Biomedical subjects

Richard H Dana

Publications and source records attributed to Richard H Dana.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Methodological issues in cross-cultural and multicultural rorschach research.

Hermann Rorschach researched the utility of his inkblot experiment to understand psychopathology and cultural differences. Contemporary research with the Rorschach has evaluated its utility as a test, although it may more properly represent a clinical method with somewhat different evaluation criteria. Recent controversy regarding the adequacy of the Rorschach as a test and the adequacy of its normative data has at times distorted and oversimplified important methodological issues inherent in the study of cultural difference. Cultural processes remain a central and inadequately examined variable in Rorschach research; an important emergent area of inquiry is the Rorschach's clinical utility as a cross-cultural assessment instrument. We review multicultural and cross-cultural methodological issues intrinsic to contemporary Rorschach research here. Consideration of cultural issues enlarges and enriches the Rorschach clinical utility debate and suggests underexplored research strategies that can contribute to its resolution.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗

PubMed2004

A report on myself: the science and/or art of assessment.

Disregarding my empirically documented warnings to generations of students, I am ultimately succumbing to my own eisegesis. In this article, I proffer a personal exemplar of low- and high-inference interpretation of significant persons, events, and products during my professional lifetime. These selected bits of data are contained in childhood and educational experiences, three chronological periods, three 1949 Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) stories, and bits of several poems. These data coalesce in an interpretive statement, analogous to an assessment report but ultimately something more and something less than an optimal report. As an interpretive schema, a hierarchal model of clinical inference illustrates and exemplifies employment of distinct levels to increase the reliability of high-inference interpretation. While inadequately equipped as a psychologist assessor for such self-scrutiny, this narrative may provide a case history exemplar of a process that has relevance for myself, for the Society of Personality Assessment, and for understanding personality within a human science aegis.

History, 20th Century↗

PubMed2003

Racial identity and the MMPI in African American male college students.

The relation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to the Racial Identity Attitude Scale--Black, Short Form (RIAS-B) was examined among 50 African American male college students in a reanalysis of unpublished MMPI data described in R. H. Dana (1993). This permitted study of relationships between MMPI scores and specific psychological variables hypothesized to produce cultural differences among African Americans. Results indicated RIAS-B scale scores functioned as predictors of MMPI scale scores. Similar research with the MMPI-2 incorporating larger samples that more adequately represent African American heterogeneity is needed. Methodological implications of these findings for MMPI-2 research with ethnic and racial groups are discussed, emphasizing the importance of research to depathologize African American racial and cultural identity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

A teaching method for multicultural assessment: psychological report contents and cultural competence.

An earlier training model emphasized systematic feedback on accuracy of concepts contained in student assessment reports prepared with common data sets from standard tests. This feedback resulted in consistent increments in concept agreements between reports prepared by students and more experienced assessors. This model was applied in courses with multicultural students by contrasting standard and multicultural assessment and using data sets from multicultural assessees. These students experienced greater difficulty in demonstrating consistent increments of agreement in report concepts due to uneven knowledge of specific cultures, inapplicability of available norms, and interpretation issues. The effectiveness of combining standard and multicultural training should be compared with conventional standard training followed by culturally focused specialized assessment courses.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Mental health services for African Americans: a cultural/racial perspective.

African Americans have made consistent progress toward first-class citizenship since 1965. Nonetheless, mental health services for this population have been biased, incomplete, and deficient because similarities to European Americans have been emphasized whereas differences were largely ignored. This article addresses some differences, including cultural/racial identity and the cultural self, that affect assessment, psychiatric diagnoses, and psychotherapy or other interventions. An assessment-intervention model illustrates how cultural information can inform service delivery and improve services to African Americans. Cultural/racial perspectives on mental health in a multicultural society suggest innovations in the design of these services and access to them that can increase utilization by African Americans.

Black or African American↗