James M. Wood

The Rorschach Inkblot Test, Fortune Tellers, and Cold Reading

James M. Wood et al. — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:08:18 PST

Famous clinical psychologists used the Rorschach Inkblot Test to arrive at incredible insights. But were the astounding performances of these Rorschach Wizards merely a variation on astrology and palm reading?

How Do Children Tell: The Disclosure Process in Child Sexual Abuse

April Bradley et al. — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:54:23 PDT

Children's disclosure of sexual abuse has been described as a quasi-developmental process that includes stages of denial, reluctance, disclosure, recantation, and reaffirmation (Sorenson & Snow, 1991, Summit, 1983). It has been reported that nearly 75% of sexual abuse victims initially deny abuse and that nearly 25% eventually recant their allegations (Sorenson & Snow, 1991). The present study examined disclosures in 234 sexual abuse cases validated by Protective Services in El Paso, Texas. Denial of abuse occurred in 6% of cases, and recantation in 4% of cases in which a child had already disclosed abuse. Four of the eight victims who recanted appeared to do so in response to pressure from a caretaker. The Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome described by Smmit (1983) seems to be infrequent among the types of cases seen by child protection agencies. The present findings do not support the view that disclosure is a quasi-developmental process that follows sequential stages.

Understanding and Computing Cohen’s Kappa: A Tutorial.

James M. Wood — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:31:49 PDT

Cohen’s Kappa (Cohen, 1960) is an index of interrater reliability that is commonly used to measure the level of agreement between two sets of dichotomous ratings or scores. This tutorial explains the underlying logic of Kappa and shows why it is superior to simple percentage of agreement as a measure of interrater reliability. Examples demonstrate how to calculate Kappa both by hand and with SPSS.

Three Factors of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach and Their Relationship to Wechsler IQ Scores in an Adolescent Sample

James M. Wood et al. — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:20:53 PST

Principal axis factor analyses of the Rorschach Comprehensive System in a clinical sample of 152 adolescents yielded three clearly defined factors: Synthesized Complexity (defined by Zf, DQ+, and F%), Productivity (defined by R, D, and Dd), and Form Quality (defined by X+%, F+%, and X-%). Variables on the Synthesized Complexity and Form Quality factors were generally correlated with Wechsler Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, and Performance IQ scores. Overall, the factors in this adolescent sample replicated factors identified in earlier studies with adults. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Weighing Evidence in Sexual Abuse Evaluations: An Introduction to Bayes's Theorem

James M. Wood — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 06:14:38 PST

This article introduces readers to Bayes' theorem, a simple mathematical formula that can illuminate general issues and assist evaluators in the field of child sexual abuse. The theorem is applied to a case study of sexual abuse allegations that arose during a custody dispute.

Extracting False StatementsFrom Child Witnesses....Fast!

James M. Wood — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:33:11 PDT

This presentation describes how reinforcement can induce children to make false accusations against adults in less than 5 minutes.

Problems withe norms of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach: Methodological and Conceptual Considerations

James M. Wood et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:44 PDT

In "The Misperception of Psychopathology: Problems with the Norms of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach," we reviewed results from 32 studies and concluded that the norms of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach are inaccurate and tend to make nonpatient Americans appear psychologically disordered. Hnsley and Di Giulio, Widiger, and Aronow all agree that our review uncovered serious problems with the CS norms. However, CS proponents Exner and Meyer disagree. In this reply we address criticisms and express the hope that CS proponents will eventually acknowledge the importance of the research findings and develop more accurate norms.

Suggestive interviewing in the McMartin Preschool and Kelly Michaels daycare abuse cases: A case study

Nadja Schreiber et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:43 PDT

In the 1980s and early 1990s the United States witnessed an outbreak of bizarre "daycare abuse" cases in which groups of young children leveled allegations of sexual and Satanic abuse against their teachers. In the present study, quantitative analyses were performed on interview transcripts from two highly publicized daycare cases (McMartin Preschool and Kelly Michaels) and a Child Protection Service (CPS). Confirming the impression of prior commentators, systematic analyses of 54 interviews indicated that suggestive techniques were much more common in the McMartin and Michaels interviews than in the CPS interviews.

Clinical Assessment

James M. Wood et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:43 PDT

Are clinical psychologists' assessment practices cost-effective? Are they scientifically sound? Are they fair and unbiased? Financial presssures from managed care interests, recent developments in the law, and multicultural issues are forcing the profession to confront these hard questions regarding accountability. Our review discusses the important changes that have begun to alter the field of personality assessment and describes recent research on clinical judgment and its implications for the future. We conclude that clinical psychology can adapt to future conditions by developing assessment strategies that are economical, scientifically sound, and culturally sensitive.

The Misperception of Psychopathology: Problems With the Norms of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach

James M. Wood et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:42 PDT

This article provides evidence from numerous published studies that the norms of Exner's Comprehensive System for the Rorschach are seriously in error for many important variables. Clinicians who use Exner's norms for the Rorschach will be led to erroneously over-diagnose psychopathology in individuals who are not psychologically disturbed.

More Than Suggestion: The Effect of Interviewing Techniques from the McMartin Preschool Case

Sena Garven et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:42 PDT

Child interviewing techniques derived from transcripts of the McMartin Preschool case were found to be substantially more effective than simple suggestive questions at inducing preschool children to make false allegations against a classroom visitor. Thirty-six children interviewed with McMartin techniques made 58% accusations, compared with 17% for 30 children interviewed with suggestive questions. Social influence and reinforcement appeared to be more powerful determinants of children’s answers than simple suggestive questions. The SIRR model is proposed to explain how false statements may be elicited from children or adults. Categories identified in the SIRR model are: Suggestive Questions, Social Influence, Reinforcement, and Removal From Direct Experience.

What's Right With the Rorschach?

James M. Wood et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:41 PDT

In the present article, we discuss the validity and clinical utility of the Rorschach as a measure of intelligence, thought disorder, and other psychological characteristics. We also summarize potential uses of the test in research and psychotherapy. Controversy has surrounded the Rorschach throughout most of its history, not because it is worthless, but because it has so often been used for the wrong purposes.

Effective use of projective techniques in clinical practice: Let the data help with selection and interpretation

Howard N. Garb et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:41 PDT

By learning about the validity of individual test scores, psychologists can avoid using scores that are invalid and making judgments that are potentially harmful to their clients. This is important not only for improving clinical and forensic practice but also for avoiding lawsuits. In this article, the effective use of projective techniques is described, with attention to the overperception of psychopathology, diagnosis and the description of symptoms, and the detection of child abuse. Guidelines are offered for using the Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test, human figure drawings, and the Washington University Sentence Completion Test.

The Controversy Over Exner's Comprehensive System for the Rorschach: The Critics Speak

James M. Wood — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:40 PDT

The present article provides an update on the ongoing 10-year controversy concerning Exner's Comprehensive System for the Rorschach. The main problems with the Comprehensive System (CS) are identified as follows: (1) It tends to "overpathologize," by making most normal adults and children appear psychologically disturbed; (2) Some scores of the CS are related to thought disorder and psychotic thinking; However, most scores are unrelated to the phenomena that the supposedly measure; (3) About 25% of the scores in the Comprehensive System cannot be scored at a level of interrater reliability that meets professional standards for tests used in clinical and forensic settings. A recent White Paper by Irving Weiner and other members of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Personality Assessment is critiqued. The White Paper fails to acknowledge the serious problems of the Comprehensive System and instead promotes the mistaken view that the Comprehensive System is as valid as medical tests such as mammograms and sonograms. The Rorschach will continue to be held in poor regard among many scientifically oriented psychologists so long as the serious problems with the test are disregarded.

Problems of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach in Forensic Settings: Recent Developments

James M. Wood et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:40 PDT

The Comprehensive System for the Rorschach is currently the subject of heated controversy among psychologists. Much "common knowledge" about the test is either incorrect or in dispute. Psychologists who use the Rorschach in forensic settings can often be successfully challenged by well-informed attorneys and may risk becoming the subject of ethics complaints. This article identifies seven issues that are particularly relevant to use of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach in forensic psychology.

How Sexual Abuse Interviews Go Astray: Implications for Prosecutors, Police, and Child Protection Services

James M. Wood et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:40 PDT

This article argues that child sexual abuse interviews can go astray in two different ways: (a) improper interviewing has the potential to elicit false allegations from children, and (b) clumsy interviewing does not typically produce false allegations, but may have other negative consequences, particularly for child victims. The article clarifies the distinction between the two kinds of bad interviewing and suggests that clumsy interviewing is the more common of the two. The potential negative consequences of both improper and clumsy interviewing are described, along with implications for prosecutors, police, and child protection services. In the authors' opinion, improper interviewing can probably be eliminated rather easily, but clumsy interviewing may be considerably more resistant to change.

Can Reinforcement Induce Children to Falsely Incriminate Themselves?

F. James Billings et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:39 PDT

This study examined whether reinforcement can induce children to falsely incriminate themselves. Ninety-nine children in kindergarten through third grade were questioned regarding the staged theft of a toy. Half received reinforcement for self-incriminating responses. Within 4 minutes reinforced children made 52% false admissions of guilty knowledge concerning the theft, and 43% false admissions of having witnessed it. Corresponding figures for controls were 36% and 25%. Twelve percent of children admitted to participating in the theft, but the effect of reinforcement was only marginally significant. The findings suggest that reinforcement can sometimes induce children to falsely implicate themselves in wrongdoing.

Roots of the Rorschach Controversy

Howard N. Garb et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:39 PDT

The controversy surrounding the Rorschach is updated, and an analysis of its dynamics is offered. Results on normative data and validity are reviewed, followed by a summary of, and rebuttal to, arguments made by Rorschach advocates. We argue that the current controversy can be traced, at least in part, to two unwarranted beliefs. First is the belief that informal impressions and popularity provide dependeable evidence for evaluating test validity. Second is the belief that Rorschach scores with low individual validity are likely to yield much higher levels of validity if they are interpreted in combination with each other, or with other sources of information, by experts. After presenting historical background information, we show how several arguments made recently in defense of the test reflect these two beliefs, even though they are contradicted by research findings. We conclude that a variety of other divisive conflicts in clinical psychology are related to the inappropriate weight placed on informal and unsystematic impressions relative to systematic research.

What's wrong with this picture? (critique of projective tests)

Scott O. Lilienfeld et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:39 PDT

Psychologists often use the famous Rorschach Inkblot Test and related tools to assess personality and mental illness. But research shows that these instruments are frequently ineffective for those purposes.

The Effects of Reinforcement on Children's Mundane and Fantastic Claims

Sena Garven et al. — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:17:38 PDT

Garven, Wood, Malpass, & Shaw (1998) found that interviewing techniques from the McMartin Preschool case can induce preschool children to make false allegations of wrongdoing against a classroom visitor. In the present follow-up study, two specific components of the McMartin interviews, reinforcement and cowitness information, were examined more closely in interviews of 120 children, ages 5 to 7. Children who received reinforcement made 35% false allegations against a classroom visitor, compared to 12% of controls (p < .001). When questioned about "fantastic" events (e.g. being taken from school in a helicopter) children receiving reinforcement made 52% false allegations, compared to 5% for controls (p < .001). In a second interview, children repeated the allegations even when reinforcement had been discontinued. The findings indicate that reinforcement can swiftly induce children to make false and persistent allegations of wrongdoing.