This book introduces a new topic; a critical researched-based analysis of the role of human judgment in social policy formation. It applies what has been learned from research on human judgment to specific examples - from the Challenger disaster to present-day debates on health care.

Human judgment can be a source of both hope and fear in the creation of social policy. Yet this important process has rarely been examined because research on human judgment has been scarce. Now, however, the results of 50 years of empirical work offer an unprecedented opportunity to examine human judgment and the basis of our hopes and fears. Numerous examples from law, medicine, engineering, and economics are used throughout to demonstrate these and other features of human judgment in action.

Originally published in 1992, the editors of this volume fulfill three main goals: to take stock of progress in the development of data-analysis procedures for single-subject research; to clearly explain errors of application and consider them within the context of new theoretical and empirical information of the time; and to closely examine new developments in the analysis of data from single-subject or small n experiments. To meet these goals, this book provides examples of applicable single-subject research data analysis. It presents a wide variety of topics and perspectives and hopes that readers will select the data-analysis strategies that best reflect their methodological approaches, statistical sophistication, and philosophical beliefs. These strategies include visual analysis, nonparametric tests, time-series experiments, applications of statistical procedures for multiple behaviors, applications of meta-analysis in single-subject research, and discussions of issues related to the application and misapplication of selected techniques.

This book begins with an introductory outline of the structure of the city politics of the United States. There is a study of the city in the federal system, including the politics of feudal aid. This is followed by four case studies: the political roles of mayor, manager, boss and adminstrator-entrepreneur in the city.

Madgwick concludes with some comparative reflections indicating the significance of this study for British local government.

This book was first published in 1970.

This groundbreaking book offers a comprehensive theory of executive functioning (EF) with important clinical implications. Synthesizing cutting-edge neuropsychological and evolutionary research, Russell A. Barkley presents a model of EF that is rooted in meaningful activities of daily life. He describes how abilities such as emotion regulation, self-motivation, planning, and working memory enable people to pursue both personal and collective goals that are critical to survival. Key stages of EF development are identified and the far-reaching individual and social costs of EF deficits detailed. Barkley explains specific ways that his model may support much-needed advances in assessment and treatment. See also Barkley's empirically based, ecologically valid assessment tools: Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS for Adults) and Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale--Children and Adolescents (BDEFS-CA).

Statistics for the Terrified offers a clear and concise introduction to statistics. Perfect as a brief core or supplementary text for undergraduate courses in statistics and research methods, this Seventh Edition is also an ideal refresher for graduate students who have already taken a statistics course. Designed for students who may struggle with mathematical concepts, its informal and highly engaging narrative includes self-help strategies, numerous concrete examples, and a great deal of humor to encourage students from all backgrounds to the study of statistics.

This book is a first attempt to combine insights from the two perspectives with regard to the question of meaning by examining a collection of theoretical and empirical works. This volume therefore is destined to become an important addition to psychological literature: both from the viewpoint of the history of ideas (again this would be one of the first times that positive and existentialist psychologies meet) and from the viewpoint of theoretical and empirical research into the meaning concept in psychology.

This exceptionally readable and down-to-earth handbook is destined to become the definitive guide to psychobiological research, the application of psychological theory and research to individual lives of historical importance. It brings together for the first time the world's leading psychobiographers, writing lucidly on many of the major figures of our age - from Osama Bin Laden to Elvis Presley. The first section of the book addresses the subject of how to construct an effective psychobiography. Editor William Todd Schultz introduces the field, provides valuable definitions of good and bad psychobiography, discusses an optimal structure for psychobiographical essays, and offers a blueprint for striking psychological paydirt in biographical data. Dan McAdams explores the question of what psychobiographers might learn from current research in personality psychology. Alan Elms delivers wise advice on the tricky subject of theory choice in psychobiography. William Runyan asks why Van Gogh cut off his ear, and in the process explains how one evaluates competing interpretations of the same event in a subject's life. And Kate Isaacson describes a template for use in multiple-case psychobiography. Never before has method in psychobiography been so clearly and explicitly addressed. Those just getting started in the field will find in Section One a detailed roadmap for success. The remaining sections of the book are composed of richly engaging case studies of famous artists, psychologists and politicians. They address compelling questions such as: What are the subjective origins of photographer Diane Arbus's obsession with freaks? In what ways did the early loss of Sylvia Plath's father affect her poetry and presage her suicide? Why did Elvis experience such difficulty singing the song "Are You Lonesome Tonight"? What accounts for Bin Laden' radicalism, Kim Jong II's paranoia, George W Bush's conflict with identity? Why did Freud go disasterously astray in his analysis of Leonardo? What made psychologist Gordon Allport's meeting with Freud so pungently significant? How did the loss of his father determine major elements of Nietzsche's philosophy? These questions and many more get answered, often in surprising and incisive fashion. Additional chapters take up the lives of Harvard operationist S.S. Stevens, Erik Erikson, Edith Wharton, Saddam Hussein, Truman Capote, Kathryn Harrison, Jack Kerouac, and others. Within each case study, tips are proffered along the way as to how psychobiography can be done more cogently, more intelligently, and more valuably. With its combination of telling about and showing how to practice psychobiography wisely, its inclusion of most of the field's leading practitioners, and its diversity of subjects, the Handbook of Psychobiography represents the best the field has to offer. It will define the discipline, set a course for effective future developments, and quickly emerge as a must-read for any beginning or serious psychobiographer, narrative psychologist, personologist or personality researcher.

This book focuses on how statistical reasoning works and on training programs that can exploit people's natural cognitive capabilities to improve their statistical reasoning. Training programs that take into account findings from evolutionary psychology and instructional theory are shown to have substantially larger effects that are more stable over time than previous training regimens. The theoretical implications are traced in a neural network model of human performance on statistical reasoning problems. This book apppeals to judgment and decision making researchers and other cognitive scientists, as well as to teachers of statistics and probabilistic reasoning.

In a managed care era, the MMPI-2 is becoming an overloaded workhorse, required to generate more and more of the assessments that a battery of instruments once did. Though all now rely on the MMPI-2 for good reasons, and the MMPI has fallen out of use entirely, some important and clinically useful scales were lost in the transition. Edward Gotts and Thomas Knudsen have recovered these scales and integrated them with all the standard MMPI-2 scales, the recently published Restructured Clinical Scales, and a number of scales they have constructed to assess positive strengths and coping abilities, and response consistency-inconsistency. This book lays out their new Content Cluster interpretive approach. Drawing on data from a large psychiatric inpatient sample, they present item composition, reliability, and validity information for each recovered and new scale, and convincingly demonstrate that their new Content Cluster approach results in improved prediction and interpretive power. They also show how to conjoin Rorschach and MMPI-2 results in more effective assessment strategies, and how to tie MMPI-2 results to specific DSM-IV criteria. The Clinical Interpretation of the MMPI-2: A Content Cluster Approach offers psychologists essential new tools for clinical and personality assessment.

This new monograph presents Dr. Luce's current understanding of the behavioral properties people exhibit (or should exhibit) when they make selections among alternatives and how these properties lead to numerical representations of those preferences. It summarizes, and places in historical perspective, the research Dr. Luce has done on utility theory for over 10 years. Included are axiomatic theoretical formulations, experiments designed to test individual assumptions, and analyses of the fit to bodies of data of numerical representations derived from the theory.

This book examines how individuals behave across time and to what degree that behavior changes, fluctuates, or remains stable. It features the most current methods on modeling repeated measures data as reported by a distinguished group of experts in the field. The goal is to make the latest techniques used to assess intraindividual variability accessible to a wide range of researchers. Each chapter is written in a "user-friendly" style such that even the "novice" data analyst can easily apply the techniques. Each chapter features: a minimum discussion of mathematical detail; an empirical example applying the technique; and a discussion of the software related to that technique. Content highlights include analysis of mixed, multi-level, structural equation, and categorical data models. It is ideal for researchers, professionals, and students working with repeated measures data from the social and behavioral sciences, business, or biological sciences.

Originally published in 1960, the two volumes of Experiments in Personality report a number of experiments in psychogenetics, psychopharmacology, psychodiagnostics, psychometrics and psychodynamics, all of which formed part of the programme of research which had been developing from the late 1940s at the Maudsley Hospital. Presenting the studies together in a book, rather than the more usual route of journal articles, was itself felt to be an experiment at the time, especially given the wide area covered. The decision was deliberate because all the studies reported formed part of a larger whole, which would have been lost if published separately. Volume II looks at psychodiagnostics, psychodynamics and psychometrics.

Originally published in 1926, the first part of this book attempted to formulate a theory of ability in the light of recent experimental results of the time. It discusses the nature of intelligence and the problem of special abilities, and includes a study of some typical forms of genius. The second part gives an account of a three years' experimental study of special abilities in arts and science respectively, carried out upon university students. Samples of the tests employed are included. The results are presented in non-technical form. Victoria Hazlitt was a pioneer of experimental psychology, which was particularly significant as a woman in the early twentieth century. In many cases her work anticipated later developments in psychology by many years. Today it can be enjoyed in its historical context.

High stakes tests are the gatekeepers to many educational and professional goals. As such, the incentive to cheat is high. This Handbook is the first to offer insights from experts within the testing community, psychometricians, and policymakers to identify and develop best practice guidelines for the design of test security systems for a variety of testing genres. Until now this information was scattered and often resided inside testing companies. As a result, rather than being able to learn from each other's experiences, each testing entity was left to re-create their own test security wheel. As a whole the book provides invaluable insight into the prevalence of cheating and "best practices" for designing security plans, training personnel, and detecting and investigating misconduct, to help develop more secure testing systems and reduce the likelihood of future security breaches. Actual case studies from a variety of settings bring to life how security systems really work. Examples from both domestic and international programs are provided. Highlights of coverage include:* Best practices for designing secure tests * Analysis of security vulnerabilities for all genres of testing * Practical cheating prevention and detection strategies * Lessons learned in actual security violations in high profile testing programs. Part I focuses on how tests are delivered for paper-and-pencil, technology-based, and classroom testing and writing assessment. Each chapter addresses the prevalence of the problem and threats to security, prevention, and detection. Part II addresses issues essential to maintaining a secure testing program such as planning and monitoring, physical security, the detection of group-based cheating, investigating misconduct, and communicating about security-related issues. Part III examines actual examples of cheating-- how the cheating was done, how it was detected, and the lessons learned. Part III provides insight into security issues within each of the Association of Test Publishers' four divisions: certification/licensure, clinical, educational, and industrial/organizational testing. Part III's conclusion revisits the issues addressed in the case studies and identifies common themes. Intended for organizations, professionals, educators, policy makers, researchers, and advanced students that design, develop, or use high stakes tests, this book is also ideal for graduate level courses on test development, educational measurement, or educational policy.

This graduate-level textbook is a tutorial for item response theory that covers both the basics of item response theory and the use of R for preparing graphical presentation in writings about the theory. Item response theory has become one of the most powerful tools used in test construction, yet one of the barriers to learning and applying it is the considerable amount of sophisticated computational effort required to illustrate even the simplest concepts. This text provides the reader access to the basic concepts of item response theory freed of the tedious underlying calculations. It is intended for those who possess limited knowledge of educational measurement and psychometrics. Rather than presenting the full scope of item response theory, this textbook is concise and practical and presents basic concepts without becoming enmeshed in underlying mathematical and computational complexities. Clearly written text and succinct R code allow anyone familiar with statistical concepts to explore and apply item response theory in a practical way. In addition to students of educational measurement, this text will be valuable to measurement specialists working in testing programs at any level and who need an understanding of item response theory in order to evaluate its potential in their settings.

This book offers original knowledge, debate, and understanding from frontline fieldwork data and the relations between mental health difficulties, mental healthcare provision, and social theory. Dominant discourse of the last half century has followed a medical perspective. This has marginalised contributions from social science. Furthermore purely medical approaches to mental healthcare have profound shortcomings. Thus, this book draws upon innovative research findings to rejuvenate the relationship between psychiatry and social science. It frames this by reference to certain inevitable and uncertain elements of mental health which characterise this field. Over nine chapters the volume is a unique contribution to several intersecting areas of intellectual enterprise, research, and learning - as well as a source of insight into how mental health practice and policy might be modified and improved. As a result, it appeals to a wide range of audiences including social scientists, mental health practitioners, mental health researchers, social theorists, mental health service users, and policy-makers.

Testing, Measurement, Assessment Mastering Modern Psychological Testing: Theory & Methods presents quality written research in a thorough and comprehensive manner that allows students to master the material. This text provides a comprehensive introduction to psychological assessment and covers areas not typically addressed in existing test and measurements texts such as neuropsychological assessment and the use of tests in forensics settings. "Mastering Modern Psychological Testing" addresses special topics in psychological testing and includes special material on test development written by a leading test developer as well as relevant examples. The book is designed for undergraduate courses in Psychological Testing / Assessment / Testing Theory & Methods. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers should be able to: * Understand what constitutes a psychological test, how tests are developed, how they are best used, and how to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses * Recognize the development process and how the psychometric properties of tests are constructed so they have the generalized knowledge to always learn about any test * Engage in areas of testing that represent different approaches to measuring different psychological constructs * Understand the difficult and demanding area of how tests are applied and interpreted across cultures within the United States

Originally published in 1960, the two volumes of Experiments in Personality report a number of experiments in psychogenetics, psychopharmacology, psychodiagnostics, psychometrics and psychodynamics, all of which formed part of the programme of research which had been developing from the late 1940s at the Maudsley Hospital. Presenting the studies together in a book, rather than the more usual route of journal articles, was itself felt to be an experiment at the time, especially given the wide area covered. The decision was deliberate because all the studies reported formed part of a larger whole, which would have been lost if published separately. Volume I looks at psychogenetics and psychopharmacology.

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret behavioral assessment tests

Behavioral assessment tests analyze and assess a broad range of behavioral problems found among children and adolescents, including hyperactivity, impulsivity, and ADHD. To use these tests properly, professionals need an authoritative source of advice and guidance on how to administer, score, and interpret them. Cowritten by leading experts in the behavioral assessment field and the creators of the BASC (Behavioral Assessment System for Children), Essentials of Behavioral Assessment is that source.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of major psychological assessment instruments. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Essentials of Behavioral Assessment is the first book to provide state-of-the-art interpretive and administrative guidelines to using the BASC, CRS-R (Conners’ Rating Scales-Revised), and CBCL (Achenbach Child Behavior Checklists), the leading and most highly recognized behavioral assessment tests used in the field. The authors also offer expert assessment of the tests’ merits and include classroom observations.

Other titles in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series:

Essentials of WJ IIITM Tests of Achievement Assessment
Essentials of WJ IIITM Cognitive Abilities Assessment
Essentials of WMS®-III Assessment
Essentials of Individual Achievement Assessment
Essentials of Nepsy® Assessment
Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment
Essentials of Cognitive Assessment with KAIT and Other Kaufman Measures
Essentials of Nonverbal Assessment
Essentials of WISC-III® and WPPSI-R® Assessment

Looking for a practical, comprehensive overview of Qualitative Research Methods? Want to know the best approach to take for you and your research project? This book takes you through five different qualitative approaches - thematic analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis, grounded theory, narrative analysis and discourse analysis. Applying them all to a common data set, this book gives you step-by-step guidance on each approach and helps you work out which is the right one for you. Plus, with a whole new part on qualitative data collection - including chapters on interviewing, social media data and visual methodologies - this new edition is the ultimate resource for students engaged in qualitative psychological research or studying methods at any level.

Categorical data are quantified as either nominal variables--distinguishing different groups, for example, based on socio-economic status, education, and political persuasion--or ordinal variables--distinguishing levels of interest, such as the preferred politician or the preferred type of punishment for committing burglary. This new book is a collection of up-to-date studies on modern categorical data analysis methods, emphasizing their application to relevant and interesting data sets. This volume concentrates on latent class analysis and item response theory. These methods use latent variables to explain the relationships among observed categorical variables. Latent class analysis yields the classification of a group of respondents according to their pattern of scores on the categorical variables. This provides insight into the mechanisms producing the data and allows the estimation of factor structures and regression models conditional on the latent class structure. Item response theory leads to the identification of one or more ordinal or interval scales. In psychological and educational testing these scales are used for individual measurement of abilities and personality traits. The focus of this volume is applied. After a method is explained, the potential of the method for analyzing categorical data is illustrated by means of a real data example to show how it can be used effectively for solving a real data problem. These methods are accessible to researchers not trained explicitly in applied statistics. This volume appeals to researchers and advanced students in the social and behavioral sciences, including social, developmental, organizational, clinical and health psychologists, sociologists, educational and marketing researchers, and political scientists. In addition, it is of interest to those who collect data on categorical variables and are faced with the problem of how to analyze such variables--among themselves or in relation to metric variables.

This new text provides a state-of the-art introduction to educational and psychological testing and measurement theory that reflects many intellectual developments of the past two decades. The book introduces psychometric theory using a latent variable modeling (LVM) framework and emphasizes interval estimation throughout, so as to better prepare readers for studying more advanced topics later in their careers. Featuring numerous examples, it presents an applied approach to conducting testing and measurement in the behavioral, social, and educational sciences. Readers will find numerous tips on how to use test theory in today's actual testing situations. To reflect the growing use of statistical software in psychometrics, the authors introduce the use of Mplus after the first few chapters. IBM SPSS, SAS, and R are also featured in several chapters. Software codes and associated outputs are reviewed throughout to enhance comprehension. Essentially all of the data used in the book are available on the website. In addition instructors will find helpful PowerPoint lecture slides and questions and problems for each chapter. The authors rely on LVM when discussing fundamental concepts such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, test theory, generalizability theory, reliability and validity, interval estimation, nonlinear factor analysis, generalized linear modeling, and item response theory. The varied applications make this book a valuable tool for those in the behavioral, social, educational, and biomedical disciplines, as well as in business, economics, and marketing. A brief introduction to R is also provided. Intended as a text for advanced undergraduate and/or graduate courses in psychometrics, testing and measurement, measurement theory, psychological testing, and/or educational and/or psychological measurement taught in departments of psychology, education, human development, epidemiology, business, and marketing, it will also appeal to researchers in these disciplines. Prerequisites include an introduction to statistics with exposure to regression analysis and ANOVA. Familiarity with SPSS, SAS, STATA, or R is also beneficial. As a whole, the book provides an invaluable introduction to measurement and test theory to those with limited or no familiarity with the mathematical and statistical procedures involved in measurement and testing.

This book shows readers how to conduct observational methods, research tools used to describe and explain behaviors as they unfold in everyday settings. The book now uses both an evolutionary and a cultural perspective. The methods presented are drawn from psychology, education, family studies, sociology, and anthropology, but the author's primary focus is on children in school, family, and social settings. Readers learn how to make observations in real contexts to help them create a verbal picture of behaviors they see. The importance of considering reliability and validity factors while testing within each environment is emphasized throughout. The author draws from the literature that provides methods for observing animals in their natural habitats, but emphasizes the use of observational methods to solve human problems. The book is organized in the way a researcher conducts observational studiesOCoconceptualizing of the idea, designing and implementing the study, and writing the report. OC Things to think aboutOCO sections provide an opportunity for students to solidify their understanding of the material and the Glossary defines the key terms introduced in the book.

Highlights of changes in the new edition include:

OCoaThe introduction of the cultural perspective in chapter 4 along with the evolutionary (epigenetic theory) perspective and the integration of cultural examples throughout the book.
OCoaMore varied examples from developmental psychology, family studies, and education.
OCoaExtensively revised chapter (3) on ethics reflects the current revelations of scientific fraud and the push for researchers to maximize scientific integrity in their community.
OCoaUpdated chapter (12) reflects the latest computer technologies used in observational methods including iPhones and Blackberrys for conducting observation, ABC Data Pro and Behavior Tracker for evaluations, and Excel for constructing observational templates.
OCoaExpanded chapter (13) on writing the research report and more on issues of plagiarism (ch. 3).a
OCoaThe latest on minimizing observer effects on participants and testing their effectiveness.
OCoaNew environmentally friendly design, the Things to Think About sections were retained, but the blank pages for answers were eliminated.

Intended as a supplementary text for advanced undergraduate and/or graduate courses in research methods and/or developmental research or developmental/child psychology taught in psychology, education, human development, and nursing, educators and researchers concerned with assessing children will also appreciate this bookOCOs introduction to observational methods.

High stakes tests are the gatekeepers to many educational and professional goals. As such, the incentive to cheat is high. This Handbook is the first to offer insights from experts within the testing community, psychometricians, and policymakers to identify and develop best practice guidelines for the design of test security systems for a variety of testing genres. Until now this information was scattered and often resided inside testing companies. As a result, rather than being able to learn from each other's experiences, each testing entity was left to re-create their own test security wheel. As a whole the book provides invaluable insight into the prevalence of cheating and "best practices" for designing security plans, training personnel, and detecting and investigating misconduct, to help develop more secure testing systems and reduce the likelihood of future security breaches. Actual case studies from a variety of settings bring to life how security systems really work. Examples from both domestic and international programs are provided. Highlights of coverage include:* Best practices for designing secure tests * Analysis of security vulnerabilities for all genres of testing * Practical cheating prevention and detection strategies * Lessons learned in actual security violations in high profile testing programs. Part I focuses on how tests are delivered for paper-and-pencil, technology-based, and classroom testing and writing assessment. Each chapter addresses the prevalence of the problem and threats to security, prevention, and detection. Part II addresses issues essential to maintaining a secure testing program such as planning and monitoring, physical security, the detection of group-based cheating, investigating misconduct, and communicating about security-related issues. Part III examines actual examples of cheating-- how the cheating was done, how it was detected, and the lessons learned. Part III provides insight into security issues within each of the Association of Test Publishers' four divisions: certification/licensure, clinical, educational, and industrial/organizational testing. Part III's conclusion revisits the issues addressed in the case studies and identifies common themes. Intended for organizations, professionals, educators, policy makers, researchers, and advanced students that design, develop, or use high stakes tests, this book is also ideal for graduate level courses on test development, educational measurement, or educational policy.