An Airport Director’s Perspective on Disaster Planning and Mental Health NeedsAnderson, Timothy
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.43.9.721pmid: N/A
The Director of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport describes the responsibilities of major airports in disaster planning and response, including mental health needs. He discusses the impact of changes in the industry on airports’ disaster plans, relevant Federal Aviation Administration regulations, and typical features of airport disaster plans. The need for psychological services is underscored by experiences in several recent crashes. Psychologists and other mental health professionals are urged to respond to airport directors’ requests for assistance in planning, as well as to be more proactive in communities where these issues have yet to be addressed by airport management.
The Nature–Nurture Debate, Aptitudes, and Group DifferencesAngoff, William H.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.43.9.713pmid: N/A
The thesis of this article is that the debate over whether intelligence is largely genetically or largely environmentally determined is actually irrelevant in the context of group differences. The real issue is whether intelligence can be changed, an issue that does not at all go hand in hand with the issue of heritability. Many inherited characteristics are changeable, and conversely, many environmentally acquired characteristics are extremely resistant to change. The political nature of this dispute has had serious consequences in the attitudes of psychologists toward important and useful constructs like academic aptitude, which seems in some quarters to have been rejected because of its partially hereditary character and its presumed imperviousness to change. However, several studies have shown that under appropriate conditions aptitude and intelligence can and do change. These studies have important implications for the future performance of minorities in this society.
The Relevance and Irrelevance of Psychological ResearchRuback, R. Barry; Innes, Christopher A.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.43.9.683pmid: N/A
Psychologists have argued that their studies of prison crowding are useful to policymakers, whereas policymakers have dismissed many of those same studies. In part, this perceived irrelevance is a product of the emphasis in psychology on the individual rather than on larger units of analysis. However, it also stems from biases, methodological and political, that psychologists are likely to bring to research in corrections. In this article, we explore how the different perspectives of researchers and practitioners affect the conduct of research and its impact on policy. In addition, we present data that raise questions about the impact of prison crowding on illness, suicide, and death rates. We conclude with suggestions for making psychological research on prison crowding more policy relevant.
The Neglected Entity in Air Disaster PlanningButcher, James N.; Hatcher, Chris
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.43.9.724pmid: N/A
Psychological services for air disaster victims have been neglected in past airport and airline crash response programs. This article explores the psychological impact of air disasters on passengers and airline employees, highlighting the victims’ emotional needs following a crash. Organizational efforts that have been implemented to address human problems resulting from air crashes are surveyed. The paucity of specific governmental and corporate initiatives to provide psychological aid to human survivors of air crashes is cited. Issues related to the development of volunteer crisis intervention services for airports are discussed.
Pessimistic Explanatory Style in the Historical RecordZullow, Harold M.; Oettingen, Gabriele; Peterson, Christopher; Seligman, Martin E. P.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.43.9.673pmid: N/A
The habitual way people explain causes (explanatory style) as assessed by questionnaire has been used to predict depression, achievement, and health, with a pessimistic style predicting poor outcomes. Because some individuals whose behavior is of interest cannot take questionnaires, their explanatory style can be assessed by blind, reliable content analysis of verbatim explanations (CAVE) from the historical record. We discuss three examples of CAVing archival material. First, shifts to a more optimistic style in Lyndon Johnson’s press conferences predicted bold, risky action during the Vietnam War, whereas shifts to pessimism predicted passivity. Second, analyses of presidential candidates’ nomination acceptance speeches from 1948 to 1984 showed that candidates who were more pessimistically ruminative lost 9 of the 10 elections. Third, explanatory style and its relation to depressive signs was considered at a societal level. There were more behavioral signs consistent with depression among workmen in East Berlin than in West Berlin bars. This finding corresponded to a comparatively more pessimistic explanatory style in East Berlin newspaper reports concerning the 1984 Winter Olympics. We suggest that pessimism and its consequences can be quantified and compared, not only in contemporary individuals but also across time and culture.