IAAP, Newsletter

International Association of Applied Psychology

Volume 9, Issue 1, April 1997

Editorial M. Erez

IAAP Electronic Communication, J.M. Prieto

Crucial issues in the field of:

Division of Health Psychology B. Oldenburg

Anatomy of Self-Reports R. Fernández-Ballesteros

New Books:

Divisional News:

Division of Organizational Psychology by H.P. Dachler

Division of Psychological Assessment & Evaluation E. Diamond

Division of Health Psychology B. Oldenburg

Division of Political Psychology by K. Boehnke

International Test Commission

Two years have already passed since I became the editor of the IAAP Newsletter. Duringthese years I learned a lot about the activities of the IAAP and about the members of theAssociation. It was exciting to communicate with many of you, and to get the sense of belongingto a large community of psychologists around the world.

The new column that I introduced, Crucial issues in the field of, has opened up a windowto the hot topics in various fields of psychology. I would like to thank all the Division Presidentsthat have already contributed to this column:

• P.H. Dachler (Organizational. Psychology.),
• R. Fernández-Ballesteros (Psychological. Assesment.),
• V. del Barrio (Clinical.& Community.Psychology.),
• G. Salomon (Educational, Instructional & School Psychology.),
• G.W. Evans (Environmental. Psychology.) ,
• B. Oldenburg (Health Psychology.).

• A. Avila & A. Giménez de la Peña,
• M.D. Avia & M.L. Sanchez-Bernardos,
• K. Boehnke with H. Merkens & S. Rippl,
• V. del Barrio, R. Fernández-Ballesteros,
• Y. Neria & Z. Solomon.

I am very pleased to announce that the next Newsletter Editor is going to be Dr. IngridLunt. Dr. Lunt is Reader in Educational Psychology at London University Institute of Educationwhere she directs the Centre for Professional Educational Psychology. She is currently Presidentof the European Federation of Professional Psychologists Association (EFPPA) and edits itsNewsletter. Please send all future correspondence to

Professor Lunt: Psychology and SpecialNeeds Group, Institute of Education, University of London, 25 Woburn Square, London WC1H0AA. Tel: +44 171 612 6281; Fax: +44 171 612 6304;
I.LUNT@ioe.ac.uk

It was a pleasure serving you as the Newsletter Editor. I am going to continue my serviceto the Association as the next Editor of Applied Psychology: An International Review.

President's Letter by Bernhard Wilpert

The IAAP executive committee has recommended that the 2002 International Congressof Applied Psychology will be convened in Singapore in the 2nd and 3rd week of July. Thecommittee members were impressed with the dedication and commitment of the Singaporegroup of psychologists, under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Nair, past-president of theSingapore Psychological Association. The site visitors were greatly impressed with Singapore'shotel and convention facilities. The officers are convinced that it will be possible to hold anoutstanding Congress in Singapore in 2002.

Secretary-General's Report by Mike Knowles

I am pleased to report on a number of important developments leading up to and resultingfrom the most recent meeting of IAAP's Executive Committee which was held at the time of the26th ICP in Montreal. The highlights of these developments include

• the 1996 1+1 Recruiting Drive,
• 1997 Regional of Psychology,
• Congress Participation from Developing Countries,
• Sliding Scale for the payment of Membership Dues,
• Elections to the Executive Committee.
• Affiliate Internatinal Organizations,
• Call for Assistance

It is a delight to acknowledge the success of the 1+1 Recruiting Drive whereby IAAPMembers were asked to help in recruiting at least one new member to the Association. Theachievements of this initiative has been outstanding and has resulted in more members beingrecruited in 1996 than in any other corresponding year in IAAP's long and distinguished history. The Executive Committee wishes to express its gratitude to all those who helped in such animportant effort affecting the Association's viability and future.

In this connection it is also pleasing to report the appointment of James Georgas as Chairof the newly formed Standing Committee on Recruiting. As a result an IAAP booth was set up at the Montreal Congress and this again resulted in a large number of new members applying for membership.

Professor Georgas is keen to keep up the momentum of these successes and, in theOctober 1996 edition of the Newsletter, he appealed for continuing help from all IAAP membersby providing a list of benefits which you may find useful in attracting the interest of prospectivemembers.

1997 Regional Conference of Psychology for Professionals in the Americas, México

As mentioned previously in the Newsletter, IAAP and the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) have created a joint venture to plan Regional Conferences ofPsychology with each body having alternating primary responsibility for organizing suchConferences. IUPsyS organized the first Asia-Pacific Conference of Psychology which was heldin Guangzhou in 1995 and this made an invaluable contribution to the development ofpsychology in China and its neighbouring countries.

Similarly, IAAP now has primary responsibility for organizing the first Regional Conference of Psychology in Latin America. This will be held in Mexico from 27 July - 2August 1997 and will be organized by Susan Pick. The Organizing Committee and ScientificProgram Committee have been active and all IAAP Divisional Presidents have been asked tohelp develop the Scientific Program which will be built around IAAP's 13 Divisions. TheProgram will include workshops, invited addresses, symposia, thematic sessions and posterinteractive sessions.

Congress Participation from Developing Countries

Another relative recent IAAP project has been the Action 100 initiative which waslaunched to increase IAAP membership from countries with developing economies. One of themain ways of doing this was to waive the annual membership dues for an initial period of threeyears.

In this context, a further major step forward occurred at the recent Executive Committeemeeting in which it was decided that, in budgeting for future Congresses, 7.5 per cent of theCongress budget will be reserved to promote participation of psychologists from countries withlow income economies. This will be used to lower the Congress fees of participants.

Sliding Scale for the Payment of Membership Dues

A further innovation decided upon in Montral was the adoption of a sliding scale toapply to the way membership dues are calculated. This is an honour system whereby memberscalculate their own membership fee according to their self-assessed gross annual income. This isyet another way in which IAAP is adjusting its activities and operations in order to cater for itsmembers varying capacities to pay.

Elections to the Executive Committee

It is also a pleasure to announce that the following have been elected to the Executive Committee:

• Helio Carpintero (Spain),
• Frances Culbertson (USA),
• Jitendra Mohan (India),
• BameNsamenang (Cameroon)
• Euclides Sanchez (Venezuela)

Affiliate International Organization Membership Drive

In addition to the 1+1 membership drive, mentioned above, IAAP has also been active inlaunching a second membership initiative involving other international psychologicalassociations. Here the aim has been to expand the membership base of our Association toinclude other international associations which share common interests with IAAP. Byexchanging information initially and then progressing to holding meetings and undertaking jointprojects, the spheres of influence of all affiliated organizations will be considerably broadenedand each will become aware of each others diverse range of activities.

IAAP President Bernhard Wilpert has been successful in the past year, supported by othermembers of the Executive Committee, in inviting the following to become foundation members:

• International Ergonomics Association (IEA),
• International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS),
• International Association for the Psychology of Food and Nutrition (IAPFoN),
• International Academy of Family Psychology (IAFP),
• International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP),
• International Society for Health Psychology (ISHP),
• International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD),
• International Society for Political Psychology (ISPP),
• Society for Stress and Anxiety Research (STAR),
• International School Psychology Association (ISPA),
• International Council of Psychologists (ICP),
• International Test Commission (ITC)

IAAP and the International Union of Psychological Science could serve as facilitators ofsuch a forum which would always meet on the occasion of their respective Congresses. IAAPwill organize the first of the fora at the next 24th International Congress of Applied Psychologyin San Francisco in 1998, collect addresses, offer invitations to the meeting, and generallyprovide administrative services.

Call for Assistance

The enigma in all this is that no-one seems to know how many internationalpsychological associations exist, and thus this is an appeal for assistance to all IAAP members. If you belong to an international psychological association, I should be grateful if you wouldwrite to me providing me with the name and address or contact numbers of that association. Inthis way, we may be able to attract new members and thus enhance the role of AffiliateInternational Organizations in IAAP's program of activities. My own address is:

M.C. Knowles,Monash Mt Eliza Business School, PO Box 2224, Caulfield Junction, Victoria, Australia.
mike.knowles@buseco.monash.edu.au

Prevention of disease and promotion of global health: The role and contribution to bemade by health psychologists.

Over recent years there has been tremendous growth and development in the related fieldsof health psychology and behavioural medicine; a growth matched by that in the other relatedfields of public health and health promotion. This growth is not only reflected in the number ofjournals which publish scientific papers in the area of health psychology, and as a consequencethe number of articles being published each year, but also in the number of scientific conferencesand other meetings which pursue topics related to this area.

For the majority of professionals trained in psychology, clinical psychology in particular,the focus remains primarily on the well-being and adjustment of individuals or small groups.However, health psychology is distinguished from most other fields of psychology by the overtexpectation that the research and work in this field will contribute to improving the health of notonly individuals, but also, health outcomes at a population level. The widespread application ofpsychological methods, theories and intervention strategies has a very important contribution tomake to the major health problems facing both developed and developing countries.

An overview of the world's major health challenges

There has been a very marked change in patterns of disease in developed countries overthe past 100 years. There has been a steady decline in the proportion of deaths due tocommunicable and infectious diseases (such as tuberculosis, smallpox and cholera) and amarked increase during the second half of this century in chronic diseases such as cardiovasculardisease, a variety of cancers and diabetes, accidents and injuries, and suicide as the major causesof death. Analysis of those diseases causing years of life lost up to 65 years, however, revealsthat while cardiovascular disease and cancer cause the most deaths overall, accidents andinjuries, and more recently, the communicable disease, AIDS, make a substantial contribution tothe loss of years of life because they predominantly affect younger people (Oldenburg, 1994).These changing patterns of disease notwithstanding, most developed countries have alsoexperienced a significant decrease in all-cause mortality, a significant portion of which can beattributed to effective public health and preventive strategies.

The picture of health challenges in the developing world is more complex. In its most recent World Health Report, published in 1996, the World Health Organisation notes thatinfectious disease remains the world's leading cause of premature death. Of an estimated 52million deaths from all causes in 1995, more than 17 million were due to infectious diseasesg10,including about 9 million deaths in young children. This same report has estimated that almosthalf the world's population of 5.72 billion are at risk of many endemic diseases, includingrespiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, measles and so on.This picture is contrary to the situation of only a few years ago, where a number of these communicable and infectious diseases were close to being under control.

For the year 1990, one death in every three was due to a communicable, maternal,perinatal or nutritional disease, with virtually all of these occurring in developing countries.However, just over a half of all deaths in the world are from non-communicable diseases. Sowhile, communicable diseases remain a very significant problem in developing countries,non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancers are increasing in importance.Indeed, only in India and Sub-Saharan Africa do communicable diseases still dominate,accounting for 51 per cent and 65 percent of deaths respectively (World Health Report, 1996).This same report has estimated that by the year 2020, non-communicable diseases will accountfor seven out of every ten deaths in developing countries, compared with less than half today.

Complicating the picture of the world's health are a number of emerging diseases whoseincidence in humans has increased in recent times. The most dramatic example of a new diseaseis AIDS, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the existence of which wasunknown until the1980's. It has been estimated that over 25 million people will be living withHIV/AIDS by the year 2000.

The contribution of social, behavioural and environmental factors to health

At a global level, there are a multitude of factors which explain changing patterns ofmorbidity and mortality, and the spread of some diseases between regions. Some of these arerelated to population growth and others to changes in the local and global environment and socialpatterns. With therapid increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in developingcountries, it is clear that such diseases are not correctly identified as diseases of affluence. In fact,premature mortality rates from non-communicable diseases are higher in populations with highmortality and low income than in the industrialised countries (Murray and Lopez, 1996).

This complex and challenging picture of global health notwithstanding, there is now avery impressive amount of epidemiological evidence collected over the past 40 years which hasidentified many of the important determinants and risk factors for chronic diseases such as cancerand cardiovascular disease. Some of the landmark epidemiological studies and their link with alot of the ensuing social and behavioral epidemiologic research and the emerging field of healthpromotion, have been summarised previously (Oldenburg, 1994).

In the United States, McGinnis and Foege (1993) assessed the relative contributions ofvarious factors to mortality and morbidity for the year 1990. While the main causes of deathwere those mentioned previously (that is, cardiovascular disease, cancer, accidents and so on),approximately half of the deaths could be attributed to behavioural factors: in particular smoking,diet/activity patterns and alcohol use. Although difficult to isolate in this study, socio-economicstatus and access to medical care were also identified as important contributors to causes of deathand of course these factors are closely linked to behavioural choices. "Behaviour change is motivated not by knowledge alone, but also by a supportive social environment and theavailability of facilitative services" (McGinnis and Foege, 1993:2211)

With the development, implementation and evaluation of a series of majorcommunity-based cardiovascular prevention trials during the 1970's and 1980's, widespread usewas made for the first time of a variety of strategies well-informed by psychological and socialscience research. These strategies, however, did not focus exclusively on change in the individual(Puska, Nissinen, Tuomilehto, et. al., 1985; Farquhar and Maccoby, 1977), rather, preventivestrategies were directed at the media, legislation and use of restrictive policies, and theinvolvement of key settings such as schools, the workplace, health care settings and other keygroups in the community.

However, as Stokols (1992) has noted there still remains a tendency for the majority oflifestyle change programs directed at disease prevention and/or health promotion to focusprimarily on change within individuals rather than the broader environment.

This is rather at odds with the increasing body of research which has not onlydemonstrated the significance of broader social and environmental factors in health, but whichhas illustrated the value of environmental interventions (Stokols, 1992).

Moreover, for most of those diseases and conditions which are the major causes ofmorbidity and mortality in developed and developing countries alike, there is a body of evidencedemonstrating the importance played by behavioural, psychosocial and environmental factors.

Health psychology clearly has a very important role to play, not only in conductingresearch which identifies the linkages between particular behaviours and health outcomes, butalso in the conduct of interventions which can make a significant contribution to the health ofwhole communities.

The individual versus the population focus

The previous section has illustrated the potential for a much more significant role to beplayed by health psychologists in developing, implementing and researching strategies whichmight positively impact on the health of large numbers of individuals and whole populations andto consider how lifestyle change can best be promoted within the wider community as aprecursor to preventing disease and promoting health. This challenge requires the identificationand development of lifestyle change strategies which can be implemented and used effectivelywithin a variety of health care and other settings in the community. Implicit in this redefining ofthe nature of lifestyle change, is a shift away from viewing lifestyle change from a purely clinicalperspective, towards that of a more public health orientation. Within this broader orientation,intervening with individuals becomes only one part of a more all encompassing andcomprehensive population-based approach.

To propose a public health approach to health issues like smoking and nutrition and diet,is not to argue that more clinical approaches are necessarily irrelevant or ineffective, but rather torecognise their significant limitations. In fact, there have been some attempts to develop highlyintegrated approaches to preventive care, which while using an overarching public healthapproach, focus on delivering tailored programs to target individuals according to their readinessto. Such approaches to the prevention and delivery of preventive care are receiving significant impetus from the rapid transition of health care delivery in many developed countries, such asmanaged care, in the United States.

In his book, The Strategy of Preventive Medicine (1992), Geoffrey Rose provides anexcellent discussion of the relative strengths and weakness of what he calls the high risk vs thepopulation strategy of prevention. Most important in this regard are some of the implications ofwidespread change at a population level: "moderate and achievable change by the population asproblems" (Rose, 1992:68 ).

References

Farquhar, J.W., and Maccoby, N. (1977). Community education for cardiovascularhealth. Lancet, 1, 192 - 195.

McGinnis, J.M., and Foege, W.H. (1993). Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA, 270(18): 2207 - 2212.

Murray, C.J.L., and Lopez, A.D. (1996). The Global Burden of Disease. Harvard Schoolof Public Health, World Health Organisation, and The World Bank.

Oldenburg, B.(1994). Promotion of a Health: Integrating the clinical and public healthapproaches. International Review of Health Psychology, 3: 15-20.

Puska, P., Nissinen, A., Tuomilehto, J., et., al. (1985). The community based strategy toprevent coronary heart disease: conclusions from the ten years of the North Karelia Project.Annual Review of Public Health, 6, 147 -193.

Rose, G. (1992). The Strategy of Preventive Medicine. Oxford University Press.

Sallis, J.F., & Nader, P.R. (1988). Family determinants of health behaviors. In:Gochman, D.S. (ed). Health Behavior: Emerging Research Perspectives. (pp107-119). NewYork: Plennum Press.

Stokols D. (1992). Establishing and maintaining healthy environments: towards asocialecology of health promotion. Am. Psychol. 47; 6-22.

World Health Organisation (1996). World Health Report: Fighting disease, fostering development. World Wide Web.

In Translation: Selections from non-English language journals

Synthesis:

Nowadays, self-reports are the most widely used procedures for information-collection inPsychological Assessment. Hence, proofs are presented that self-report has been introduced as amethod in many diverse areas, such as experimental psychology, developmental psychology,social psychology, personality and emotion, memory and learning. These self-reports have beenintroduced without this sort of procedure has been studied in itself from the viewpoint of thedistinct basic areas of psychology.

A preliminary analysis of self-reports leads us to conclude that they constitute aheterogeneous domain of which it would be impossible to speak as a unit. Moreover, self-reportscan include an assessment of practically all of the psychological activity of a subject includinghis/her motor, physiological, and cognitive behavior. Based on the above, we will attempt toanalyze what the fundamentally differentiating relevant dimensions are, which would permit us,at a future date, to carry out a classification of those self-reports according to their operativedescription and according to the organization of the research domain.

Accordingly, in the first place, we analyzed the contrastability of the event beingreported, emphasizing that those self-reports which refer to internal events which are notamplifiable through electronic or mechanical instruments, pose a methodological problem. Secondly, based on Ericcson and Simon's (1984) model, the transformation required by thereported event, depending on distinct levels - from the isomorphism between interior languageand its external verbal expression to the transformations which require information codified inthe past and which call for elaborations not yet carried out - are examined. Thirdly, the degree towhich the information solicited is accessible brings us to conclude that, under no circumstance, should we request a self-report soliciting unattended information or about automatic behaviors. The time at which an event being reported upon occurred appears to be a basic dimension aswell; in this case self-reports would be recommended on concurrent internal (cognitive oremotional) events. Self-reports respond to concrete questions and become an important sourceof information for this type of report. Lastly, a self-report is frequently used by psychologists asan indicator of the existence of a specific internal attribute and, therefore, a final source ofvariance in self-reports is the level of inference which psychologists use, based on what subjects have expressed.

Since, in the last instance the self-report is a measurement procedure, an attempt has beenmade to carry out a methodological evaluation, establishing five types of self-reports (based onthe contrastability of the information supplied and the level of inference used) in order to judgethe difficulty of testing their degree of reliability. Finally, a series or recommendations are givento optimize the scientific guarantees of self-reports.

Alejandro Avila & Almudena Giménez de la Peña: Adjectives in Psychological AssessmetTasks: Instruments and Applications in the Psychology of Emotion and Personality's,Evaluación Psicológica (Psychological Assessment), 1991, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 307-331.

In this paper the characteristics and properties of the instruments of psychologicalassessment which use adjectives as a stimulus are reviewed and methodological propositions forthe design of new adjective checklists are formulated. Three types of instruments are considered:

• Checklists for the self-description of the subject (Multi-dimensional; Single PolarOne-Dimensional Adjectives; Bi-Polar One-Dimensional Adjectives);
• Checklists for the hetero-description (interpersonal description)
• Checklist for Environmental description.

Snyder has stated that differences in overt behavior typical of high and low self-monitors could be related to cognitive factors. The aim of this study was to take a first steptoward the exploration of this relationship. Differences between high/low self-monitors in theInterpersonal Discrimination Task (IDT: Carr 1980), as well as differences in the content and inthe discrepancy among several self-concept measures, were explored. In the same vein, sevenblind judges analyzed the descriptive categories self-generated by subjects in the IDT in order toobtain a qualitative depiction of low and high self-monitors. Additionally, the relational patternof self-monitoring with anxiety and depression was taken into account. Results confirm onlypartially Snyder's hypotheses.s Implications for the conceptualization of self-monitoring incognitive terms are discussed.

New Books

Earley, P.C. & Erez, M. (1997), The Transplanted Executive - Why You Need toUnderstand How Workers in Other Countries See the World Differently. NY: OxfordUniversity Press.

This compact volume includes highly useful information and perspectives for any manager anticipating or involved in international assignments outside of their own country. Thediscussions and guidelines are based on solid research findings, not mere speculation. Theauthors' framework for analyzing cultures provides particularly helpful insights for the expatriateexecutive who has to deal with issues of motivation, communication, team formation, and thelike. (L.W. Porter, University of California).

Division of Organizational Psychology by Peter Dachler

A website of the Organizational Psychology Division of the International Association ofApplied Psychology was established by Filip Lievens from the University of Ghent . Thepurpose of this home page of the Organizational Psychology Division is to generate easy accessto a wide variety of information about the Division, its membership and services. A plethora oflinks to a several related web domains are also listed. This purpose is reflected is the six mainsections presented at the homepage:

• (1) latest news,
• (2) general information about Division I,
• (3) activities of Division I,
• (4) membership information,
• (5) communication and (6) outside links.

Division of Psychological Assessment & Evaluation by Esther Diamond

Announcement by R. Fernández-Ballesteros - President 2nd EAPA-AWARD forDistinguished Scientific or Professional Contribution to Psychological Assessment.

The Second European Association of Psychological Assessment (EAPA) Award endowedwith 800 ECUs, will be presented to a young European psychologist who, in the opinion of theEAPA Award Committee, has made distinguished contributions to psychological assessment as ascience or as a profession. The Award winner will be invited to present an address on somephase or facet of his or her work at the 4th EAPA-Conference in Lisbon.

The Award will be given to a psychologist under 40 years of age. Self-nomination, aswell as nomination by others, is possible and have to include, apart from a short statement ofreasons, a curriculum vitae and the list of publications of the nominee. Nominations may bedirected, until the end of May 1997, to the Award Chair:

24th International Congress of Applied Psychology

Division 2 plans for participation in the 24th International Congress of AppliedPsychology (San Francisco, USA, 1998) are well under way. With approximately 1800 membersfrom more than 70 countries or nations, the Congress should provide an excellent opportunity forreviewing oneÕs knowledge, acquiring new information and ideas, and enjoying the collegialityof old and new friends. Peter Merenda, one of three Division 2 Scientific Program co-chairs,reports that Dr. Samuel Messick of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ, will deliverthe keynote address.

The co-chairs have also selected 12 invited speakers, 7 symposia convenors, and 2pre-Congress workshops. A seventh symposium, to be cosponsored by Division 2 and theGeneral Division, is also included. Division 2 President Ballesteros will give the Presidentialaddress. Countries represented so far in the Division 2 program are the USA, the Netherlands,Spain, India, Italy, and Portugal. Submissions will fill 33-36 hours, and 99-108 oral presentationsof papers can be accommodated. A sampling of the topics to be covered include

• cross-cultural/multicultural assessment,
• meta-analysis in Evaluation Research,
• Measurement of Interests Across Cultures,
• Adaptation of Multicultural Assessment Instruments,
• International Assessment with the MMPI.

Deadline for submission of papers is May 1, 1997. Official languages for Individual andgroup submissions are English and French, although submissions in Spanish and Portuguese willalso be considered. Submission by E-mail is strongly recommended. Decisions will be made bySeptember 30, 1997.

Generic Eclectic Method (GEM) for Standard Setting

After more than 20 years of standard-setting, nearly 50 methods are documented, withhuman judgment at the epicenter of most of them. Ronald A. Berk (School of Nursing, JohnsHopkins University), in Standard Setting: The Next Generation, (Applied Measurement inEducation, 9(3), 215-235) reviews the best testing practices that emerged in the 1990s andcombined them with the most promising new techniques into Generic Eclectic Method (GEM)for standard-setting. The TEM provides a structure and a 10-step iterative, behavioral-anchoringjudgmental process that can be applied to almost any educational, licenser, or certification test.

Decisions on six issues are required to use GEM in a specific cut-score situation:

• (1) examinee target population;
• (2) unit of judgment (e.g., item, work sample);
• (3) item-scoring format (dichotomous, polytomous, or a combination of both;
• (4) test-centered (unscored unit) or examine-centered (previously scored unit oritem-response theory scale) approach;
• (5) number of achievement levels (cut-scores),
• (6) optional weighing of objectives for decision policy analysis.

The article also discusses various types of reliability and validity evidence of theeffectiveness of the judgment process. internal validity of the process, Berg asserts, hinges on thequalifications of the judges and the procedures used to solicit their judgments. The proposedGEM and the preceding challenges to collecting reliability and validity evidence on thestandard-setting process, Berk concludes, may point to a new generation in standard-settingmethodology. Use of polytomous item formats and multiple cot scores in the 1990s has forcedthe measurement community to devise new approaches to standard-setting. The complexity ofmany of the new approaches has produced a variety of technical questions on the comparabilityof standards and equating.

International Test Commission (ITC) News

The December 1996 International Test Commissions Newsletter reports that ITC is nowan International Affiliate of IAAP. The Newsletter reports an incredible schedule of activity andspace restrictions permit only a few nuggets.In an ITC symposium on Ordinal Test Theory, Dr.John Donoghue of Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ, reported on research thatshowed that the number of correct scores on a cognitive test of dichotomous items provided moreordinal information about those tested than any of the IRT models with 1, 2 or 3 parameters. Amajor activity is a project on achievement test development within Arab countries in the MiddleEast. Test results showed significant differences in overall performance with the urban areasperforming better, except in the sciences. Females had significantly higher achievement scores inall subjects except for mathematics. Lowest achievement scores were found in pupils dependenton others for help in studies, those from lower socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, andthose suffering parental neglect, not having access to books, and not having joined kindergarteneven for one year.

Task Force on Statistical Significance

Value of the null hypothesis statistical test (NHST) has become a highly controversialissue. Recent literature on psychological research has pointed out the deficiencies of theemphasis on statistical significance. Some have charged that sampling error is a major problem,and that the error rate in significance tests may run as high as 95 percent. Others claim that thenull hypothesis is rarely true. Eight leading medical journals bar the use of significance testing. On the other hand, some supporters claim that significance test serve a useful function and thatconfidence intervals provide helpful information. The test, they maintain, should be reformed, not eliminated. Bruce Thompson, in the Research News and Comment section of theMarch 1996 Educational Researcher, recommends that authors of articles and conference papers beencouraged to correctly interpret statistical tests, always interpret effect sizes, and always exploreresult replicability. APA's Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) has approved the mission of theTask Force on Statistical Inference. The Task Force goal is to evaluate the methodology ofsignificance testing and its alternatives. It will describe the different types of statistical practicesand outline the advantages and disadvantages of each. It will not set guidelines to be followed injournals or elsewhere. Instead, it may produce reports that will illuminate the issuespsychologists face in statistical practice and explain the reasons researchers and methodologistsdo not always agree on these matters.

Test User Qualifications

A task force will address the question of who is qualified to perform psychologicalassessments -- a concern in all nations, developed and developing -- is being assembled by APA. The Joint Committee on Testing Practices (JCTP) has for years been emphasizing the importanceof adequate training to avoid test misuse. Particularly threatening has been a situation in anumber of states where the State Boards of Examiners are challenging psychologists andmembers of kindred professions to prevent them from performing specified ÒpsychologicalassessmentsÓ.

Peter Merenda of the University of Rhode Island reports that the challenge was successfulin Louisiana and that Georgia, Indiana, and California have also been targeted. The specifics,Merenda says, relate predominantly to psychological testing as part of the provision of clinicalhealth services by third-party providers. Most affected are licensed mental health counselors andsimilar professionals who otherwise appear to be qualified.

Division of Political Psychology by Klaus Boehnke

Division of Political Psychology Executive Board Meeting, Sunday, August 18, 1996.

On the occasion of the XXVIth International Congress of Psychology in Montreal,Canada, in August 1996, the Executive Board of the Division of Political Psychology of IAAPmet for a business meeting. Present were Board Members Brewster Smith (President), CarmiHarari (President-Elect), Klaus Boehnke (Secretary-Treasurer) and Ruben Ardila (Representativefor South America). Members Erica Frydenberg (Representative for Australia) and Vid Pecjak(Representative for Europe) were excused. Toshio Iritani (Representative for Asia) and HerbKelman (Past-President) were not present at the conference. President Brewster Smith formallyopened the meeting at 12 a.m.

The board meeting was open to members and guests; 10 non-members of the ExecutiveBoard (mostly members of the division) attended the meeting, among them Michael Wessellsand Deborah DuNann Winter, who serve as co-chairs of the divisional program committee for the24th International Congress of Applied Psychology in San Francisco, August, 1998.

Two Main points were on the agenda, namely activities of the division during the SanFrancisco congress and during the 27th International Congress of Psychology in Stockholm in theyear 2000. Drs. Wessells and Winter reported that the Division of Political Psychology has allocated 30 program hours plus a Keynote Address (to be delivered by Hlengiwe Mkhize, amember of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and an unlimited number ofposter presentations. Approximately half the hours will be for invited events, many of which areco-sponsored with other divisions.

Besides the two chairpersons, Ed Cairns, Hector Betancourt, and Cristina Montiel serveas members of the program committee. Deadline for submissions for all types of presentations isApril 30th, 1997. Email submission is welcome. Email forms can be requested fromicap@apa.org. The second point on the agenda was plans for the next International Congress of Psychology in Stockholm in the year 2000. Present at the meeting were Helena Bering, IngegardMorvik, and Marta Weston, who are engaged in preparations for that congress. The three guestsagreed that Peace Psychology and other domains of political psychology should have aprominent part in the Stockholm congress. The possibility of combining the usual time given toPolitical Psychology with a one-day satelite activity on psychological aspects of war and peacewas briefly discussed.

Before adjourning, the Executive board agreed (to attempt to) have its next meeting onthe occasion of the Fifth International Symposium on the Contributions of Psychology to Peacewhich takes place in Melbourne, Australia, organized by Di Bretherton, and co-organized byExecutive Board member Erica Frydenberg.

Obituary

Peter Weissenberg (1930 - 1996), President & Editor, IAAP Newsletter, Division ofApplied Gerontology

Professor Peter Weissenberg died suddenly from a heart attack on October 5, 1996, whileattending a conference in Pawling, N.Y., at age 66. He was an active member of the I.A.A.P. forover 20 years and served in a variety of capacities. He was Secretary-Treasurer and NewsletterEditor (1976-86) and Treasurer, 1986-1990, of the Division of Organizational Psychology. Hebecame president in 1994 of the Division of Gerontological Psychology and chaired itsinternational membership and finance committees.

As a member of the I.A.A.P. Executive Committee, since 1982, he served as U.S. co-treasurerand member and chairperson of the international membership and finance committees. He alsowas active, since 1979, on committees of the International Council of Psychologists becomingTreasurer in 1993. He was active, since 1967, in Division 14 of the American Psychological

Association, the Academy of Management, the Association of Management and theOrganizational Development Institute. He was President of the New Jersey Collegiate BusinessAdministration, 1983-5.

Professor Weissenberg is survived by his wife, Laura, two children, Adam and Ariel, and twograndchildren. He was a truly international figure. He was born in Germany in 1930 and cameto the United States as a child but remained fluent in German. He earned a Bachelor's Degreefrom Syracuse University in the subject. He also earned a Bachelor's Degree in IndustrialEngineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychologyfrom the School of Industrial and Labor Relations of Cornell University in 1968. ProfessorWeissenberg joined the faculty of the School of Management at the State University of NewYork at Binghamton in 1967 and reached the rank of full professor before moving in 1982 to theSchool of Business, Rutgers University - Camden in 1982, where he served as Associate Dean (1982-1988) and taught management, leadership and organizational behavior until his death. In1973 and 1974 he was visiting professor at the University of Konstanz, Germany and visitingassociate professor at the Technion and Haifa University in Israel. He completed over 100presentations and publications at regional, national and international meetings.

I am writing this at the desk and in the office Prof. Weissenberg occupied while he was atSUNY-Binghamton where, in 1977, he was instrumental in my appointment to SUNY. Hisenthusiasm was persuasive and matched his wide range of interests. He was active in the U.S.Army Reserve for 30 years following his service during the Korean War and retired as a colonel. He acted in numerous plays in various theaters in New York and New Jersey and also frequentlyserved as an official referee for soccer matches. His exuberance and contributions will be missedat the future I.A.A.P. congresses.Bernard M. Bass,
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Director, Center for LeadershipStudies, Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA.

Forthcoming Conferences

• April 2-5, 1997, Verona-Bussolengo.

8th European Congress on Work and Organizational Psychology.

• May 17-25, Odense University, Denmark.

The Cultural Dimension of Business Research II
The Second Doctoral Seminar on the Cultural Embeddedness of Marketing, Consumerand Organizational Research.The seminar secretary is:

• June 4-6, 1997, Leuven, Belgium.

Organizing in a Multi-Voiced World: Social Construction,Innovation andOrganizational Change.

The present conference focuses on a new range of theory and practice on the constructionof meaning, particularly applicable to the emerging context of complexity. In this context, weespecially encourage contributions concerned with organizing under conditions of multiplerealities, centering around topics such as Innovation, Dilemmas in change projects, Diversity inorganizing, Collaboration in decision-making, Postmodern organization theory and practice,Democratization of the workplace, Multinational team-building, Relational theory and practice.

The purpose of the present conference is to bring together scholars and practitioners wishing toexplore these and related issues in an atmosphere of learning, sharing and innovation. Theconference also intends to engage in dialogue with the art community by providing examples ofmulti-voiced theater and poluphonic music.For further information, contact:

• June 28-29, 1997, Melbourne, Australia.

Australia's Second Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference.

• June 29 - July 4, Tampere, Finland.

IEA97

IEA97 homepage: http://turva.me.tut.fi/iea97

• July 6-11, 1997, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

XXVI Interamerican Congress of Psychology.

The Interamerican Society of Psychology announces the organization of the XXVIInteramerican Congress of Psychology, to take place at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica in SaoPaulo, Brazil. We invite psychologists from the various countries in the Americas and beyond to send us their suggestions regarding goals and objectives for the program, themes to beemphasized, invited speakers, program formats, and so on.For information, please contact:

email:nuno@pccp.com.ar.

July 6-12, 1997, Dublin.

• July 6-11, 1997

V European Congress of Psychology.

Congress theme: Dancing on the Edge

For information, please contact:

• July 27-August 2, 1997, Mexico City.

First Regional Congress of Psychology for Professionals in the Americas-interfacingthe Science and Practice of Psychology.

The Scientific program will cover the different areas of psychology and will be made upof Workshops, Keynote Addresses, Symposia, Thematic Sessions and Posters. A very completecalendar of social events and activities has also been planned. For further information, pleasecontact the Organizing Committee at
Congreso@datasys.com.mx

• August 21-23, 1997, Buenos Aires, Argentina,

6th National Meeting of the Argentine Association of Behavioral Sciences.

Contact:

• September 7-10, 1997, Lisbon.

The Fourth European Congress on Psychological Assessment.

The gamut of assessment topics in a variety of applied fields will be covered. To propose a symposium or paper: Send a title; an abstract (200-word maximum); name(s) andinstitutional affiliation(s) of authors; topic keywords; special materials needed for presentation;and a contact address such as a fax number or electronic mail address. Diskettes, if sent, shouldpreferably be IBM PC compatible. Deadline for receipt of proposals is March 15, 1997. Send to

• October 8-12, 1997, Monterrey, Mexico.

The 1997 Annual Meeting of the Academy of International Business.

If anyone is interested in making a joint presentation about some aspect of GLOBE at this conference,please wriite to Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness Researchproject. Email: LEADER-L@cornell.edu,
Contact:

August, 9-14, 1998, San Francisco.

• 24th International Congress of Applied Psychology.

Congress theme: The Challenge for Applied Psychology - Bridging the Millenia.

CALL FOR PAPERS.

The Scientific Program Committee for the 24th International Congress of Psychology, takingplace August 9-14, 1998 in San Francisco, has issued the call for papers. Hosted by theAmerican Psychological Association (APA) on behalf of the International Association of AppliedPsychology, the Congress will feature an array of individual and group presentations on: organizational psychology; psychological evaluation and assessment; psychology and nationaldevelopment; educational, instructional, and school psychology; clinical and communitypsychology; applied gerontology; health psychology; economic psychology; psychology and law;political psychology; sport psychology; traffic and transportation psychology; and other areas

such as applied social, applied developmental, human factors and ergonomics, and social issues.

Submissions for presentations at the International Congress are due May 1, 1997.

In addition to the scientific program, Congress activities will include: an informational exhibitfeaturing major publishing, technological, and psychological corporations: continuing educationworkshops; opportunities for professional visits to nearby research laboratories, clinics, and otherfacilities: scheduled tourist and cultural events; and opportunities to socialize with prominentcolleagues.

To request a copy of the Call for Papers, contact:

The General Assembly of the International Social Science Council (ISSC) has, in its last session, Paris, December 1996, declined IAAP's application for full membership which hadbeen submitted by Prof. Claude Levy-Leboyer in 1983, then President of IAAP. IAAP is anaffiliate member of ISSC.

The International Ergonomics Association and IAAP have signed a memo of cooperation.

For more information about the association, please contact:

General

I would like to contact people interested in my area of research, Meaning of Working. Reference,links, and ideas in general are also welcome.
Contact: Luiz Ojima Sakuda, Graduate Student,EAESP/FGV, Brazil.
Email: luizsakuda@cxpostal.com.br

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