Psychological Assessment: a systematic review of the literature / Avaliação psicológica: uma revisão sistemática da literatura

Psychological assessment is a practical application of professional psychologists working in different areas of health, education, safety, traffic and so on. as well as it can be applied in different contexts and at different moments of human development. Given the above, this article aimed to conduct a literature review to understand the paths built by psychological assessment in their contexts, ramifications and future possibilities, through a search in sources such as books, articles published in journals indexed in the main scientific databases from Brazil and the world, in order to promote a compilation of the main findings of science on the subject, in the light of different views and areas of psychology, education science and human health in general. To this end, a literature review was carried out, from scientific sources such as books, articles, dissertations, theses and monographs, in specialized websites and in scientific databases such as Scielo, Scopus, Lilacs, among others. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used, filtering texts in Portuguese or English that were relevant to the theme. Theoretical data were analyzed and discussed between the authors and their views. Based on the research, it is possible to conclude that psychological assessment is a tool that directs the psychologist's therapeutics and praxis in educational, clinical, criminal contexts, among others. It is understood from the data in the literature that psychological assessment needs theoretical and practical knowledge, aligning and directing the procedure and guiding the correct diagnosis. Being the psychologist's responsibility, psychological assessment needs ethical procedures based on the professional psychologist's code of ethics, for collective and individual well-being in professional practice.

Psychology and methodology: prospects of co-organization

The proposed text recording of lectures given by a famous thinker-methodologist in March 1987 at one of the universities belongs to the last period of his amazingly productive work, namely to the creation of a working scheme of thought-activity, forms, means and conditions of its various reflexive elaboration and to the full formation of system-though-activity methodology as an innovative socio-cultural phenomenon in its intellectual environment – in the systematic hard work of the Moscow Methodological Circle. In addition, it is at this historical time that the idea of methodological games is mastered programmatically, organizationally and imitation-technically, and numerous organizational games are held in various problem-thematic areas of solving the most difficult scientific, industrial and covital situations. The s u b j e c t of the collective thought communication of the lecturer with the audience of professional psychologists, which unites the problem areas of the actualized polydialogical semantic landscape of thoughts, questions, answers, arguments, are the historical perspectives of the psychology development. The lecturer offers to abandon the Galilean model of science and Wundt’s model of psychological science, in particular because of their detachment from life and their functioning in their own artificial areas of laws and regularities as ideal abstractions. Therefore, he, unequivocally denying psychologism of any kind, supports not a natural-scientific strategy of empowerment of psychology, but an intelligible, reflexive-interpretive one, which is interested in explaining, constructing and describing true mental reality according to adequately defined goals and values, forms and methods, ways and means of carried out thought-activity. The basic thesis here is formulated very categorically; “outside the framework of methodological thought, no psychology can be.” This is argued by the fact that only methodological thinking allows thought-activity of any psychological content by appropriate means, methods, forms, adequate to a particular life situation. Besides, the projected enrichment of the psychology’s subject field in the coming decades will be determined not by the available material and not by ontological content, but by a methodological approach or a full-fledged philosophical methodologem, though “thinking itself cannot be studied psychologically.” The optimal form of organization and an integral condition for the development of collective thought-activity, in particular in the field of psychology, is organizational game, which at the same time, on the principle of three “s”, provides self-activity, self-organization and self-development of its participants, that operate in a simulated, but real, problem-conflict situation.

Cognitive behavioural therapy improves pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective The study aim was to examine the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) on the pregnancy outcomes of women receiving in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) treatment. Methods A literature review was performed using the databases MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and WANFANG. Eligible studies were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Relevant data were extracted and the quality of studies assessed. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were pooled to statistically analyse the difference between intervention and control groups. Results Ten studies were selected for the systematic review and meta-analysis. The findings showed that CBT and cognitive-related therapy significantly improved the pregnancy rate of women undergoing IVF-ET treatment. Subgroup analysis showed that patients who received CBT, rather than complex psychological interventions, and those who received interventions delivered by professional psychologists, were more likely to become pregnant during IVF-ET treatment. Conclusion CBT and cognitive-related interventions had significant effects on the pregnancy outcomes of women receiving IVF-ET treatment. CBT treatment (rather than complex psychological interventions) provided by professional psychologists is strongly recommended.

Case Based Reasoning using K-Nearest Neighbor with Euclidean Distance for Early Diagnosis of Personality Disorder

A personality disorder is a condition of a person with an extreme personality that causes the sufferer to have unhealthy and different thoughts patterns and behavior from other people. The personality disorders discussed in this study consisted of 110 diseases with 300 case data and 68 symptoms. Based on Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) 2018 data, it shows that more than 19 million people aged 15 years and over were affected by mental-emotional disorders. Data from the Statistics Indonesia in 2019 that the population of Indonesia is around 265 million people, while according to the Indonesian Clinical Psychologist Association, the number of verified professional psychologists is 1,599 clinical psychologists out of a total membership of 2,078 as of January 2019. However, this figure does not meet the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is that psychologists serve 30 thousand people. This shows that Indonesia still lacks around 28,970 psychologists. The unequal distribution of professional psychologists has made psychologists need a long time to provide a diagnosis because of the number of patients being inversely proportional to the availability of psychologists in Indonesia. Moreover, there is not enough patient knowledge about the symptoms they feel. This study aims to produce a system for diagnosing personality disorders. This study is a case based reasoning to solve problems that have occurred in previous cases using K-Nearest Neighbor to classify data based on the closest distance using the calculation of the Euclidean Distance. Algorithm testing for the system used the Confusion Matrix test. Based on the results of testing data in the 60 case data using K-nearest Neighbor and the calculation of the Euclidean Distance with a score of K=3, it is known that 60 data have 100% similarity to cases with a personality disorder. Meanwhile, testing new cases with 10 case data that were not in the knowledge base was also conducted showing that 9 cases had 100% similarity to the previous case, while another case had 90% similarity to the previous case.

Diagnostics of an anomalous personality

It is necessary for a clinical psychologist to determine adequately whether a person is structurally normal or abnormal. Such a diagnosis prejudges work with the person either in the penal system or in the health care one. Several hundred professional tests are successfully used in professional psychology and clinical medicine. It should be noted that most of them have been developed in clinical medicine and foreign psychiatric clinics. The article analyzes in detail the projective tests as a clinical method of psychodiagnostics. Rorschach test, Shondi test, M. Luscher color test, TAT method, and others are the most popular among the specialists. Their distinctive feature from questionnaires is that the obtained result processing is not quantitative, but qualitative. Patient diagnosis depends on the experience and value orientations of a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist. Scientific schools and the culture of various countries play a significant role in this. Although there are certain international criteria for the diagnosis of personality. They are based on DSM–IV diagnostic table. Its indicators are more intended for a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. The authors raise a very unequivocal problem of using personal questionnaires from a legal point of view. Foreign studies reveal the impact of clinicians on the criminal law system, as well as the impact of legislation on the psychiatric clinics system. In the late XX century, a complex forensic psychological and psychiatric examination (CSTI) appeared at the junction of the expert application of psychiatry and psychology. It is important to note that the objects of its research are persons with borderline neuropsychiatric disorders and character anomalies. A key aspect in the activities of professional psychologists and psychiatrists is studying the validity in diagnosis using a case of the «Picture of a Man»(RFC) test. The results of foreign studies have shown that the decisions that clinical psychologists make about their patients are nothing more than a projection of their preconceived opinions. Thus, when making a fateful decision for each individual person, in no case should one make mistakes.

New Chapters in the History of St. Petersburg School of Psychology

The history of St. Petersburg school of psychology has not been sufficiently studied if compared to foreign and Moscow scientific schools. The article provides new specific information on the institutionalization of psychology in Leningrad in the postwar period due to the establishment of the department and division, and later on, in 1966, the Faculty of Psychology at Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University. The author specifies the facts regarding the influence of historical cataclysms, postwar political events, ideological campaigns on the deve­lopment of psychological science and education: The Great Patriotic war, “the struggle against cosmopolitanism”, Joint Session of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medical Sciences focused on the teachings of I.P. Pavlov, changes in the country’s situation and sciences during the “Soviet thaw”, etc. The consequences of these events resulted in the abrupt suspension of communications with foreign colleagues in 1948. The reestablishment and expansion of international contacts occurred in the second half of the 1950s. The information concerning the scientific school staff and B.G. Ananyev’s remarkable contribution to the school focused establishment in the course of his hard daily work as Head of Psychology Department at the university, Dean of the Faculty of Psychology, and Director of the Research Institute of Pedagogy has been supplemented. The facts about B.G. Ananyev’s initiatives to create the Institute of Comprehensive Social Studies within Leningrad University, the laboratory of differential psychology and anthropology, and to organize comprehensive studies of human individuality have been documented. The author establishes the date when Ananyev began vigo­rously writing his book “Man as a Subject of Cognition” (1963). The development of St. Petersburg school of psychology was uneven, often against the odds. The collective work style at school was democratic and creative. The school educated professional psychologists; the best of them became prominent figures in the national science. The article presents a new periodization of St. Petersburg school of psychology, which identifies the Bekhterev, post-Bekhterev, Ananyev and post-Ananyev development periods.

Fenomenologia e Psicologia da Saúde: Uma Análise da Produção Acadêmica Brasileira

This study aimed to investigate the contributions of Phenomenology to Health Psychology based on Brazilian academic production. A search in the SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), PePSIC (Electronic Psychology Journals) and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature) databases was performed and thirteen papers published between 2000 and 2018 were selected and analyzed. It was found that Phenomenology contributes in many ways while Edmund Husserl's epistemology, as well as an approach that presents a view of the world and human beings by means of a number of phenomenologists, and as a philosophical phenomenological method adapted to Psychology by various authors. As far as Health Psychology is concerned, research brings an understanding of the health-disease-care process both by the analysis of the experiences of users who turn to health services as well as by professional psychologists' practice within a biopsychosocial perspective. A plurality of theoretical conceptions and methodological pathways is observed both when it comes to Phenomenology and Health Psychology, thus further studies on Health Psychology stemming from the contributions of Phenomenology are promising. Palavras-chave : Health Psychology; Phenomenology; Psychologists; Academic production.

DIRECTIONS OF IMPROVEMENT OF MOTIVATION OF EMPLOYMENT ACTIVITY AT THE ENTERPRISE

The article analyzes the system of material motivation of workers at the enterprise. Measures to improve the system of work motivation have been identified, including: providing employees with professional psychologists who will select staff together with the personnel department, equipping the premises for psychological relief, redistributing work among employees, conducting regular anonymous surveys within each level of the team hierarchy, objectively assess the prospects of each employee hired, professionally analyze the reasons for non-compliance with the sales plan. The requirements to the moral stimulation of employees, which can be carried out at the enterprise, are defined, namely: to provide incentives for specific indicators on which employees have a direct impact and which most fully characterize the participation of each employee in solving problems; establish incentives for success at work so as to apply more significant incentives for higher achievements; to strengthen the interest of each employee in the continuous improvement of its production performance; be simple and clear to employees; take into account the growing socio-political activity and professional and technical skills, the stability of high results in work; preventing the devaluation of moral incentives. It has been established that plaques of honor and similar instruments of recognition are an effective means of moral incentives for staff, because material incentives are not the main thing, every worker needs attention. An effective method of strengthening labor discipline is to encourage conscientious work. The relationship between the motivational type of the employee and his needs is considered. A scale based on the five main labor needs of the company's employees, each of which corresponds to a certain motivational type of the company's employee, was tested on a sample of 126 people (company executives, employees, workers). The construction of the motivational profile of the employee and its change after the implementation of the proposed areas of improvement of the motivation of work at the enterprise will be presented in further research.

Psychological barriers and restrictions that prevent professional psychologists’ development in their work (in terms of service psychologists of the FPS of Russia)

The article presents the results of research on psychological barriers and restrictions that prevent professional psychologists’ development during their work at the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. The content of the concepts "psychological barriers" and "psychological restrictions" is analysed. The content is disclosed at the general level. The article describes the results of empirical research of psychological barriers and limitations among psychologists of the FPS of Russia, the main method of which included expert evaluation. The causes of objective, subjective and objective-subjective nature were identified, and their psychological content was revealed. The role of psychological diagnostics in determining psychological barriers and restrictions, their level of expression is shown. It is noted that the role of barriers and restrictions of a subjective nature is underestimated by psychologists of the service activity of the Federal penitentiary service, thus purposeful work on their compensation is limited. In order to overcome psychological barriers and constraints, use of different methods and technologies, priority is given to self-development.

Biological Origin of Egoism in Human Behavior

The article considers the biological principle of egoism in relation to human nature and the moral development of a person, criticism of the concepts of the selfishness of human nature. The different points of view of the professional psychologists are analyzed.