Psychology as an ambiguous attitude stimulus.

Abstract

This research has proven extremely useful in increasing effectiveness and promoting therapeutic efforts (Katakis, 1986;G. Vassiliou & V. Vassiliou, 1982), and in bypassing the cultural biases stressed by Ho (1985), which psychologists who have studied abroad carry to their home countries.In addition to research related to psychosocial processes, much work has been done in the area of test development and standardization. Both intelligence and projective tests have been studied (Geor-

What's in a question? Three methods for investigating psychology's public image.

“…The indirect method may allow for more individuality, and possibly more careful deliberation, by forcing ratings on independent dimensions. (Additional explanations and implications of these disparate results were proposed by Webb, 1988. ) On the other hand, the participant may not be reflecting a "sum total opinion" at all on the Likert (direct) method.…”

Undergraduates' Perceptions Towards Psychology As A Science: Differentiating Explicit Responses From Implicit Associations

“…It should be noted, however, that people's judgements towards psychology's degree of importance depend on the type of measures researchers employ (Hartwig & Delin, 2003;Webb, 1988). While direct measures have been described as inviting stereotypes, yielding less favorable attitudes towards the discipline, indirect measures have generally produced more favourable attitudes (Hartwig & Delin, 2003;Webb, 1988).…”

“…It should be noted, however, that people's judgements towards psychology's degree of importance depend on the type of measures researchers employ (Hartwig & Delin, 2003;Webb, 1988). While direct measures have been described as inviting stereotypes, yielding less favorable attitudes towards the discipline, indirect measures have generally produced more favourable attitudes (Hartwig & Delin, 2003;Webb, 1988). For instance, one study compared people's perceptions of psychologists relative to other professions (i.e., psychiatrists, teachers, lawyers, general practitioners, and nurses) and more directly asked them how important each profession was (i.e., "How much do you think we need the following professionals and the services they provide?").…”

“…Such measures have been found to be influenced by social desirability characteristics, however (Bartels et al, 2009). Moreover, explicit measures that are more direct by nature tend to yield less favorable and less scientific attitudes towards psychology compared to less direct ones (Hartwig & Delin, 2003; Osborn et al, 2003;Provost et al, 2011;Webb, 1988). In this experiment, a go/no-go LDT was administered to both introduction to psychology students and upper year psychology majors to explore participants' scientific attitudes towards psychology at an implicit level (Perea, Rosa, & Gomez, 2002).…”

“…This has been proven problematic for several reasons. For instance, researchers have found that explicit measures, which are more direct by nature, yield less favorable and less scientific attitudes towards psychology compared to less direct ones (Hartwig & Delin, 2003;Osborn et al, 2003;Provost et al, 2011;Webb, 1988). Moreover, one of the most widely implemented scales to measure students' belief that psychology is a science, Friedrich's (1996) Psychology as a Science Scale (PAS), appears to be influenced by social desirability characteristics (Bartels, Hinds, Glass, & Ryan, 2009).…”