In his commentary on our previously published article "Readability of Self-Report Measures of Depression and Anxiety," J. Schinka (2012) argued for the importance of considering readability of patient materials and highlighted limitations of existing methodologies for this assessment. Schinka's commentary articulately described the weaknesses of…

Psychological assessment, a subspecialty of psychology has served as one of the earliest proving grounds of automated technology. This Special Series highlights some of the advances in computerized psychological assessment methods and discusses some of the lingering issues and contemporary problems with automated psychological assessment…

Reviews research on two measures of transference: Q-sort questionnaire measures and psychotherapy process measures. Q-sort, although reliable, lacks validity information. Psychotherapy process measures have reliability and validity. Considerable comparability was found between process measures and operationalized propositions from Freud's…

Responds to an article questioning the construct validity of the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Suggests that social desirability should not be invoked as a potential confound unless the obtained covariation is theoretically inconsistent or is so overlapping as to make the respective scales redundant with respect to factorial content. (Author/RC)

States that the correlation between social desirability (SD) and hopelessness is open to several interpretations, but, in the absence of further data, concern for false-negative rates dictates caution in interpreting hopelessness scores when assessing suicidal behavior. Presents data on the relationship of SD, hopelessness, and prediction of…

Analyzes and critiques an attempted application of cognitive dissonance and reactance concepts to a therapy analogue. An experiment by R. M. Gordon is discussed. Key prerequisites for dissonance arousal and for reactance induction were not present. Self-selection of volunteers for treatment is an unreported factor. Gordon replies to this critique.…

Comments are offered on a recent article by Leonard on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) as a suicide predictor. Her appraisal of former studies and her consideration of the differences among individuals with different suicidal behaviors are critically evaluated. A response from Leonard follows. (Author/BEF)

Reviews several scales used to evaluate competency of psychotherapists. Discusses concerns about interrater reliability and predictive validity of scales. Considers competency a state-like variable, with therapists demonstrating higher competence when they skillfully treat patients across range of difficulty levels. Contends that development of…