Margot Holaday

Sentence completion tests: A review of the literature and results of a survey of members of the Society for Personality Assessment.

Test usage surveys consistently find that sentence completion tests (SCTs) are among the most popular personality assessment instruments used by practitioners. What is not noted is which SCTs practitioners are using, why these tests are so popular, and whether practitioners are using formal scoring. We surveyed a random selection of 100 members of the Society for Personality Assessment. With a 60% return rate on a single mailing, we found that most psychologists who use incomplete sentence tests use the Rotter (1951) Incomplete Sentences Blank with children (18%), adolescents (32%), and adults (47%). Most practitioners said they do not read stems aloud and record answers themselves, and even fewer said they use formal scoring. The most common reasons for using an SCT are (a) to use it as part of an assessment battery (41 endorsements), (b) to determine personality structure (18 endorsements), and (c) to elicit quotable quotes (17 endorsements). Implications for practitioners and training suggestions for academicians who prepare future psychologists are noted.

Rorschach Protocols From Children and Adolescents With Asperger's Disorder

Rorschach protocols from 24 boys with Aspergers Disorder matched by age to 24 boys with other emotional or behavioral disorders (the contrast group) were compared to each other and to Exners (1995) normative data. Eight variables based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria and a review of the literature for Aspergers Disorder were predicted to discriminate between groups with the Aspergers group having more extreme scores. Five variables (COP, CDI, H, M, and EA) were significantly different from the contrast group and T and WSumC were significantly different from the normative data in both the Aspergers group and the contrast group.

Secondary Stress, Burnout, and the Clergy

Abstract Because little is known about secondary stress in clergy who counsel church members, the effects of burnout and vicarious traumatization in 35 members of the clergy were examined through personal interviews, the Traumatic Stress Institute Belief Scale (1997), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (1986). Clergy interviews and test scores indicated their experience of stress was similar to stress reported by other mental health professionals, yet they spent less time counseling. Types of problems seen in pastoral counseling, consequences of empathic listening, and advice to young clergy are reported. The following topics are discussed: (a) the need for collaboration among clergy, mental health professionals, and professors; (b) the benefits of sharing information among collaborators such as the need for secular therapists to understand their religious clients viewpoints, and the desire of clergy participants to learn more about advanced counseling skills; (c) the recognition of secondary stress and burnout; and (d) the development of coping strategies.

Psychology of the scientist. LXVIII: Trends in multiple authorship

This brief study tested the generality of Zooks 1987 conclusion that the trend toward increasing numbers of authors per article had leveled off in the Journal of Counseling Psychology. The number of authors per article per year in four journals representing four professional organizations (American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists, American Counseling Association, and American Medical Association) were counted and compared for an 11-yr. period (1982–1992). Statistically significant differences were found between disciplines based on the number of authors per article, with the medical journal having a greater number of articles with four or more coauthors. The average number of authors credited for an article was stable for all four journals.

Coding and Interpreting Movement on the Rorschach

A survey was conducted to help beginning Rorschach students using the Exner Comprehensive System determine whether to code movement for nouns whose dictionary definitions included movement. A survey form listed 23 of these words, each followed by three options: Active?, Passive?, and No Movement? Results were disappointing because the participants (26 Rorschach experts and 19 students) failed to reach agreement (75% or more) for 15 of these “synopsis nouns.” A literature review on coding and interpreting movement responses led to the conclusion that a client efficiently using synopsis nouns most likely displays a higher cognitive functioning or life complexity than a client who uses several simple words to describe the same percept. Therefore, many of these words should be coded as movement if the examiner is convinced that the client intends to communicate movement. Guidelines supporting a decision to code a noun for movement are suggested.

A comparison of on-the-scene coping mechanisms used by two culturally different groups

Abstract Five groups of participants from Mississippi (n = 101) completed a questionnaire based on 11 coping mechanisms used most often by Norwegian rescuers (Dyregrov & Mitchell, 1992). Eight significantly different strategies were endorsed by the Mississippians and the Norwegians. Mississippians used more altruistic, cognitive, and social coping mechanisms while the Norwegians tended to endorse emotional distancing and task oriented methods of coping. The strategy judged most important by both Mississippians and Norwegians was maintaining contract with other helpers. It is argued that differences in on-the-scene coping strategies used by rescue workers are based on cultural, social, and individual differences. Researchers concluded that data from one cultural group cannot necessarily be generalized to another group. An examination of differences between the jive groups of Mississippians has been published elsewhere (Holaday, Warren-Miller, Smith & Yost, in press).