Mental health professionals often make explicit or implicit predictions involving crucial matters—Is a client at risk for self-harm or harming others? What treatment approach is most likely to be successful? Has a child been subjected to sexual or physical abuse? Decision research has particularly strong applied use for improving the accuracy of such determinations; unfortunately this work has not been broadly disseminated in the mental health field. Applying Decision Research to Improve Clinical Outcomes, Psychological Assessment, and Clinical Prediction introduces graduate students and practitioners in the mental health field to research, knowledge, and practical strategies that can enhance diagnostic and predictive accuracy and thereby improve client care. Major chapters of the book address well-established, but often under-recognized, principles and procedures for improving the integration of clinical data and interpretive accuracy; the differentiation between seemingly accurate but illusory, as opposed to genuine, associations between signs, symptoms, and outcomes; and the minimization of impediments to accurate decision making. The authors merge applied clinical tasks in the mental health field with decision research and cognitive psychology to suggest ways in which prediction, diagnosis, and assessment can be accomplished with greater efficacy and precision.

This new book introduces a new generation to the important insights of Paul Meehl. In addition to selected papers from the classic reader, "Psychodiagnosis," this book features new material selected from Meehl's most influential writings. The resulting collection is a "tour de force" illustrating quantitative analysis of life science problems, an examination of the inadequacy of some methods of analysis, and a review of the application of taxometrics.
"A Paul Meehl Reader" is organized into five content areas: "Theory building and appraisal"-how we discover and test the true causal relations of psychological constructs. "Specific etiology"-an examination of genetic, behavioral, and environmental etiology in psychopathology. "Diagnosis and prediction"-a review of the appropriate use of base rates. "Taxometrics"-A look at Meehl's development of the method he invented. "Thinking effectively about psychological questions"-A critique of correlation research and the power of quantitative thinking in psychology.
The "Reader" features section introductions to orient the reader and provide a context and structure for Paul Meehl's work. The section on diagnosis and prediction features problem sets with solutions to guide the reader through practical applications of the principles described. An accompanying DVD contains footage from Paul Meehl's engaging seminar on clinical versus statistical prediction. This book appeals to advanced students and professionals in psychology, sociology, law, education, human development, and philosophy.

"The Limits of Scientific Reasoning " was first published in 1984. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

The study of human judgment and its limitations is essential to an understanding of the processes involved in the acquisition of scientific knowledge. With that end in mind, David Faust has made the first comprehensive attempt to apply recent research on human judgment to the practice of science. Drawing upon the findings of cognitive psychology, Faust maintains that human judgment is far more limited than we have tended to believe and that all individuals - scientists included--have a surprisingly restricted capacity to interpret complex information. Faust's thesis implies that scientists do not perform reasoning tasks, such as theory evaluation, as well as we assume they do, and that there are many judgments the scientist is expected to perform but cannot because of restrictions in cognitive capacity.

"This is a very well-written, timely, and important book. It documents and clarifies, in a very scholarly fashion, what sociologists and psychologists of science have been flirting with for several decades--namely, inherent limitations of scientific judgment," -Michael Mahoney, Pennsylvania State University

David Faust is director of psychology at Rhode Island Hospital and a faculty member of the Brown University Medical School. He is co-author of "Teaching Moral Reasoning: Theory and Practice."