A Pilot Study Examining the Longer Term Stability of the Scientist-Practitioner Model of Training

Abstract

This study adds to the growing body of research on scientist and practitioner interests by empirically examining temporal stability as a function of experiences gained through the successful completion of a doctoral-level scientist-practitioner model-based training program in school or counseling psychology. Twenty-six participants, who completed the paper-and-pencil version of the Scientist Practitioner Inventory between 1996 and 2002 at the beginning of their doctoral program, recently completed an online version of the same inventory to measure their preinterest and postinterest in scientist and practitioner domains. At the pretesting and posttesting stages, school and counseling psychology students differed significantly in terms of practitioner interests. For the combined groups, pretesting and posttesting revealed a significant decrease for the scientist domain but not for the practitioner domain. No significant change occurred between preinterests and postinterests for individuals in the scientist or practitioner domains for school psychology or counseling psychology majors when tested separately. Findings from this study support the notion that scientist and practitioner interests are fairly stable over time and across experiences gained through training and professional roles.

The relation between specialty choice of psychology students and their interests, personality, and cognitive abilities

“…Students at Social Psychology show relatively more interest in foreign languages and cultural topics. The picture emerging from group differences in personality and cognitive abilities is consistent with previous findings in the US (Bishop & Bieschke, 1998;Horn et al, 2007;Leong et al, 2007;Mallinckrodt et al, 1990;Martin et al, 2007;Tinsley et al, 1993;Vittengl et al, 2004). The different specialties of psychology can best be characterized in terms of different Holland codes.…”

“…On the basis of nine interest scales, approximately 50% of the students were assigned to the correct specialty, even after cross-validation. Our results suggest that these interests are relatively stable (Horn et al, 2007;Zachar & Leong, 2000) and may have already crystallized quite early in the study.…”

Using blended and guided technologies in a university course for scientist-practitioners

“…As early as 1949, doctoral training standards for 'scientist-practitioners' were suggested in an attempt to integrate psychological research and practice (Baker and Benjamin, 2000;Horn et al, 2007). As the concept of the scientist-practitioner developed, an 'attitude of science' was promoted that encouraged 'skepticism, curiosity and inquiry', combined with the art of clinical practice (Striker, 2000, p. 254).…”

Career interests of students in psychology specialties degrees: psychometric evidence and correlations with the RIASEC dimensions

“…Also, as expected, interests in the fields of enterprising appeared linked to the I-O psychology area, reinforcing interest in business activities. The absence of social interest in the fields of I-O psychology can be explained by the greater focus on the abstract, personal achievement, as well as on a lower propensity to help people (Horn et al, 2007). The area of artistic interest was positively correlated with the I-O dimension, and negatively correlated with educational interests.…”

“…This is reflected clearly in the interests of the students who choose these specialties. Empirical evidence has shown that students in clinical psychology have higher scores with regards to helping people, whereas students in psychological methods have higher scores in the abstract and technical domain (Horn et al, 2007). Lastly, results from the Dutch ''StudieKeuze-InteresseTest'' (SKIT-6;Vorst, 2002) revealed that students of psychonomics presented a higher preference for logical and abstract reasoning and reveal lower scores with regards to helping people (Horn et al, 2007;Wicherts & Vorst, 2010).…”