We investigated counseling psychologists' (N= 165) vocational diagnostic and treatment decisions when vocational and personal problems are presented concurrently. Participants assessed the same vocational problem either alone or in conjunction with a personal problem of one-half, equal, or double the severity of the vocational problem. Without consideration for counselors' problem preference, ratings of the vocational problem were equivalent across the three personal problem severity levels. However, with preferences considered, counseling psychologists who reported greater preference for working with personal problems, in comparison to vocational problems, were less likely to assess, diagnose, and treat the vocational problem than were counseling psychologists who reported equivalent or reversed problem preferences. This biasing effect occurred when the personal problem was of equal or double the severity of the vocational problem.

In this article we report two experiments relevant to the questioning strategies counselors use in testing their hypotheses about clients. Previous hypothesistesting research has consistently reported a bias on the part of the hypothesis • tester toward confirmatory questioning strategies. If such a bias was to exist among counselors, the objectivity of their decision-making activities with clients would be highly questionable. In Experiment 1 we examined the adequacy of an existing research paradigm for modeling the questioning strategies counselors use when testing their hypotheses about clients. In Experiment 2, a counseling analogue, we examined two aspects of the strategies counselors use in testing their hypotheses. Results of these experiments suggest that the questioning strategies of both the "lay scientist" and the professional hypothesis tester may not be as biased as has been suggested.

A prototype is an ongoing, cognitive representation of common attributes and distinct characteristics that define an object or person. This mixed-method study applies the robust concept of prototype to examine perceptions of disability groups. Core, secondary, and tertiary prototype characteristics are described for six disabilities: schizophrenia, mental retardation, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, spinal cord injury, visual impairment, and hearing impairment. Similarities and differences among disability group prototypes are identified. The potential relationship between prototypes, attitudes, and subsequent judgment biases is explored. Examining prototypes might be an effective method for indirectly measuring attitudes toward disability groups. Implications for rehabilitation counseling practice and education are discussed.

The main purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis that situational context affects attitudes toward disabled persons. A total of 191 nondisabled adult subjects completed the Disability Social Relationship Scale, a newly devel oped instrument that includes social situation subscal es of Work, Dating, and Marriage, and disability subscal es of Amputee, Epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy, and Blind. As hypothesized, the results yielded significant differences across social situations and among specific disabilities, as well as a significant interaction between social situation and disability. These data are discussed.Reviews of the extensive research literature on attitudes towards disabled persons during the past 35 years indicate some relatively consistent and general conclusions (Barker, Wright, Meyerson, & Gonick, 1954;English, 1971;Schneider & Anderson, 1980;Siller, 1976). In essence, they conclude that nondisabled persons' attitudes toward the disabled are primarily negative and result in societal prejudice against and rejection of disabled persons. Furthermore, the effects of these devaluing attitudes on the disabled person include a variety of social restrictions and the likelihood of reduced self-esteem (Roessler & Bolton, 1978).Research in this area has taken three major directions. The first, assessment of attitudes toward the disabled, has generated the most research. The assessment of attitudes has been characterized by major research programs that have been deemed necessary to provide a knowledge base for intervention strategies aimed at modifying unfavorable attitudes. The second direction has been the identification of the personal and demographic correlates of attitudes toward disabled persons (English, 1971). Variables such as sex, age, education, occupation, social adjustment, personality traits, and hierarchy of attitudes toward specific disabilities have all received attention, with results showing some consistencies and a great deal of inconsistency (Schneider

This study found that counselor individual differences in cognitive complexity, but not preferences for client problems, moderate the cognitive processes that lead to bias in clinical judgment. A particularly robust and unambiguous clinical bias, known as diagnostic overshadowing (S. Reiss,