The book will be designed primarily for graduate students (or advanced undergraduates) who are learning psychometrics, as well as professionals in the field who need a reference for use in their practice. We would assume that users have some basic knowledge of using SPSS to read data and conduct basic analyses (e.g., descriptive statistics, frequency distributions). In addition, the reader should be familiar with basic statistical concepts such as descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, median, variance, standard deviation), percentiles and the rudiments of hypothesis testing. They should also have a passing familiarity with issues in psychometrics such as reliability, validity and test/survey scoring. We will not assume any more than basic familiarity with these issues, and will devote a portion of each chapter (as well as the entire first chapter) to reviewing many of these basic ideas for those not familiar with them. We envision the book as being useful either as a primary text for a course on applied measurement where SPSS is the main platform for instruction, or as a supplement to a more theoretical text. We also anticipate that readers working in government agencies responsible for testing and measurement issues at the local, state and national levels, and private testing, survey and market research companies, as well as faculty members needing a practical resource for psychometric practice will serve as a market for the book. In short, the readership would include graduate students, faculty members, data analysts and psychometricians responsible for analysis of survey response data, as well as educational and psychological assessments. The goal of the book is to provide readers with the tools necessary for assessing the psychometric qualities of educational and psychological measures as well as surveys and questionnaires. Each chapter will cover an issue pertinent to psychometric and measurement practice, with an emphasis on application. Topics will be briefly discussed from a theoretical/technical perspective in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to correctly use and interpret the statistical analyses that will be presented subsequently. Readers will then be presented with examples illustrating a particular concept (e.g., reliability). These examples will include a discussion of the particular analysis, along with the SPSS code necessary to conduct them. The resulting output will then be discussed in detail, focusing on the interpretation of the results. Finally, examples of how these results might be written up will also be included in the text. It is hoped that this mixture of theory with examples of actual practice will serve the reader both as a pedagogical tool and as a reference work. To our knowledge, no book outlining psychometric practice using commonly available software such as SPSS currently exists. Given that many practitioners in academia, government and private industry use SPSS for statistical analyses of testing data, we believe that our book will fill an important niche in the market. It will contain very practical information regarding how to conduct a wide variety of psychometric analyses, along with tips on interpretation of results and the appropriate format for reporting these results. We believe that it will prove useful to individuals in educational measurement, psychometrics, and survey and market research. Our text will add to the literature by providing users with a single reference containing the major ideas in applied psychometrics with instructions and examples for conducting the analyses in SPSS. In addition, we will provide original macros for estimating a variety of statistics and conducting analyses common in educational and psychological measurement.

Offering a variety of innovative methods and tools, The Oxford Handbook of Multi- and Mixed-Methods Research Inquiry provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date presentation on multi- and mixed-methods research available. Written in clear and concise language by leading scholars in the field, it enhances and disrupts traditional ways of asking and addressing complex research questions. Topics include an overview of theory, paradigms, and scientific inquiry; a guide to conducting a multi- and mixed-methods research study from start to finish; current uses of multi- and mixed-methods research across academic disciplines and research fields; the latest technologies and how they can be incorporated into study design; and a presentation of multiple perspectives on the key remaining debates. Each chapter in the volume is structured to include state-of-the-art research examples that cross a range of disciplines and interdisciplinary research settings. In addition, the Handbook offers multiple quantitative and qualitative theoretical and interdisciplinary visions and praxis. Researchers, faculty, graduate students, and policy makers will appreciate the exceptional, timely, and critical coverage in this Handbook, which deftly addresses the interdisciplinary and complex questions that a diverse set of research communities are facing today.

What does morality have to do with psychology in a value-neutral, postmodern world? According to a provocative new book, everything.

Taking exception with current ideas in the mainstream (including cultural, evolutionary, and neuropsychology) as straying from the discipline's ethical foundations, Psychology as a Moral Science argues that psychological phenomena are inherently moral, and that psychology, as prescriptive and interventive practice, reflects specific moral principles.

The book cites normative moral standards, as far back as Aristotle, that give human thoughts, feelings, and actions meaning, and posits psychology as one of the critical methods of organizing normative values in society; at the same time it carefully notes the discipline's history of being sidetracked by overemphasis on theoretical constructs and physical causes-what the author terms "the psychologizing of morality." This synthesis of ideas brings an essential unity to what can sometimes appear as a fragmented area of inquiry at odds with itself. The book's "interpretive-pragmatic approach"

Revisits core psychological concepts as supporting normative value systems.

Traces how psychology has shaped society's view of morality.

Confronts the "naturalistic fallacy" in contemporary psychology.

Explains why moral science need not be separated from social science.

Addresses challenges and critiques to the author's work from both formalist and relativist theories of morality.

With its bold call to reason, Psychology as a Moral Science contains enough controversial ideas to spark great interest among researchers and scholars in psychology and the philosophy of science."

The constant threat of terror leads to the destabilization of the political, economic, and social situation in the state. Lack of confidence in personal safety contributes to the growth of anxiety, fears, and mental stress, which negatively affects psychological health, leading to the development of various psychosomatic disorders among the population. Global Perspectives on the Psychology of Terrorism discusses the psychological aspects of terrorism, including the determination of the main types of terrorism and the psychological characteristics of terrorists and terrorist groups. It further speaks on the negative impact of terrorism on the mass consciousness, as well as the ways to deal with stress in people exposed to the impact of terrorist attacks, features of human behavior in extreme situations, and methods of psychological support in times of crisis. Covering topics such as state terrorism, international security, and cyberterrorism, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for government officials, sociologists, representatives of mass media, non-governmental organizations, politicians, psychologists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

This book shows that general intelligence can be measured by simple vocabulary tests, indicates how intelligence varies, and suggests that out intellectual resources are underutilized.

Assessment and Therapy is a derivative volume of articles pulled from the award-winning Encyclopedia of Mental Health, presenting a comprehensive overview of assessing and treating the many disorders afflicting mental health patients, including alcohol problems, Alzheimer's disease, depression, epilepsy, gambling, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, and suicide
According to 1990 estimates, mental disorders represent five of the ten leading causes of disability.* Among "developed" nations, including the United States, major depression is the leading cause of disability. Also near the top of these rankings are bipolar depression, alcohol dependence, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition, mental disorders are tragic contributors to mortality, with suicide perennially representing one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide.
Assessment and Therapy describes the impact of mental health on the individual and society and illustrates the factors that aid positive mental health. Twenty-six peer-reviewed articles written by more than 40 expert authors include essential material on assessing and treating schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness, major depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental illnesses. Professionals and libraries will find this timely work indispensable.

This collection of essays by scholars from Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America offers new perspectives of the phenomenological investigation of experiential life on the basis of Husserl's phenomenology. Not only well-known works of Husserl are interpreted from new angles, but also the latest volumes of the Husserliana are closely examined. In a variety of ways, the contributors explore the emergence of reason in experience that is disclosed in the very regions that are traditionally considered to be "irrational" or "pre-rational." The leading idea of such explorations is Husserl's view that perception, affectivity, and volition are regarded as the three aspects of reason. Without affectivity, which is supposedly irrational, no rationality can be established in the spheres of representation and volition, whereas volitional and representational acts consistently structure the process of affective experience. In such a framework, it is also shown that theoretical and practical reason are inseparably intertwined. Thus, the papers collected here can be regarded as a collaborative phenomenological investigation into the entanglement and mutual dependency of the supposedly "rational" and the "irrational" as well as that of the "practical" and the "theoretical."

New diversity in psychoanalytic technique offers analysts and therapists a wide array of treatment options. But many of these techniques, says Dr. Fred Pine, can be viewed as additions to a clinician's approach rather than substitutes. Access to more treatment choices enables the clinician to better meet the multiple challenges encountered daily in a psychoanalytic practice. Dr. Pine urges clinicians to be flexible and integrative as they select, test, and then use or reject diverse treatment techniques, and he shows how this may be done. He warns that adhering too closely to a powerful theory of technique can prevent the therapist from doing the best for the patient.

This book is both a highly personal statement by an experienced clinician and teacher and a concise discussion of selected issues that confront the practicing psychoanalyst today. Focusing specifically on technique, the volume is rich in clinical reasoning, clinical concepts, and clinical examples. The author establishes some of the sources of the current diversity in technique, then illustrates and evaluates some of the many pathways the clinician may choose. Practicing psychoanalysts and therapists will find enrichment in the intellectual searchings and open-minded approach of this valuable book.

"Psychoanalysis needs this kind of fair pluralistic statement to combat the paradigm warfare that occupies so much of psychoanalytic writing. This is a serious work and is highly recommended". -- Joseph Reppen, editor of Psychoanalytic Books and Psychoanalytic Psychology

Thirty-two years after the publication of the legendary 'Rasch book' (Rasch, 1960), the rich literature on the Rasch model and its extensions was scattered in journals and many less accessible sources, including 'grey' literature. When asked by students or junior researchers for references to the Rasch model, it was a typical reaction on the part of the editors to state that it was difficult to name one, or just a few; actually, only a whole list of references differing in notation and level of formal abstraction seemed to meet the request in most cases. Therefore, in 1992 the editors decided to invite a number of outstanding authors in the field of Rasch modeling to contribute to a book presenting the current state of knowledge about Rasch models. The aim was not just to collect a number of papers on the subject, rather to produce a well-organized monograph. To this end, a workshop was held in Vienna from 25 to 27 February 1993 in which, after a process of mutual reviewing, drafts of all chapters were read and discussed by all authors, leading to a more systematic organization of the topics treated in unified notation and terminology. (The workshop was sponsored by the University of Vienna; here, the editors would like to express their thanks, in the name of all contributors, both for the financial support and for the hospitality granted.

The 77th Annual International Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS) brought together quantitative researchers who focus on methods relevant to psychology. The conference included workshops, invited talks by well-known scholars, and presentations of submitted papers and posters. It was hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and took place between the 9th and 12th of July, 2012. The chapters of this volume are based on presentations from the meeting and reflect the latest work in the field. Topics with a primarily measurement focus include studies of item response theory, computerized adaptive testing, cognitive diagnostic modeling, and psychological scaling. Additional psychometric topics relate to structural equation modeling, factor analysis, causal modeling, mediation, missing data methods, and longitudinal data analysis, among others. The papers in this volume will be especially useful for researchers (graduate students and other quantitative researchers) in the social sciences who use quantitative methods, particularly psychologists. Most readers will benefit from some prior knowledge of statistical methods in reading the chapters.

This book proposes a revolutionary new theory of construct measurement - called C-OAR-SE - for the social sciences. The acronym is derived from the following key elements: construct definition; object representation; attribute classification; rater entity identification; selection of item type; enumeration and scoring. The new theory is applicable to the design of measures of constructs in: * Management * Marketing * Information Systems * Organizational Behavior * Psychology * Sociology C-OAR-SE is a rationally rather than empirically-based theory and procedure. It can be used for designing measures of the most complex and also the most basic constructs that we use in social science research. C-OAR-SE is a radical alternative to the traditional empirically-based psychometric approach, and a considerable amount of the book's content is devoted to demonstrating why the psychometric approach does not produce valid measures. The book argues that the psychometric approach has resulted in many misleading findings in the social sciences and has led to erroneous acceptance - or rejection - of many of our main theories and hypotheses, and that the C-OAR-SE approach to measurement would correct this massive problem. The main purpose of this book is to introduce and explain C-OAR-SE construct measurement theory in a way that will be understood by all social science researchers and that can be applied to designing new, more valid measures. Featuring numerous examples, practical applications, end-of-chapter questions, and appendices, the book will serve as an essential resource for students and professional researcher alike.

While the primary purpose of the book is a celebration of John's contributions to the field of measurement, a second and related purpose is to provide a useful resource. We believe that the combination of the developmental history and theory of the method, the examples of its use in practice, some possible future directions, and software and data files will make this book a valuable resource for teachers and scholars of the Rasch method. This book is a tribute to Professor John P Keeves for the advocacy of the Rasch model in Australia. Happy 80th birthday John! xii There are good introductory texts on Item Response Theory, Objective Measurement and the Rasch model. However, for a beginning researcher keen on utilising the potentials of the Rasch model, theoretical discussions of test theory and associated indices do not meet their pragmatic needs. Furthermore, many researchers in measurement still have little or no knowledge of the features of the Rasch model and its use in a variety of situations and disciplines. This book attempts to describe the underlying axioms of test theory, and, in particular, the concepts of objective measurement and the Rasch model, and then link theory to practice. We have been introduced to the various models of test theory during our graduate days. It was time for us to share with those keen in the field of measurement in education, psychology and the social sciences the theoretical and practical aspects of objective measurement.

For introductory psychology courses at two year or four year institutions. Also for specialty classes throughout the discipline that focus on critical thinking, science vs. pseudoscience, and discrimating valid research in the field. Keith Stanovich's widely used and highly acclaimed book helps students become more discriminating consumers of psychological information, helping them recognize pseudoscience and be able to distinguish it from true psychological research. Stanovich helps instructors teach critical thinking skills within the rich context of psychology. It is the leading text of its kind. How to Think Straight About Psychology says about the discipline of psychology what many instructors would like to say but haven't found a way to. That is one reason adopters have called it "an instructor's dream text" and often comment "I wish I had written it. It tells my students just what I want them to hear about psychology".

Here is the first volume of a new series that explores diversity, culture, and ethnicity and their impact on neurological function. This volume features research-based evidence on the impact of Hispanic culture on brain-behavior relationships. Articles explore factors such as acculturation, assimilation, cultural identity, and migration patterns. Clinical issues, such as competence and minimal standards and novel approaches for appropriate assessments of Hispanic populations, are examined. You ll discover important new findings and gain fascinating perspectives from disciplines in both the life and social sciences.

Like fingerprints, each person's handwriting is unique and may be used as a means of identification. Expert document examiners have long been used by courts to determine the authenticity of signatures and other writing samples. But is there more that handwriting can reveal about a person beyond individual identification? Many claim that such analysis has been perfected in the science of "graphology" and that personality traits and accurate character readings can be deduced from a person's penmenship. In this definitive study of graphology, Barry and Dale Beyerstein provide a balanced evaluation of claims that personality, aptitude, and psychological and physical health can be determined through handwriting analysis. The contributors include both practicing graphologists, who present their case and describe their practices and methods, as well as critics from many fields, who evaluate graphology in terms of brain research; assess its accuracy through objective tests of validity; contrast graphology with verifiable psychological assessment techniques; and review the legality of using graphology in employee selection, psychological diagnosis, and the criminal justice system. A major thrust of the book is a consideration of why graphology seems so accurate to many personnel managers when it has been unable to pass objective tests of validity designed by experts in the psychology of individual differences. In addition, a brief history of graphology is offered, which traces its roots to the ancient practice of sympathetic magic. Also presented is a philosophical discussion which compares the practice and philosophical assumptions of graphology with the scientific method. For critics andproponents alike, The Write Stuff will serve as an invaluable reference work.

Cluster analysis is a multivariate classification technique that allows for identification of homogenous subgroups within diverse samples based on shared characteristics. In recent years, cluster analysis has been increasingly applied to psychological and neuropsychological variables to address a number of empirical questions. This book provides an overview of cluster analysis, including statistical and methodological considerations in its application to neurobehavioral variables. First, an introduction to cluster analysis is presented that emphasizes issues of relevance to neuropsychological research, including controversies surrounding it use. Cluster analysis is then applied to clinical disorders that do not have an associated prototypical neuropsychological profile, including traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia, and health problems associated with homelessness. In a second application, cluster analysis is used to investigate the course of normal memory development. Finally, cluster analysis is applied to classification of brain injury severity in children and adolescents who sustained traumatic brain injury.

How did we get from unconscious material forces to the dazzling intricacy of the human mind? Standard evolutionary theory has not provided us with a continuous picture of that long emergence. In consequence, psychological theories remain highly fragmented, without deeper roots or foundations, while the general public either remain confused, or invoke miracles or the hand of an intelligent designer. This book provides new concepts from dynamic systems theory, and the new evolutionary synthesis, to present a comprehensive overview of the evolution of cognition. It combines ideas about complexity and environmental structure to highlight the emergence of intelligent systems very early in evolution. Intelligent systems came to dominate evolution through increasing complexity, including cell signalling, epigenetics, developmental systems, behaviour, brain and cognitive systems, to culminate in the human cognitive and other mental systems. This volume has fundamental implications for psychological theory and our understanding of humanity.

Asian American Mental Health is a state-of-the-art compendium of the conceptual issues, empirical literature, methodological approaches, and practice guidelines for conducting culturally informed assessments of Asian Americans, and for assessing provider cultural competency within individuals and systems. It is the first of its kind on Asian Americans. This volume draws upon the expertise of many of the leading experts in Asian American and multicultural mental health to provide a much needed resource for students and professionals in a wide range of disciplines including clinical psychology, medical anthropology, psychiatry, cross-cultural psychology, multicultural counseling, ethnic minority psychology, sociology, social work, counselor education, counseling psychology, and more.

The book contributes to the vast field of research in psychometrics as well as to the growing field of positive psychology. It analyses the development and validation of several constructs of positive psychology like resilience, flow, mindfulness, spirituality, and intrapersonal and interpersonal strengths. The chapters discuss the test construction process and develop scales for constructs that are validated on the Indian population. In most Indian behavioral research, psychological tests from the West are employed without assessing psychometric properties in India. However, establishing validation of psychological tests in a new culture is necessary in order to claim results based on these tests. Hence, this book bridges this gap in positive psychology and its allied fields and develops and standardizes these scales for the Indian population. The new constructed and validated scales have undergone rigorous statistical screening. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers interested in studying well-being in India and in understanding how to create psychometric scales for non-Western populations will find the book useful for their research.

Interest in researching experience continues to grow in sociology, cultural studies, feminist theory and psychology. However there is a crisis over the representation of experience--evident in epistemological debates, in everyday life and in global politics. Could researching experience contribute to creating socio-political change or does it simply open new avenues for post-Fordist self-regulation? "Analysing Everyday Experience" illustrates the emergence of plural historical actors who disrupt unitary subjectivities, resist univocal integration and refigure the political by remaking everyday experience.

This textbook is an approachable introduction to statistical analysis using matrix algebra. Prior knowledge of matrix algebra is not necessary. Advanced topics are easy to follow through analyses that were performed on an open-source spreadsheet using a few built-in functions. These topics include ordinary linear regression, as well as maximum likelihood estimation, matrix decompositions, nonparametric smoothers and penalized cubic splines. Each data set (1) contains a limited number of observations to encourage readers to do the calculations themselves, and (2) tells a coherent story based on statistical significance and confidence intervals. In this way, students will learn how the numbers were generated and how they can be used to make cogent arguments about everyday matters. This textbook is designed for use in upper level undergraduate courses or first year graduate courses. The first chapter introduces students to linear equations, then covers matrix algebra, focusing on three essential operations: sum of squares, the determinant, and the inverse. These operations are explained in everyday language, and their calculations are demonstrated using concrete examples. The remaining chapters build on these operations, progressing from simple linear regression to mediational models with bootstrapped standard errors.

How can people master their own thoughts, feelings, and actions? This question is central to the scientific study of self-regulation. The behavioral side of self-regulation has been extensively investigated over the last decades, but the biological machinery that allows people to self-regulate has mostly remained vague and unspecified. "Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation "corrects this imbalance. Moving beyond traditional mind-body dualities, the various contributions in the book examine how self-regulation becomes established in cardiovascular, hormonal, and central nervous systems. Particular attention is given to the dynamic interplay between affect and cognition in self-regulation. The book also addresses the psychobiology of effort, the impact of depression on self-regulation, the development of self-regulation, and the question what causes self-regulation to succeed or fail. These novel perspectives provide readers with a new, biologically informed understanding of self-awareness and self-agency. Among the topics being covered are: Self-regulation in an evolutionary perspective.The muscle metaphor in self-regulation in the light of current theorizing on muscle physiology.From distraction to mindfulness: psychological and neural mechanisms of attention strategies in self-regulation.Self-regulation in social decision-making: a neurobiological perspective.Mental effort: brain and autonomic correlates in health and disease.A basic and applied model of the body-mind system.

"Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation "provides a wealth of theoretical insights into self-regulation, with great potential for future applications for improving self-regulation in everyday life settings, including education, work, health, and interpersonal relationships. The book highlights a host of exciting new ideas and directions and is sure to provoke a great deal of thought and discussion among researchers, practitioners, and graduate-level students in psychology, education, neuroscience, medicine, and behavioral economics."

Despite the fact that methods of exposure therapy have proven to be highly effective in various empirical studies, they are still underused and sometimes subject to controversial discussion.

There have been significant developments: In recent years, methods of exposure therapy have been applied in various areas of therapy, including body dysmorphic disorder and hypochondriasis. Exposure techniques also play an important role in the so called third wave therapies (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy).

And there is more recently a revival of exposure in panic and agoraphobia and GAD. On the other hand, a large number of scientific articles discuss the practical applications (ethical aspects, amount of exposure) and the theoretical foundations (habituation) of exposure therapy.

In order to provide an overview of the current debate and to point out the latest developments in the area of exposure therapy, we have decided to present the current state of discussion (most contributors are scientist-practitioners) to an interested professional audience.