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PREDICTING SELECTED BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS ON THE BASIS OP OBSERVATION OF A GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY SESSION WITH MENTAL PATIENTS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By THOMAS MUN CHEW CHANG, B. A,, M. A. ***** The Ohio State University 1957 Approved by: Adviser Department of Psychology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many individuals and groups of people to whom I am deeply indebted for their various contributions to this study. Dr. Charles Lynch, as supervisor of my psycho therapy work and personal friend, contributed to the fashioning of an investigation from the first nebulous hypotheses conceived. Dr. Jack Basham, as Chief of the Vocational Counseling Service at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Chillicothe, Ohio, gave his full administrative and professional support. The nurses and aides in the Exit Service Program and the rehabilitation therapists in the clinics gave generously of their interest and effort in making criterion ratings and behavior and therapy perform ance reports. The Registrar’s Office was always ready to provide record folders and other data on patients when requested. Mr. Robert Sone, Mr. Edward Polder, and Dr. Fred Wright, as Counseling Psychology trainees, performed as observers and raters in the study and were actively inter ested in the proceedings. The consultants from The Ohio State University con tributed significantly to the entire project. Dr. Collins Burnett and Dr. Francis Robinson participated in the design of the study and acted as observers and raters in the group ii H i therapy sessions. Dr. John R. Kinzer also acted as an obser ver and rater in the summer of 195b prior to his going on l e a v e . Dr, Robert J. Wherry of The Ohio State University advised the writer in the statistical procedures in the analysis of the data. Dr, Roy Reeves, Director of the Statistical Computation Laboratory of the Ohio State Research Foundation, and his staff gave unstinting help in teaching the w r i t e r to prepare and analyze the data with I. B. M. methods on the Type 6 5 0 magnetic drum computer. The psychiatric patients of the psychotherapy groups must understandably remain anonymous. But the roles they played, in the research are crucial and it is regretted that acknowledgment cannot be more specific. Furthermore, for the writer, working with them has contributed to a greater understanding and appreciation of psychotherapy and to an increased faith and admiration in the strength and resources that m a y lie within the individual. A special acknowledgment is reserved for my adviser, Dr. F r a n k M. Fletcher, Jr. , who guided the planning and execution of the study from its inception to the description in this dissertation. His patient and constructive criti cism, professional competence, and infectious enthusiasm are m o d e l s of research behavior that this writer will not forget a n d hope to take into his own work. lastly, to ray wife and two sons, ray humble apprecl tion for their many sacrifices that made my studies possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ........................... ..... 1 Statement of the Problem Hypotheses Tested II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE............................12 Direct Observation of Behavior Rating of Behavior Research of Small Groups and Group Psychotherapy III. PROCEDURES OF THE STUDY..............................42 The Subjects The Observers The Prediction Items Description of the Criterion Measures and Scoring Procedures Analysis of the Data IV. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY.................................92 Data on the Accuracy of Prediction Data on the Improvement in Accuracy V. DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS ......................... Ill Accuracy of Prediction Improvement in Predictive Accuracy Some Related Findings VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS............................. 151 The Problem The Present Study Findings Suggestions for Future Research APPENDICES.................................................169 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................. 191 AUTOBIOGRAPHY.............................................. 203 v LIST OP TABLES Table Page I Items on which the Pairs of Raters had Complete Agreement on the Rating of Pacient B ......... 68 II Percentage of Items on which the Pairs of Raters had Complete Agreement on the Practice Rating of Pour Patients.............................. 69 III Intra-rater Reliability among Therapists .... 75 IV Intelligence Test Data on the Sample ........... 79 V Arrays of Means and Standard Deviations for 22 Measures Obtained from Psychologists, Nurses, Aides, Therapists, and other Sources ......... 93 VI Two Sets of Means and Standard Deviations on 22 Items Obtained Three Months Apart from Psychologists, Nurses, Aides, and Other Sources......................................... 96 VII Correlations between Predictions and Criterion Measures..................... 98 VIII Correlations between Predictions and Criterion Ratings............................................100 IX Correlations between Predictions and Psycholog ical Test Measure, Sociometric Measures, Time Sample, and Hospital Clinical Records . 101 X Two Sets of Correlations Between Predictions and Criteria Obtained Three Months Apart . 103 XI Seven Items with the Largest Increases in Accuracy..........................................107 XII Items Significantly Predicted or. Both Trials . 108 XIII Unsuccessfully Predicted Items ................. 109 XIV Means and Standard Deviations on the Items on Friendship and Leadership Preferences of the Two G r o u p s ........................................l4l vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Development of Psychological Counseling; At the present time, professional counseling services are being carried on by psychologists, by physicians, priests, and lawyers, and by others whose counseling func tions are less clearly defined such as the social workers. Though methods and emphases vary, each in its own way seeks the identical goal of assisting his client to achieve a greater degree of personal adjustment and harmonious Inter action with his environment. The history of psychological counseling is a rela tively short one. Super (115) has traced the present status of counseling psychology back to three historical sources. One of these origins lies in the work of Frank Parsons and the social agencies of Boston which provided occupational guidance to its youth. This interest In vocational adjust ment was joined by the efforts of the Minnesota Employment Stabilization Research Institute during the Depression to develop psychological tests, occupational information, and vocational re-training to enhance the employment potential of individuals. The third movement was the interest and research In psychotherapy which took place primarily under the auspices of clinical psychology and contributed materi ally to the understanding and refinement of the counseling process. Even within the confines of a vocational guidance orientation of pre-World War II, counseling was regarded as the crux of the process. The counseling interview was the meeting place between counselor and client where the latter was helped to understand and accept his abilities and weak nesses assessed by tests, to work through idealistic aspirations and settle for a realistic goal, and to spell out a plan of action. At the present time, the importance of the counseling function in counseling psychology is reflected in the very title of this area of specialization, In the existence of its own journal of publications, and in its inclusion as a topic In the Annual Reviews of Psychology. Furthermore, the settings in which counseling may take place have been broadened to include industry, hospital, armed services, mental hygiene clinics, private practice, and, finally, the difference between the concepts of counseling and psychotherapy processes are narrowing. Counseling Compared with Psychotherapy Though this study is centrally concerned with the counseling process; the experimental task takes place in a therapeutic setting traditionally called group psychotherapy. Hence It may be profitable to spend a few paragraphs deline ating the similarities and differences between the processes of counseling and psychotherapy as viewed by various repre sentatives in the field. Pallor (30) for example, believes that psychotherapy differs from counseling in that the latter concentrates on normal individuals, on breadth rather than depth of relation ship, and uses a broader range of tools and techniques. Counseling also makes greater use of co-operative relation ships with community agencies, and in vocational counseling, the family’s socioeconomic status is an important variable. Rogers, on the other hand, has been an early exponent (1942) of the view that the two processes are highly related if not synonymous: There has been a tendency to use the term counsel ing for more casual and superficial interviews, and to reserve the term psychotherapy for more inten sive and long continued contacts directed toward deeper reorganization of the personality. While there may be some reason for this distinction, it is also plain that the most intensive and success ful counseling is also indistinguishable from intensive and successful psychotherapy. (9 6 , pp.3“4) T h o m e (125) regards counseling as a form of psychotherapy, and both were distinguished from "depth psychotherapy" which used intensive psychiatric or psychoanalytic methods. Robinson's

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