The coming of age of telecommunications in psychological research and practice.

Abstract

Rapid and far-reaching technological advances are revolutionizing the ways in which people relate, communicate, and live their daily lives. Technologies that were hardly used a few years ago, such as the Internet, e-mail, and video teleconferencing, are becoming familiar methods for modern communication. Telecommunications will continue to evolve quickly, spawning telehealth applications for research and the provision of clinical care in communities, university settings, clinics, and medical facilities. The impact on psychology will be significant. This article examines the application of developing technologies as they relate to psychology and discusses implications for professional research and practice.

Experimental Analysis of a Web-Based Training Intervention to Develop Positive Psychological Capital

“…As computers and the Internet have become key tools for research and practice in the field of psychology (e.g., see Barak, 1999;Jerome, DeLeon, James, Folen, Earles, & Gedney, 2000), this study's results help contribute to the growing case for the use of this technology in leadership and human resource development. For example, the virtual context for this intervention indicates that this type of technology may be used to deliver development and training across the globe simultaneously or sequentially.…”

“…For example, clinical and behavioral development programs have recently surfaced with Internet applications. These include a broad spectrum of behavioral health programs, such as tobacco cessation and hypnotherapy (Jerome et al, 2000). Given the emergence of technological sophistication in Internet delivery, learning, development, data collection, and accessibility, we propose that PsyCap as a core construct can be developed through a web-based intervention by drawing on the recognized developmental guidelines of each PsyCap component (i.e., hope, efficacy, optimism, and resilience).…”

Validating Internet research: A test of the psychometric equivalence of Internet and in-person samples

“…An important implication of these results is that investigators can use the Internet to access more diverse and representative populations of research participants (cf. Jerome et al, 2000). Multicultural psychology arose primarily because mainstream psychology emphasized internal validity more than it did external validity.…”

A Snapshot of Renal Transplant Patients Using Medical Web Browsing

“…8,9 In addition, the Internet can be used to monitor patient status, collect data, and provide tailored feedback and selfmanagement counseling, and offers the advantages of interactivity, information tailoring, and anonymity. 10,11 This provides the potential for opportunities for patients to become well-informed and to take an active part in their own treatment process. However, such use of the Internet also raises many issues concerning the quality of the information available and the relationship between patients and health care providers.…”