By David Hambrick and Alexander Burgoyne
The New York Times
Originally published September 16, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Professor Morewedge and colleagues found that the computer training led to statistically large and enduring decreases in decision-making bias. In other words, the subjects were considerably less biased after training, even after two months. The decreases were larger for the subjects who received the computer training than for those who received the video training (though decreases were also sizable for the latter group). While there is scant evidence that any sort of “brain training” has any real-world impact on intelligence, it may well be possible to train people to be more rational in their decision making.
The article is here.
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Friday, October 7, 2016
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Competencies for Psychologists in the Domains of Religion and Spirituality
C. Vieten, S. Scammell, A. Pierce, R. Pilato, I Ammondson, K, I. Pargament, & D. Lukoff
Spirituality in Clinical Practice, Vol 3(2), Jun 2016, 92-114.
Abstract
Religion and spirituality are important aspects of human diversity that should receive adequate attention in cultural competence training for psychologists. Furthermore, spiritual and religious beliefs and practices are relevant to psychological and emotional well-being, and clinicians who are trained to sensitively address these domains in their clinical practice should be more effective. Our research team previously published a set of 16 religious and spiritual competencies based on a combination of focus group and survey research with the intent that they could be used to guide training. In the present study, we conducted a survey to determine whether these competencies would be acceptable to a broader population of practicing clinicians. Results indicate a large degree of support for the proposed competencies. Between 73.0 and 94.1% of respondents agreed that psychologists should receive training and demonstrate competence in each of the 16 areas. The majority (52.2%–80.7%) indicated that they had received little or no training, and between 29.7% and 58.6% had received no training at all, in these competencies. We conclude with recommendations for integrating these religious and spiritual competencies more fully into clinical training and practice.
The article is here.
Spirituality in Clinical Practice, Vol 3(2), Jun 2016, 92-114.
Abstract
Religion and spirituality are important aspects of human diversity that should receive adequate attention in cultural competence training for psychologists. Furthermore, spiritual and religious beliefs and practices are relevant to psychological and emotional well-being, and clinicians who are trained to sensitively address these domains in their clinical practice should be more effective. Our research team previously published a set of 16 religious and spiritual competencies based on a combination of focus group and survey research with the intent that they could be used to guide training. In the present study, we conducted a survey to determine whether these competencies would be acceptable to a broader population of practicing clinicians. Results indicate a large degree of support for the proposed competencies. Between 73.0 and 94.1% of respondents agreed that psychologists should receive training and demonstrate competence in each of the 16 areas. The majority (52.2%–80.7%) indicated that they had received little or no training, and between 29.7% and 58.6% had received no training at all, in these competencies. We conclude with recommendations for integrating these religious and spiritual competencies more fully into clinical training and practice.
The article is here.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
State's top physician endorses opioid education mandate
By Rich Lord
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Originally posted June 8, 2016
Pennsylvania’s top physician said today that legislation compelling most doctors to take refresher courses in proper narcotic prescribing won’t overburden her colleagues in medicine -- and could help to counter the opioid and heroin epidemic.
“The bill that’s being discussed would be requirements for two hours of opioid education,” said Physician General Rachel Levine. “But it would also count toward [every doctor’s] quality and safety [education] requirement.”
Some doctors have said they don’t want to be told which continuing education courses to take. “But I think that there are sometimes topics that are so necessary to get updated on that all physicians should get updated,” Dr. Levine said. Opioid prescribing is one such topic, she said, “because of the very serious nature of the epidemic.”
The article is here.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Originally posted June 8, 2016
Pennsylvania’s top physician said today that legislation compelling most doctors to take refresher courses in proper narcotic prescribing won’t overburden her colleagues in medicine -- and could help to counter the opioid and heroin epidemic.
“The bill that’s being discussed would be requirements for two hours of opioid education,” said Physician General Rachel Levine. “But it would also count toward [every doctor’s] quality and safety [education] requirement.”
Some doctors have said they don’t want to be told which continuing education courses to take. “But I think that there are sometimes topics that are so necessary to get updated on that all physicians should get updated,” Dr. Levine said. Opioid prescribing is one such topic, she said, “because of the very serious nature of the epidemic.”
The article is here.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
The Triggers We Don't Notice
By Lisa Ordóñez & David Welsh
Notre Dame Center for Ethical Leadership
Posted in 2016
Many companies’ ethics trainings focus on building frameworks and decision trees as tools for their employees to use in making ethically sound decisions. The assumption is that when these employees are confronted with morally ambiguous situations, the tools will allow them to reason their way through them and figure out the best option.
Based on innovative behavioral research, we now know that it’s not that simple. There are a lot of factors that go into determining whether a decision is ethical or unethical. People need to have the energy and resources to resist the temptation to be immoral. They need to feel like the choice matters and that their behavior will actually make a difference. Perhaps most importantly, people need to frame the situation as an ethical question. It’s not just about the tools to make the right decision when you know it’s a hard one. Employees need to flip on their “ethical switch” if they are going to recognize that there is an ethical question at hand.
The article is here.
Notre Dame Center for Ethical Leadership
Posted in 2016
Many companies’ ethics trainings focus on building frameworks and decision trees as tools for their employees to use in making ethically sound decisions. The assumption is that when these employees are confronted with morally ambiguous situations, the tools will allow them to reason their way through them and figure out the best option.
Based on innovative behavioral research, we now know that it’s not that simple. There are a lot of factors that go into determining whether a decision is ethical or unethical. People need to have the energy and resources to resist the temptation to be immoral. They need to feel like the choice matters and that their behavior will actually make a difference. Perhaps most importantly, people need to frame the situation as an ethical question. It’s not just about the tools to make the right decision when you know it’s a hard one. Employees need to flip on their “ethical switch” if they are going to recognize that there is an ethical question at hand.
The article is here.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
There’s Argument, and there’s Disputation
by Iain Brassington
British Medical Journal Blogs
Originally posted June 6, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Basically, the problem is this: that the model for debating contests is, presumably, based around the idea that debate is an effective way to whittle bad ideas away from good; if each participant is a doughty falsificationist, and equally able in debate as his opponent, then at the end of a process of debate, we’ll be closer to the truth of the matter than we were at the start. So far, so good. But there’s a handful of fairly obvious problems with that model. First, that doesn’t lend itself to the idea that there is a winner and a loser in any particular debate. Second, a shoddy argument presented by a good speaker might win a competitive debate over a good argument presented by a diffident speaker. We might hope that a competent judge would account for that, but it’d be better if there wasn’t any need to solve what looks to be a structural problem to begin with. Third – which is related, but probably more importantly when it comes to ethics – someone with a good understanding of the moral arguments and who is a decent orator might stand a fair chance of winning an argument; but it doesn’t follow that a good orator who’s won an argument has any particular understanding of the moral arguments. Debating contests reward people for being good at debate; but that’s presumably not the true end of ethics education. Fourth, this kind of strategy is possibly OK in politics, in which the point of oratory is to persuade people to adopt a certain cause; and so debating competitions might provide training for that. (I suspect that that’s something like the rationale behind things like the IofI’s competition in schools: it’s directed at developing a certain set of skills, with one eye on a vivacious public debate. Whatever my private suspicions of the IofI generally, that doesn’t seem like a bad idea.) But ethical debate is qualitatively different. It isn’t really about winning converts. Or, at least: one might hope that a convincing argument would have moral gravity and attract agreement, but the mood of the thing is different.
The article is here.
British Medical Journal Blogs
Originally posted June 6, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Basically, the problem is this: that the model for debating contests is, presumably, based around the idea that debate is an effective way to whittle bad ideas away from good; if each participant is a doughty falsificationist, and equally able in debate as his opponent, then at the end of a process of debate, we’ll be closer to the truth of the matter than we were at the start. So far, so good. But there’s a handful of fairly obvious problems with that model. First, that doesn’t lend itself to the idea that there is a winner and a loser in any particular debate. Second, a shoddy argument presented by a good speaker might win a competitive debate over a good argument presented by a diffident speaker. We might hope that a competent judge would account for that, but it’d be better if there wasn’t any need to solve what looks to be a structural problem to begin with. Third – which is related, but probably more importantly when it comes to ethics – someone with a good understanding of the moral arguments and who is a decent orator might stand a fair chance of winning an argument; but it doesn’t follow that a good orator who’s won an argument has any particular understanding of the moral arguments. Debating contests reward people for being good at debate; but that’s presumably not the true end of ethics education. Fourth, this kind of strategy is possibly OK in politics, in which the point of oratory is to persuade people to adopt a certain cause; and so debating competitions might provide training for that. (I suspect that that’s something like the rationale behind things like the IofI’s competition in schools: it’s directed at developing a certain set of skills, with one eye on a vivacious public debate. Whatever my private suspicions of the IofI generally, that doesn’t seem like a bad idea.) But ethical debate is qualitatively different. It isn’t really about winning converts. Or, at least: one might hope that a convincing argument would have moral gravity and attract agreement, but the mood of the thing is different.
The article is here.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Student Resistance to Thought Experiments
Regina A. Rini
APA Newsletter - Teaching Philosophy
Spring 2016, Volume 15 (2)
Introduction
From Swampmen to runaway trolleys, philosophers make routine use of thought experiments. But our students are not always so enthusiastic. Most teachers of introductory philosophy will be familiar with the problem: students push back against the use of thought experiments, and not for the reasons that philosophers are likely to accept. Rather than challenge whether the thought experiments actually
support particular conclusions, students instead challenge their realism or their relevance.
In this article I will look at these sorts of challenges, with two goals in mind. First, there is a practical pedagogical goal: How do we guide students to overcome their resistance to a useful method? Second, there is something I will call “pedagogical bad faith.” Many of us actually do have sincere doubts, as professional philosophers, about the value of thought experiment methodology. Some of
these doubts in fact correspond to our students’ naïve resistance. But we often decide, for pedagogical reasons, to avoid mentioning our own doubts to students. Is this practice defensible?
The article is here.
Editor's Note: I agree with this article in many ways. After I have read a philosophy article and a podcast using a thought experiment, I provided critiques regarding how the thought experiments were limited to the author. My criticisms were dismissed with a more ad hominem attack of my lack of understanding of philosophy or how philosophers work. I was told I should read more philosophy, especially Derek Parfit. I wish I had this article several years ago.
APA Newsletter - Teaching Philosophy
Spring 2016, Volume 15 (2)
Introduction
From Swampmen to runaway trolleys, philosophers make routine use of thought experiments. But our students are not always so enthusiastic. Most teachers of introductory philosophy will be familiar with the problem: students push back against the use of thought experiments, and not for the reasons that philosophers are likely to accept. Rather than challenge whether the thought experiments actually
support particular conclusions, students instead challenge their realism or their relevance.
In this article I will look at these sorts of challenges, with two goals in mind. First, there is a practical pedagogical goal: How do we guide students to overcome their resistance to a useful method? Second, there is something I will call “pedagogical bad faith.” Many of us actually do have sincere doubts, as professional philosophers, about the value of thought experiment methodology. Some of
these doubts in fact correspond to our students’ naïve resistance. But we often decide, for pedagogical reasons, to avoid mentioning our own doubts to students. Is this practice defensible?
The article is here.
Editor's Note: I agree with this article in many ways. After I have read a philosophy article and a podcast using a thought experiment, I provided critiques regarding how the thought experiments were limited to the author. My criticisms were dismissed with a more ad hominem attack of my lack of understanding of philosophy or how philosophers work. I was told I should read more philosophy, especially Derek Parfit. I wish I had this article several years ago.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Corruption? Here? Bill would require ethics training for N.J. elected officials
By S. P. Sullivan
NJ.com
Originally posted May 9, 2016
In an effort to stem public corruption scandals, the state Senate on Monday unanimously passed a bill that would require all New Jersey elected officials undergo ethics training as soon as they're elected.
The bill (S84) mandates elected officials take the training within six months of their first term. Officials who skip out on the ethics education would face a $5,000 fine.
Sponsors of the legislation point to investigations by the state Comptroller's Office, which over the years has detailed many examples of public corruption, as evidence that the training is needed.
The article is here.
NJ.com
Originally posted May 9, 2016
In an effort to stem public corruption scandals, the state Senate on Monday unanimously passed a bill that would require all New Jersey elected officials undergo ethics training as soon as they're elected.
The bill (S84) mandates elected officials take the training within six months of their first term. Officials who skip out on the ethics education would face a $5,000 fine.
Sponsors of the legislation point to investigations by the state Comptroller's Office, which over the years has detailed many examples of public corruption, as evidence that the training is needed.
The article is here.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Our research was key to the 10,000-hour rule, but here’s what got oversimplified
Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
Salon.com
Originally posted April 16, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Research has shown this to be true in field after field. It generally takes about ten years of intense study to become a chess grandmaster. Authors and poets have usually been writing for more than a decade before they produce their best work, and it is generally a decade or more between a scientist’s first publication and his or her most important publication — and this is in addition to the years of study before that first published research. A study of musical composers by the psychologist John R. Hayes found that it takes an average of twenty years from the time a person starts studying music until he or she composes a truly excellent piece of music, and it is generally never less than ten years. Gladwell’s ten-thousand-hour rule captures this fundamental truth — that in many areas of human endeavor it takes many, many years of practice to become one of the best in the world — in a forceful, memorable way, and that’s a good thing.
On the other hand, emphasizing what it takes to become one of the best in the world in such competitive fields as music, chess, or academic research leads us to overlook what we believe to be the more important lesson from the study of the violin students. When someone says that it takes ten thousand — or however many — hours to become really good at something, it puts the focus on the daunting nature of the task. While some may take this as a challenge — as if to say, “All I have to do is spend ten thousand hours working on this, and I’ll be one of the best in the world!”—many will see it as a stop sign: “Why should I even try if it’s going to take me ten thousand hours to get really good?” As Dogbert observed in one “Dilbert” comic strip, “I would think a willingness to practice the same thing for ten thousand hours is a mental disorder.”
The article is here.
Salon.com
Originally posted April 16, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Research has shown this to be true in field after field. It generally takes about ten years of intense study to become a chess grandmaster. Authors and poets have usually been writing for more than a decade before they produce their best work, and it is generally a decade or more between a scientist’s first publication and his or her most important publication — and this is in addition to the years of study before that first published research. A study of musical composers by the psychologist John R. Hayes found that it takes an average of twenty years from the time a person starts studying music until he or she composes a truly excellent piece of music, and it is generally never less than ten years. Gladwell’s ten-thousand-hour rule captures this fundamental truth — that in many areas of human endeavor it takes many, many years of practice to become one of the best in the world — in a forceful, memorable way, and that’s a good thing.
On the other hand, emphasizing what it takes to become one of the best in the world in such competitive fields as music, chess, or academic research leads us to overlook what we believe to be the more important lesson from the study of the violin students. When someone says that it takes ten thousand — or however many — hours to become really good at something, it puts the focus on the daunting nature of the task. While some may take this as a challenge — as if to say, “All I have to do is spend ten thousand hours working on this, and I’ll be one of the best in the world!”—many will see it as a stop sign: “Why should I even try if it’s going to take me ten thousand hours to get really good?” As Dogbert observed in one “Dilbert” comic strip, “I would think a willingness to practice the same thing for ten thousand hours is a mental disorder.”
The article is here.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Later Career Remedial Supervision - The Practice Event Audit
Jon Amundson
The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology 32
Volume 5, 2016
Abstract
Clinical supervision has for the most part focused upon early career preparation and training. Fundamental to this process is emphasis upon emerging competency. However, supervision can also be required in relation to enduring competency. Where lapses in professional practice are of a subtle or non-egregious nature, supervision may arise as a remedial route. Through hearing, tribunal mandate or negotiation, arising from Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), remedial supervision may be the outcome. In this article mandated or negotiated remedial supervision is discussed with a specific description of a means for such – the Practice Event Audit. Issues related to ethics, conduct and competency, remedial supervision and the Professional Event Audit are discussed in light of a case example.
The paper is here.
The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology 32
Volume 5, 2016
Abstract
Clinical supervision has for the most part focused upon early career preparation and training. Fundamental to this process is emphasis upon emerging competency. However, supervision can also be required in relation to enduring competency. Where lapses in professional practice are of a subtle or non-egregious nature, supervision may arise as a remedial route. Through hearing, tribunal mandate or negotiation, arising from Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), remedial supervision may be the outcome. In this article mandated or negotiated remedial supervision is discussed with a specific description of a means for such – the Practice Event Audit. Issues related to ethics, conduct and competency, remedial supervision and the Professional Event Audit are discussed in light of a case example.
The paper is here.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Complex ideas can enter consciousness automatically
Science Daily
Originally posted April 18, 2016
Summary
New research provides further evidence for 'passive frame theory,' the groundbreaking idea that suggests human consciousness is less in control than previously believed. The study shows that even complex concepts, such as translating a word into pig latin, can enter your consciousness automatically, even when someone tells you to avoid thinking about it. The research provides the first evidence that even a small amount of training can cause unintentional, high-level symbol manipulation.
Here is an excerpt:
This surprising effect offers further evidence that the contents of our consciousness -- the state of being awake and aware of our surroundings -- are often generated involuntarily, said Morsella, an assistant professor of psychology. In fact, the study published in the journal Acta Psychologica provides the first demonstration that even a small amount of training can cause unintentional, high-level symbol manipulation.
The article is here.
Originally posted April 18, 2016
Summary
New research provides further evidence for 'passive frame theory,' the groundbreaking idea that suggests human consciousness is less in control than previously believed. The study shows that even complex concepts, such as translating a word into pig latin, can enter your consciousness automatically, even when someone tells you to avoid thinking about it. The research provides the first evidence that even a small amount of training can cause unintentional, high-level symbol manipulation.
Here is an excerpt:
This surprising effect offers further evidence that the contents of our consciousness -- the state of being awake and aware of our surroundings -- are often generated involuntarily, said Morsella, an assistant professor of psychology. In fact, the study published in the journal Acta Psychologica provides the first demonstration that even a small amount of training can cause unintentional, high-level symbol manipulation.
The article is here.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
The patient called me ‘colored girl.’ The senior doctor training me said nothing
By Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam
Stat
Originally posted April 11, 2016
Medicine struggles with a chronic disease: racism.
Medical schools try to combat this disease with diversity initiatives and training in unconscious bias and cultural sensitivity. I’m about to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, so I’ve been through such programs.
They’re not enough.
Every one of us needs to own the principles that protect us and our patients from racism and bias. That means learning to see prejudice and speaking up against it. But that is far, far easier said than done.
Again and again during my four years of training, I encountered racism and ignorance, directed either at patients or at me and other students of color. Yet it was very hard for me to speak up, even politely, because as a student, I felt I had no authority — and didn’t want to seem confrontational to senior physicians who would be writing my evaluations.
The article is here.
Stat
Originally posted April 11, 2016
Medicine struggles with a chronic disease: racism.
Medical schools try to combat this disease with diversity initiatives and training in unconscious bias and cultural sensitivity. I’m about to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, so I’ve been through such programs.
They’re not enough.
Every one of us needs to own the principles that protect us and our patients from racism and bias. That means learning to see prejudice and speaking up against it. But that is far, far easier said than done.
Again and again during my four years of training, I encountered racism and ignorance, directed either at patients or at me and other students of color. Yet it was very hard for me to speak up, even politely, because as a student, I felt I had no authority — and didn’t want to seem confrontational to senior physicians who would be writing my evaluations.
The article is here.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Therapist drift redux: Why well-meaning clinicians fail to deliver evidence-based therapy, and how to get back on track
Glenn Waller and Hannah Turner
Behaviour Research and Therapy
Available online 15 December 2015
Abstract
Therapist drift occurs when clinicians fail to deliver the optimum evidence-based treatment despite having the necessary tools, and is an important factor in why those therapies are commonly less effective than they should be in routine clinical practice. The research into this phenomenon has increased substantially over the past five years. This review considers the growing evidence of therapist drift. The reasons that we fail to implement evidence-based psychotherapies are considered, including our personalities, knowledge, emotions, beliefs, behaviors and social milieus. Finally, ideas are offered regarding how therapist drift might be halted, including a cognitive-behavioral approach for therapists that addresses the cognitions, emotions and behaviors that drive and maintain our avoidance of evidence-based treatments.
The research is here.
Behaviour Research and Therapy
Available online 15 December 2015
Abstract
Therapist drift occurs when clinicians fail to deliver the optimum evidence-based treatment despite having the necessary tools, and is an important factor in why those therapies are commonly less effective than they should be in routine clinical practice. The research into this phenomenon has increased substantially over the past five years. This review considers the growing evidence of therapist drift. The reasons that we fail to implement evidence-based psychotherapies are considered, including our personalities, knowledge, emotions, beliefs, behaviors and social milieus. Finally, ideas are offered regarding how therapist drift might be halted, including a cognitive-behavioral approach for therapists that addresses the cognitions, emotions and behaviors that drive and maintain our avoidance of evidence-based treatments.
The research is here.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Is It Safe For Medical Residents To Work 30-Hour Shifts?
By Rob Stein
NPR
Originally published December 7, 2015
Since 2003, strict rules have limited how long medical residents can work without a break. The rules are supposed to minimize the risk that these doctors-in-training will make mistakes that threaten patients' safety because of fatigue.
But are these rules really the best for new doctors and their patients? There's been intense debate over that and some say little data to resolve the question.
So a group of researchers decided to follow thousands of medical residents at dozens of hospitals around the country.
The study compares the current rules, which limit first-year residents to working no more than 16 hours without a break, with a more flexible schedule that could allow the young doctors to work up to 30 hours.
Researchers will examine whether more mistakes happen on one schedule or the other and whether the residents learn more one way or the other. The year-long study started in July.
The entire article is here.
NPR
Originally published December 7, 2015
Since 2003, strict rules have limited how long medical residents can work without a break. The rules are supposed to minimize the risk that these doctors-in-training will make mistakes that threaten patients' safety because of fatigue.
But are these rules really the best for new doctors and their patients? There's been intense debate over that and some say little data to resolve the question.
So a group of researchers decided to follow thousands of medical residents at dozens of hospitals around the country.
The study compares the current rules, which limit first-year residents to working no more than 16 hours without a break, with a more flexible schedule that could allow the young doctors to work up to 30 hours.
Researchers will examine whether more mistakes happen on one schedule or the other and whether the residents learn more one way or the other. The year-long study started in July.
The entire article is here.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Exploring Accountability of Clinical Ethics Consultants: Practice and Training Implications
Kathryn L. Weise & Barbara J. Daly
The American Journal of Bioethics
Volume 14, Issue 6, 2014
Abstract
Clinical ethics consultants represent a multidisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners with varied training backgrounds, who are integrated into a medical environment to assist in the provision of ethically supportable care. Little has been written about the degree to which such consultants are accountable for the patient care outcome of the advice given. We propose a model for examining degrees of internally motivated accountability that range from restricted to unbounded accountability, and support balanced accountability as a goal for practice. Finally, we explore implications of this model for training of clinical ethics consultants from diverse academic backgrounds, including those disciplines that do not have a formal code of ethics relating to clinical practice.
The entire article is here.
The American Journal of Bioethics
Volume 14, Issue 6, 2014
Abstract
Clinical ethics consultants represent a multidisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners with varied training backgrounds, who are integrated into a medical environment to assist in the provision of ethically supportable care. Little has been written about the degree to which such consultants are accountable for the patient care outcome of the advice given. We propose a model for examining degrees of internally motivated accountability that range from restricted to unbounded accountability, and support balanced accountability as a goal for practice. Finally, we explore implications of this model for training of clinical ethics consultants from diverse academic backgrounds, including those disciplines that do not have a formal code of ethics relating to clinical practice.
The entire article is here.
Monday, October 5, 2015
The Efficacy of Empathy Training: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
By Emily van Berkhout and John M. Malouff
Journal of Counseling Psychology, Jul 20 , 2015
Abstract
High levels of empathy are associated with healthy relationships and prosocial behavior; in health professionals, high levels of empathy are associated with better therapeutic outcomes. To determine whether empathy can be taught, researchers have evaluated empathy training programs. After excluding 1 outlier study that showed a very large effect with few participants, the meta-analysis included 18 randomized controlled trials of empathy training with a total of 1,018 participants. The findings suggest that empathy training programs are effective overall, with a medium effect (g = 0.63), adjusted to 0.51 after trim-and-fill evaluation for estimated publication bias. Moderator analyses indicated that 4 factors were statistically significantly associated with higher effect sizes: (a) training health professionals and university students rather than other types of individuals, (b) compensating trainees for their participation, (c) using empathy measures that focus exclusively on assessing understanding the emotions of others, feeling those emotions, or commenting accurately on the emotions, and (d) using objective measures rather than self-report measures. Number of hours of training and time between preintervention assessment and postintervention assessment were not statistically significantly associated with effect size, with 6 months the longest time period for assessment. The findings indicate that (a) empathy training tends to be effective and (b) experimental research is warranted on the impact of different types of trainees, training conditions, and types of assessment.
The entire article is here.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, Jul 20 , 2015
Abstract
High levels of empathy are associated with healthy relationships and prosocial behavior; in health professionals, high levels of empathy are associated with better therapeutic outcomes. To determine whether empathy can be taught, researchers have evaluated empathy training programs. After excluding 1 outlier study that showed a very large effect with few participants, the meta-analysis included 18 randomized controlled trials of empathy training with a total of 1,018 participants. The findings suggest that empathy training programs are effective overall, with a medium effect (g = 0.63), adjusted to 0.51 after trim-and-fill evaluation for estimated publication bias. Moderator analyses indicated that 4 factors were statistically significantly associated with higher effect sizes: (a) training health professionals and university students rather than other types of individuals, (b) compensating trainees for their participation, (c) using empathy measures that focus exclusively on assessing understanding the emotions of others, feeling those emotions, or commenting accurately on the emotions, and (d) using objective measures rather than self-report measures. Number of hours of training and time between preintervention assessment and postintervention assessment were not statistically significantly associated with effect size, with 6 months the longest time period for assessment. The findings indicate that (a) empathy training tends to be effective and (b) experimental research is warranted on the impact of different types of trainees, training conditions, and types of assessment.
The entire article is here.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Peer review: a flawed process at the heart of science and journals
By Richard Smith
J R Soc Med. 2006 Apr; 99(4): 178–182.
doi: 10.1258/jrsm.99.4.178
Peer review is at the heart of the processes of not just medical journals but of all of science. It is the method by which grants are allocated, papers published, academics promoted, and Nobel prizes won. Yet it is hard to define. It has until recently been unstudied. And its defects are easier to identify than its attributes. Yet it shows no sign of going away. Famously, it is compared with democracy: a system full of problems but the least worst we have.
When something is peer reviewed it is in some sense blessed. Even journalists recognize this. When the BMJ published a highly controversial paper that argued that a new `disease', female sexual dysfunction, was in some ways being created by pharmaceutical companies, a friend who is a journalist was very excited—not least because reporting it gave him a chance to get sex onto the front page of a highly respectable but somewhat priggish newspaper (the Financial Times). `But,' the news editor wanted to know, `was this paper peer reviewed?'. The implication was that if it had been it was good enough for the front page and if it had not been it was not. Well, had it been? I had read it much more carefully than I read many papers and had asked the author, who happened to be a journalist, to revise the paper and produce more evidence. But this was not peer review, even though I was a peer of the author and had reviewed the paper. Or was it? (I told my friend that it had not been peer reviewed, but it was too late to pull the story from the front page.)
The entire article is here.
J R Soc Med. 2006 Apr; 99(4): 178–182.
doi: 10.1258/jrsm.99.4.178
Peer review is at the heart of the processes of not just medical journals but of all of science. It is the method by which grants are allocated, papers published, academics promoted, and Nobel prizes won. Yet it is hard to define. It has until recently been unstudied. And its defects are easier to identify than its attributes. Yet it shows no sign of going away. Famously, it is compared with democracy: a system full of problems but the least worst we have.
When something is peer reviewed it is in some sense blessed. Even journalists recognize this. When the BMJ published a highly controversial paper that argued that a new `disease', female sexual dysfunction, was in some ways being created by pharmaceutical companies, a friend who is a journalist was very excited—not least because reporting it gave him a chance to get sex onto the front page of a highly respectable but somewhat priggish newspaper (the Financial Times). `But,' the news editor wanted to know, `was this paper peer reviewed?'. The implication was that if it had been it was good enough for the front page and if it had not been it was not. Well, had it been? I had read it much more carefully than I read many papers and had asked the author, who happened to be a journalist, to revise the paper and produce more evidence. But this was not peer review, even though I was a peer of the author and had reviewed the paper. Or was it? (I told my friend that it had not been peer reviewed, but it was too late to pull the story from the front page.)
The entire article is here.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Doctors Behaving Badly
By Roni Caryn Rabin
The New York Times - Well
Originally published
Here is an excerpt:
Nancy Berlinger, a scholar at The Hastings Center who writes about ethical challenges in health care as well as issues of power between junior and senior clinicians, disagrees. “Doctors must be respectful even if a patient is sedated,” she said. And in these cases, she said, the supervising physicians also did harm to the medical students they were responsible for training and mentoring.
“This is the worst thing a role model can do: to suggest that wrong behavior is acceptable, to nudge junior people to be callous and to misuse power,” Dr. Berlinger said. In both cases, the senior doctors made a trainee student complicit in their abuse and “made them feel dirty at an early stage of their careers.”
The entire article is here.
The New York Times - Well
Originally published
Here is an excerpt:
Nancy Berlinger, a scholar at The Hastings Center who writes about ethical challenges in health care as well as issues of power between junior and senior clinicians, disagrees. “Doctors must be respectful even if a patient is sedated,” she said. And in these cases, she said, the supervising physicians also did harm to the medical students they were responsible for training and mentoring.
“This is the worst thing a role model can do: to suggest that wrong behavior is acceptable, to nudge junior people to be callous and to misuse power,” Dr. Berlinger said. In both cases, the senior doctors made a trainee student complicit in their abuse and “made them feel dirty at an early stage of their careers.”
The entire article is here.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Episode 23: Ethics and Skills for Psychologist as Supervisor-Post-Doctoral Supervision - Part 3
Podcasts 21, 22, and 23 will provide supervisors and supervisees with an understanding of the skills and ethical issues surrounding supervision, including the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology’s Regulations dealing with postdoctoral supervision. The workshop will review the basic requirements for ethical supervision, common pitfalls, and give supervisors an understanding of the requirements that must be met for obtaining post-doctoral supervision.
In this episode, John's guest is Don McAleer, Psy.D., ABPP, a psychologist and post-doctoral supervisor, and Samuel J. Knapp, Ed.D., ABPP, psychologist and Professional Affairs Officer at the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.
At the end of the podcast series the participants will be able to:
1. Describe essential factors involved in ethically sound and effective supervision;
2. List or identify the State Board of Psychology requirements for post-doctoral supervision.
3. Explain ways to improve supervisee's level of competence, self-reflection, and professionalism; &
4. Identify strategies to comply with the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology regulations on supervision of post-doctoral trainees.
The associated SlideShare presentation can be found here.
In this episode, John's guest is Don McAleer, Psy.D., ABPP, a psychologist and post-doctoral supervisor, and Samuel J. Knapp, Ed.D., ABPP, psychologist and Professional Affairs Officer at the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.
At the end of the podcast series the participants will be able to:
1. Describe essential factors involved in ethically sound and effective supervision;
2. List or identify the State Board of Psychology requirements for post-doctoral supervision.
3. Explain ways to improve supervisee's level of competence, self-reflection, and professionalism; &
4. Identify strategies to comply with the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology regulations on supervision of post-doctoral trainees.
The associated SlideShare presentation can be found here.
Sample Supervision Agreement
Sample Post-doctoral Agreement from Northshore Psychological Associates
Sample Post-doctoral Agreement from Northshore Psychological Associates
Monday, July 20, 2015
Can you teach people to have empathy?
By Roman Krznaric
BBC News
Originally posted June 30, 2015
Empathy is a quality that is integral to most people's lives - and yet the modern world makes it easy to lose sight of the feelings of others. But almost everyone can learn to develop this crucial personality trait, says Roman Krznaric.
Open Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird and one line will jump out at you: "You never really understand another person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
Human beings are naturally primed to embrace this message. According to the latest neuroscience research, 98% of people (the exceptions include those with psychopathic tendencies) have the ability to empathise wired into their brains - an in-built capacity for stepping into the shoes of others and understanding their feelings and perspectives.
The problem is that most don't tap into their full empathic potential in everyday life.
The entire article is here.
BBC News
Originally posted June 30, 2015
Empathy is a quality that is integral to most people's lives - and yet the modern world makes it easy to lose sight of the feelings of others. But almost everyone can learn to develop this crucial personality trait, says Roman Krznaric.
Open Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird and one line will jump out at you: "You never really understand another person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
Human beings are naturally primed to embrace this message. According to the latest neuroscience research, 98% of people (the exceptions include those with psychopathic tendencies) have the ability to empathise wired into their brains - an in-built capacity for stepping into the shoes of others and understanding their feelings and perspectives.
The problem is that most don't tap into their full empathic potential in everyday life.
The entire article is here.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Episode 22: Ethics and Skills for Psychologist as Supervisor-Post-Doctoral Supervision
Podcasts 21, 22, and 23 will provide supervisors and supervisees with an understanding of the skills and ethical issues surrounding supervision, including the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology’s Regulations dealing with postdoctoral supervision. The workshop will review the basic requirements for ethical supervision, common pitfalls, and give supervisors an understanding of the requirements that must be met for obtaining post-doctoral supervision.
In this episode, John's guest is John Jay Mills, Ph.D., ABPP, a psychologist and professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Samuel J. Knapp, Ed.D., ABPP, psychologist and Professional Affairs Officer at the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.
At the end of the podcast series the participants will be able to:
1. Describe essential factors involved in ethically sound and effective supervision;
2. List or identify the State Board of Psychology requirements for post-doctoral supervision.
3. Explain ways to improve supervisee's level of competence, self-reflection, and professionalism; &
4. Identify strategies to comply with the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology regulations on supervision of post-doctoral trainees.
The associated SlideShare presentation can be found here.
The YouTube video can be found here.
PA § 41.33. Supervisor requirements
PA § 41.32. Experience qualifications to become a psychologist
Verification of Post-doctoral Experience from the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology
In this episode, John's guest is John Jay Mills, Ph.D., ABPP, a psychologist and professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Samuel J. Knapp, Ed.D., ABPP, psychologist and Professional Affairs Officer at the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.
At the end of the podcast series the participants will be able to:
1. Describe essential factors involved in ethically sound and effective supervision;
2. List or identify the State Board of Psychology requirements for post-doctoral supervision.
3. Explain ways to improve supervisee's level of competence, self-reflection, and professionalism; &
4. Identify strategies to comply with the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology regulations on supervision of post-doctoral trainees.
The associated SlideShare presentation can be found here.
The YouTube video can be found here.
PA § 41.33. Supervisor requirements
PA § 41.32. Experience qualifications to become a psychologist
Verification of Post-doctoral Experience from the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology
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