22504 -
Perspectives on Psychological Science :... Nov 2021Psychological theories of gender and/or sex (gender/sex) have the capacity to shape people's self-perceptions, social judgments, and behaviors. The institutional power...
Psychological theories of gender and/or sex (gender/sex) have the capacity to shape people's self-perceptions, social judgments, and behaviors. The institutional power of psychology to affect cognition and behavior-not just to measure them-necessitates a serious consideration of our social responsibility to manage the products of our intellectual labor. Therefore, I propose that psychological research should be understood as of gender/sex (and socially relevant concepts in general). In this issue, four articles collectively serve as a demonstrative slice of the diversity of current directions in psychological research on gender/sex. I use these articles as springboards for articulating key elements of psychologists' stewardship of gender/sex and strategies for improving our stewardship. First, I examine how psychology's historical stewardship of gender/sex has yielded both new methods for self-understanding and harmful consequences for marginalized people. Next, I explore promising current approaches that center minoritized perspectives. I also discuss roadblocks to effective stewardship, including narrowly disciplinary approaches. Finally, I consider strategies for improving psychology's stewardship of gender/sex, such as mitigating gender/sex essentialism and employing generative theoretical frameworks built from interdisciplinary insights.
Topics: Employment; Humans; Psychological Theory; Psychology
PubMed: 34726098
DOI: 10.1177/17456916211018462 -
The American Psychologist Nov 2012Despite the "awakening" to the importance of culture in psychology in America, international psychology has remained on the sidelines of psychological science. The... (Review)
Review
Despite the "awakening" to the importance of culture in psychology in America, international psychology has remained on the sidelines of psychological science. The author recounts her personal and professional experience in tandem with the stages of development in international/cross-cultural psychology. Based on her research in cross-cultural personality assessment, the author discusses the inadequacies of sole reliance on either the etic or the emic approach and points out the advantages of a combined emic-etic approach in bridging global and local human experiences in psychological science and practice. With the blurring of the boundaries between North American-European psychologies and psychology in the rest of the world, there is a need to mainstream culture in psychology's epistemological paradigm. Borrowing from the concept of gender mainstreaming that embraces both similarities and differences in promoting equal opportunities, the author discusses the parallel needs of acknowledging universals and specifics when mainstreaming culture in psychology. She calls for building a culturally informed universal knowledge base that should be incorporated in the psychology curriculum and textbooks.
Topics: Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cultural Diversity; Culture; Humans; Personality; Personality Assessment; Psychology
PubMed: 23163473
DOI: 10.1037/a0029876 -
The American Psychologist Apr 1990The place of death in psychology is reviewed historically. Leading causes for its being slighted as an area of investigation during psychology's early years are... (Review)
Review
The place of death in psychology is reviewed historically. Leading causes for its being slighted as an area of investigation during psychology's early years are presented. Reasons for its rediscovery in the mid-1950s as a legitimate sector for scientific inquiry are then discussed, along with some vicissitudes encountered in carrying out research in the field. This is followed by a description of principal empirical findings, clinical perceptions, and perspectives emerging from work in the thanatological realm. The probability that such urgent social issues as abortion, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and euthanasia, and such destructive behaviors as drug abuse, alcoholism, and certain acts of violence are associated with attitudes toward death offers a challenge to psychology to enhance the vitality of human response to maladaptive conduct and loss. Recognition of personal mortality is a major entryway to self-knowledge. Although death is manifestly too complex to be the special sphere of any one discipline, psychology's position as an arena in which humanist and physicist-engineer cultures intersect provides us with a meaningful opportunity to advance our comprehension of how death can serve life.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Attitude to Death; Forecasting; Grief; Humans; Psychology, Clinical
PubMed: 2186680
DOI: 10.1037//0003-066x.45.4.537