The public's knowledge about psychologists and other mental health professionals.

A random sample of New London County, Connecticut, residents received a questionnaire about 9 mental health professions or professionals (MHPs): clergyperson, marriage and family counselor, nonpsychiatric physician, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker, and telephone crisis counselor. Respondents defined each MHP and reported their satisfaction with treatment, which MHP they would recommend, their referral source(s), licensure requirements, and fees. A mixed-design ANOVA was computed, with comfortableness as the dependent variable; age, sex, saw an MHP, and education, the between-Ss variables; and the 9 MHPs, the within-Ss variable. A significant MHP effect showed that physicians were perceived as slightly more comfortable than were psychologists (nonsignificant), who, nevertheless, were perceived as exceeding all other trained MHPs in the comfortableness experienced by their clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The concept of projection: A review.

Experimental studies concerned with the several interpretations of the meaning of projection are presented in detail. The concept of projection needs a precise definition; the writers suggest: "The manifestation of behavior by an individual which indicates some emotional value or need of the individual." 104-item bibliog. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirical test of the "levels" hypothesis with five projective techniques.

Tested the "levels" hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between the degree of stimulus structure in a test and the level of personality impulse-control system being tapped by the test, for 20 normal and 20 psychiatric Ss. As predicted, an inverse relationship between pathology and stimulus structure over 5 tests (from low-high structure Draw-a-Person, Rorschach, TAT, Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank, and Bender-Gestalt) was found for normals. Contrary to hypothesis, no such relationship appeared for psychiatric Ss. Other hypotheses that psychiatric Ss manifest more projection and more pathology than normals, and that there is a significant correlation between pathology and projection for every test for each group were confirmed. A new theory of projection of pathology as a function of the stimulus structure of tests is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "A note on projection."

In this paper, the author replies to the comments of Chase (see 35: 6476). From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1HL87M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scaling of the TAT for achievement.

Studies of n Ach are rarely comparable since the stimulus value of the cards is usually unknown. This study involved scaling 30 TAT cards and 6 others listed by Atkinson (1958, pp. 832-834). College men (N = 92) rated them on a 4-point scale for n Ach. Upper and lower quartiles on the basis of total score were compared for each card via the Likert scale. It is concluded that contradictory results with n Ach in the past may have resulted from researchers by chance choosing medium-achievement cards and reporting significant differences between high and low achievers, whereas investigators using low or high cards would have been more likely to find negative results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement fantasy as a function of probability of success.

Thematic measures of n Achievement were obtained from 3 groups of 30 Ss. The 1st learned that the 50% writing the most creative stories would receive $2.00; the 2nd that the top 10% would collect. The 3rd was instructed to write the stories with no mention of reward. It was hyypothesized from Atkinson's theory that the .50 group would project more a Achievement then the others. A significant difference existed between the .50 group and controls, but not between any of the others. The study is interpreted as at least in part supporting the theory. The use of the TAT as a practical measure of n Achievement, however, is questioned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived congruence among premarital couples as a function of neuroticism.

To test 2 theories concerning the marital choices of neurotics, 13 neurotic and 37 nonneurotic "engaged" couples in a college setting were selected from scores on the MMPI. The traditional psychoanalytic position favors unconscious perception in the choice of marital partner, which leads to the conclusion that neurotics choose each other in marriage. However, stimulus-value-role theory states that neurotics "settle" for each other because of their limited rewarding power for others. It was hypothesized therefore that (a) neurotics would be less satisfied with a neurotic partner than would normals with a normal partner, and (b) perceptual congruence would be greater for nonneurotics than neurotic couples. Administration of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule produced conflicting evidence for the 1st hypothesis, but the 2nd was clearly supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do Psychotherapists Have Better Marriages Than Nonpsychotherapists? Do Therapeutic Skills and Experience Relate to Marriage Adjustment?

Couples in which 1 or both members were psychotherapists were compared with nontherapist couples for marriage adjustment (MA). The authors predicted higher MA scores for the therapists and a positive correlation between the MA of therapists and years of therapy training, years of practice, rating of therapeutic ability, length of marital therapy training, number of marital therapy clients, experience as a marital therapist, and self-rating as a marital therapist. Therapist and nontherapist couples did not differ on MA. Only self-rated ability as a marital therapist correlated positively with MA. For men, ability as a therapist, as a marital therapist, and marital therapist experience correlated significantly with MA. For female therapists only self-rated ability as a marital therapist correlated significantly with MA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in love, sex, and motivation for sex

The overall prognosis of patients afflicted with cancer of the esophagus is dismal and has not changed greatly over the last few decades. Improvements have largely been due to better perioperative care rather than new surgical techniques. There remain, about the optimal treatment of these patients, and these differences are summarized in this article. The principal elements required to make an appropriate surgical decision also are outlined. Until new markers for early detection and effective systematic therapy emerge, improvement is likely to occur only in subsets of patients referred early and treated in an environment that guarantees low operative mortality.     

The effect of amount of possession of the trait of hostility on accuracy of perception of hostility in others.

Some theories of personality hold that an individual's perception of others is influenced by his own personality characteristics; more specifically, that a trait of low social value will be projected more into others, and that insight into the possession of these characteristics reduces this distortion. These 2 hypotheses were tested by having a group of college students rate each other (including themselves) on degree of friendliness or hostility. Agreement with group rating about self yielded the insight score. In general, the hypotheses were supported; the "friendly" Ss were most accurate in their perception of others, and insight was positively associated with accurate perception. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HL16M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)