The present article presents an integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment. This theory states that psychological procedures, whatever their form, alter the level and strength of self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior will be initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences. Persistence in activities that are subjectively threatening but in fact relatively safe produces, through experiences of mastery, further enhancement of self-efficacy and corresponding reductions in defensive behavior. In the proposed model, expectations of personal efficacy are derived from four principal sources of information: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. The more dependable the experiential sources, the greater are the changes in perceived selfefficacy. A number of factors are identified as influencing the cognitive processing of efficacy information arising from enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources. The differential power of diverse therapeutic procedures is analyzed in terms of the postulated cognitive mechanism of operation. Findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive modes of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes. Possible directions for further research are discussed.

Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.

https://dradamvolungis.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/self-efficacy-unifying-theory-of-behavioral-change-bandura-1977.pdf

Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change☆☆☆

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Social validity: the case for subjective measurement or how applied behavior analysis is finding its heart.

A large body of evidence indicates that women are more likely than men to show unipolar depression. Five classes of explanations for these sex differences are examined and the evidence for each class is reviewed. Not one of these explanations adequately accounts for the magnitude of the sex differences in depression. Finally, a response set explanation for the sex differences in depression is proposed. According to this explanation, men are more likely to engage in distracting behaviors that dampen their mood when depressed, but women are more likely to amplify their moods by ruminating about their depressed states and the possible causes of these states. Regardless of the initial source of a depressive episode (i.e., biological or psychological) men's more active responses to their negative moods may be more adaptive on average than women's less active, more ruminative responses. The epidemiology of a disorder can provide important clues to its etiology. When a disorder only strikes persons from one geographical region, one social class, or one gender, we can ask what characteristics of the vulnerable group might be making its members vulnerable. A frequent finding in epidemiological studies of mental disorders is that women are more prone to unipolar affective disorders than are men (Boyd & Weissman, 1981; Weissman & Klerman, 1977). A number of different explanations have been proposed to account for women's greater vulnerability to depression. Previous reviews of these explanations (e.g., Weissman & Klerman, 1977) have been quite brief and uncritical. In this article, the evidence for sex differences in unipolar depression first is summarized, then the most prominent explanations proposed for these sex differences are discussed in detail. These explanations include those attributing the differences to the response biases of subjects, as well as biological, psychoanalytic, sex role, and learned helplessness explanations. Although most of the proposed explanations for sex differences in depression have received some empirical support, not one of them has been definitively supported and not one as yet accounts for the magnitude of sex differences in depression. In the final section of this article it is suggested that differences in the ways that men and women respond to their own depressive episodes, whatever the origin of these episodes, may be an important source of the sex differences observed in depression.

Sex differences in unipolar depression: evidence and theory.

Preface.Chapter 1: Introduction.Organization of the Handbook.Role of the Clinician.Patterns of Test Usage in Clinical Assessment.Evaluating Psychological Tests.Validity in Clinical Practice.Clinical Judgment.Phases in Clinical Assessment.Recommended Reading.Chapter 2: Context of Clinical Assessment.Types of Referral Settings.Ethical Practice of Assessment.Test Bias and Use with Minority Groups.Selecting Psychological Tests.Computer-Assisted Assessment.Recommended Reading.Chapter 3: The Assessment Interview.History and Development.Issues Related to Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.The Assessment Interview and Case History.Mental Status Examination.Interpreting Interview Data.Structured Interviews.Recommended Reading.Chapter 4: Behavioral Assessment.History and Development.Issues Related to Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Strategies of Behavioral Assessment.Recommended Reading.Chapter 5: Wechsler Intelligence Scales.Testing of Intelligence: Pro and Con.History and Development.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Meaning of IQ Scores.Cautions and Guidelines in Administration.WAIS-III /WISC-III Successive Level Interpretation Procedure.Wechsler Subtests.Assessing Brain Damage.Assessing Additional Special Populations.Short Forms.Recommended Reading.Chapter 6: Wechsler Memory Scales.History and Development.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Interpretation Procedure.Recommended Reading.Chapter 7: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.History and Development.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Administration.Interpretation Procedure.Computerized Interpretation.Validity Scales.Clinical Scales.Two-Point Codes.MMPI-2 Content Scales.MMPI-A Content Scales.Harris-Lingoes and Si Subscales.Critical Items.MMPI-2 and MMPI-A Supplementary Scales.Recommended Reading.Chapter 8: Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory.History and Development.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Interpretation Procedure.Modifying Indices (Validity Scales).Clinical Personality Patterns.Severe Personality Pathology.Clinical Syndromes.Severe Syndromes.Recommended Reading.Chapter 9: California Psychological Inventory.History and Development.Comparison with the MMPI.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Interpretation Procedures.Vector Scale Interpretation.Individual Scales.Special Purpose Scales.Configural Interpretation.Recommended Reading.Chapter 10: Rorschach.History and Development.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Approaching Consensus on Rorschach Validity.Administration.Scoring.Structural Summary.Interpretation.Recommended Reading.Chapter 11: Thematic Apperception Test.History and Development.Theoretical Perspectives.Reliability and Validity.Assets and Limitations.Administration.Typical Themes Elicited.Scoring Procedures.Interpretation.Recommended Reading.Chapter 12: Screening and Assessing for Neuropsychological Impairment.History and Development.Interviewing for Brain Impairment.Tests for Screening and Assessing for Neuropsychological Impairment.Tests of Visuoconstructive Abilities.Mental Activities (Attention and Speed of Information Processing).Memory and Learning.Verbal Functions and Academic Skills.Tests of Motor Ability.Executive Functions.Emotional Status and Level of Adjustment.Recommended Reading.Chapter 13: Brief Instruments for Treatment Planning, Monitoring, and Outcome Assessment.Selecting Brief Instruments.Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI).The Beck Depression Inventory.State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).Recommended Reading.Chapter 14: Psychological Assessment and Treatment Planning.Development and Approaches to Treatment Planning.A Systematic Approach to Treatment Selection.Functional Impairment.Social Support.Problem Complexity/Chronicity.Coping Style.Resistance.Subjective Distress.Problem-Solving Phase.Recommended Reading.Chapter 15: Psychological Report.General Guidelines.Format for a Psychological Report.Sample Reports.Recommended Reading.Appendix A: Test Publishers/Distributors.Appendix B: Percentile Rankings for Wechsler Deviation IQS.Appendix C: Conversion Formulas and Difference Scores for Determining Magnitude (.05 Level) of Fluctuations for Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (3rd ed. WAIS-III) Additional Groupings.Appendix D: Conversion Formulas and Difference Scores for Determining Magnitude (.05 Level) of Fluctuations for Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (3rd ed. WISC-III) Factor Scores and Additional Groupings.Appendix E: Directions for Completing Appendix E: Worksheet for Determining Magnitude of WISC-III Subtest Fluctuations.Appendix F: Guidelines for Hypothesizing Subtest Strengths and Weaknesses.Appendix G: Directions for Hand Scoring the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) Validity and Clinical Scales.Appendix H: Feedback Statements for the MMPI-2 Clinical Scales.Appendix I: Descriptive Statistics for Nonpatient Adults (N = 600).Appendix J: Maturational Guidelines for Bender Gestalt Designs.Appendix K: Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test Scoring Sheet.Appendix L: Norms for the Standard Administration of the RAVLT.WISC-IV Supplement.References.Author Index.Subject Index.

Handbook of psychological assessment

A battery of measures was used to assess conflict between mothers and young adolescents (females and males, 11 to 15 years of age). Two groups of families, one composed of a distressed clinical sample (N = 38), the other a nondistressed normative sample (N = 40), participated. The assessment battery included retrospective judgments, frequency estimates, self-monitored home recording, and tape-recorded discussion of a home problem. Content of assessment measures tapped aspects of parental control, decision-making, self-reported interaction behavior, arguments, interaction behavior rated by independent "blind" observers, frequency and anger-intensity of specific problematic issues, and perceptions of positive and negative behaviors of the other family member. Based on univariate analyses, 21 of the 26 defined variables discriminated significantly in the predicted direction. Maternal and adolescent reports of behavior and independent ratings of tape-recorded interaction emerged as strong and consistent discriminators. Stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis provided successful classification of 100% of the families based on the inclusion of nine variables. In a cross-validation sample, 84% of the families were correctly classified. Implications for systematic outcome research as well as clinical application are discussed.

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Multivariate assessment of conflict in distressed and nondistressed mother‐adolescent dyads

SERBIN, LISA A.; O'LEARY, K. DANIEL; KENT, RONALD N.; and TONICK, ILLENE J. A Comparison of Teacher Response to the Preacademic and Problem Behavior of Boys and Girls. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 796-804. Differential social contingencies have been suggested as a possible developmental source of psychological sex differences which may result in behavioral and academic problems. The nature of teacher responses to problem and preacademic behavior of children in 15 preschool classes as a function of the sex of the child was examined. Frequencies of dependent and disruptive child behaviors and a variety of teacher behaviors were recorded. Teachers were more likely to respond when boys were aggressive than when girls were. They also used more loud reprimands when scolding boys. In response to dependent behaviors, teachers gave girls increased attention when they were physically proximal, which they did not do for boys. Teachers also used more directions and instructions when responding to solicitation by boys. Finally, boys were more likely to receive several types of nurturant and instructional attention while participating appropriately in class activities.

A comparison of teacher response to the preacademic and problem behavior of boys and girls.

Reliability of observational data was measured simultaneously by two assessors under two experimental conditions. During overt assessment, observers were told that reliability would be measured by one of the two assessors, thus permitting computation of reliability with an identified and an unidentified assessor. During covert assessment, observers were not informed of the reliability measured. Throughout the study, each of the assessors employed a unique version of a standard observational code. In the overt assessment condition, reliability of observers with the identified assessor was consistently higher than reliability with the unidentified assessor, indicating that observers modified their observational criteria to approximate those of the identified assessor. In the covert assessment condition, reliability with the two assessors was substantially lower than during overt assessment. Further, observers consistently recorded lower frequencies of disruptive behavior than the two assessors during covert assessment.

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Ronald N. Kent

Papers

Multivariate assessment of conflict in distressed and nondistressed mother‐adolescent dyads

A comparison of teacher response to the preacademic and problem behavior of boys and girls.

Measuring the reliability of observational data: a reactive process.

Expectation Biases in Observational Evaluation of Therapeutic Change.

A controlled evaluation of behavior modification with conduct problem children.