Chris Piotrowski - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Chris Piotrowski

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

Clinicians need to be cognizant of the influence that an individual's occupation can have on asse... more Clinicians need to be cognizant of the influence that an individual's occupation can have on assessment results. Since business personnel can have an acumen for creativity, responses obtained from projective testing may be mediated by the creative potential of the individual tested

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

This Editorial proffers that AI will have a major impact on personality assessment, including eva... more This Editorial proffers that AI will have a major impact on personality assessment, including evaluation with projective techniques.

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

Clinical testing data and reports based on the Rorschach have applications in neuropsychological ... more Clinical testing data and reports based on the Rorschach have applications in neuropsychological assessment. This study reports on scholarship that supports this assertion.

Journal of Projective Psychology, 2025

The study of psychological trauma and associated stressors has attracted extensive scholarly atte... more The study of psychological trauma and associated stressors has attracted extensive scholarly attention in the social sciences. The current investigation utilized a bibliometric approach to examine current topical investigatory coverage across 3 prominent journals in the field of trauma psychology: Traumatology, Journal of Traumatic Stress, and Psychological Trauma. The main focus was to determine topical areas that attract sparse coverage in these publications in recent years. The content analysis identified copious topics that represent less than 1% of the peer-reviewed studies across the 3 datasets of journal references. Most noteworthy: acute stress disorder, poly-trauma, mass/school shootings, the disabled, catastrophizing, sexual harassment, divorce, poverty, and pre-existing conditions. These findings should a) illuminate our understanding of under-studied areas in trauma research, b) promote the use of multi-database search strategies during the literature review process, and c) provide a catalyst and descriptive framework for further bibliometric research on the sub-field of trauma psychology.

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2024

A review of the mental health literature clearly indicates that both clinicians and researchers h... more A review of the mental health literature clearly indicates that both clinicians and researchers have, for many decades, considered various projective measures as suitable and pragmatic assessment instruments in the mental health evaluation of children. The aim of the current study is to present a brief overview of recent scholarship reflected in this body of literature on projective assessment with child samples, based on a bibliographic analysis. To that end, a comprehensive search of the database PsycINFO identified 250 peer-reviewed articles with a focus on projective tests and children. Of these, the author selected 38 studies or key references cited in these publications. Based on an aggregated analysis of this contemporary bibliographic dataset (2000-2022, inclusive), the author contends that projective techniques have been found to have empirical support for critical clinical issues such as the ability to reveal latent psychodynamics, identify cognitive deficits, and differentiate select diagnostic groups in children and pediatric populations. These attributes of projective measures are a key feature in the assessment of children, where issues such as developmental milestones, social adaptations, emotion regulation, and verbal expression are central clinical challenges. A select historical bibliography of key studies and books is provided.

Bibliometric studies, particularly content analysis methodologies, of the extant literature can p... more Bibliometric studies, particularly content analysis methodologies, of the extant literature can provide a snapshot on the nature, scope, and breadth of a select body of knowledge available in scholarly repositories. Although several bibliometric studies regarding the field of Personality Assessment have appeared, few have reported on an exploratory 'topical' analysis on the main subject areas or domains across a pool of studies over time. The current study is an initial attempt to address this gap in the literature by conducting a content analysis of research studies published in the Journal of Personality Assessment(JPA) over the past 10 years. The major aim is to determine the scope and breadth of investigatory topical areas most emphasized by researchers during this time frame (not on individual tests or assessment instruments under study). An online search in PsycINFO identified a total of 750 articles in JPA from 2009 to 2018; of these, 677 were determined to be 'primary' articles (comments, replies, erratum, editorials were excluded) and served as the data-set for the analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified34 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top researched topics were: personality disorders, statistical approaches/methods analysis, models/theory, construct validation, scoring issues/response format, 5-factor/Big 5, interpersonal factors, brief tests/short forms, therapeutic assessment, and cross-national test adaptations. Moreover, a myriad of highly salient topics in the clinical literature received limited investigatory attention in JPA (e.g., Computer report narratives, substance abuse, suicide potential, stress syndromes, Dark Triad, assessment of the elderly, well-being). Overall, this descriptive analysis confirms that the field of personality assessment is robust in scope and reflects varied research interests, yet the breadth of investigatory and/or perhaps editorial topical interest could be expanded to include diverse clinical areas. These exploratory findings should be considered tentative since the study results are based on the scholarly content of only one journal in the field. Future bibliometric studies would benefit by examination of the extant literature, indexed across multidisciplinary scholarly databases, on the general subject area of personality assessment.

The Covid-19 pandemic is attracting an exponential volume of scholarly output across most academi... more The Covid-19 pandemic is attracting an exponential volume of scholarly output across most academic fields. Yet little is known about the breadth and scope of the research literature and structure of published scholarship on this pandemic. The current study addresses this issue by conducting a content analysis of research studies (i.e., articles, references) already indexed in the social sciences database PsycINFO. This bibliometric analysis should shed some light regarding the major focus areas of study on COVID-19 by researchers in the field of Psychology. An online search, restricting notation of the term COVID-19 in the Abstract, produced a total of 1,824 references (including comments, editorials). Of these, the first 1,200 studies served as the dataset for the current analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified 31 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top 10 researched topics were: Mental health (in general), Tele-health, mental health services, health care workers, the elderly, neurological factors, physical distancing, research protocols, measures on COVID-19, and mitigation issues. Moreover, a myriad of salient topics was largely neglected by researchers (e.g., loneliness, domestic violence, child abuse, home-schooling, unemployment). These findings are limited by restricting the reference pool to scholarship reported in a social science database. Future bibliometric study on COVID-19 should include medically-oriented repositories of research (e.g., Medline). The current findings are exploratory in nature with the sole intent to present an overview on the scope and breadth of topical focus regarding scholarly research on COVID-19.

There is a dearth of bibliometric studies regarding the general field of Psychological Assessment... more There is a dearth of bibliometric studies regarding the general field of Psychological Assessment which report on investigatory emphasis based on 'topical' analysis of subject areas or domains across a pool of studies over time. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by conducting a content analysis of research studies (i.e., articles) published in the APA journal, Psychological Assessment (PA) over the past 10 years. The major aim was to determine the scope and breadth of investigatory topical subject areas that are the major focus of study by researchers (not on individual tests or assessment instruments under study). PsycINFO indexes a total of 1273 peer-reviewed articles in PA from 2010 to 2019; of these, 1221 were determined to be primary articles (comments, replies, erratum, & editorials were excluded) and served as the dataset for the analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified 43 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top 10 researched topics were: statistical approaches/methods analysis, psychopathy, models/theory, informant/3 rd party evaluations, anxiety/phobias, IQintelligence factors, risk assessment, cross-national comparisons, PTSD, and depression. Moreover, a myriad of subject areas received limited investigatory attention in PA. Overall, this descriptive analysis confirms that the field of psychological assessment is robust in scope and reflects varied research interests, yet the breadth of investigatory and/or perhaps editorial topical coverage could be expanded to reflect salient, highlyresearched areas noted in the general clinical literature. In addition, compared to the major topical areas indexed in the Journal of Personality Assessment (see Piotrowski, 2019), the journal Psychological Assessment has more emphasis in several areas, i.e., 3 rd party/informant reports, anxiety/phobias, intelligence, and risk assessment.

The intent of the current study is to determine whether this collective movement has had a delete... more The intent of the current study is to determine whether this collective movement has had a deleterious impact on the popularity of drawing methods in graduate training programs and professional usage worldwide. To that end, the author identified survey-based research with regard to drawing techniques that reported on assessment training and test usage patterns from 1989-2015. The 60 identified survey-based or records-based studies served as the data pool(USA=47; Overseas nations=13). The analysis showed that 38 of the 60 studies (63%) reported that drawing tests were viewed positively in the USA and in some countries outside of Europe. However, a bifurcation trend between academic training and professional practice settings was noted. Drawing techniques were ranked 'moderately' high (amongst the top 15 tests) in terms of usage, in 23 of the 49 studies of practice settings. However, only one of the 11 studies of academic settings showed a high degree of training emphasis with drawing techniques. In professional settings, drawing methods appear to be somewhat popular in clinical psychology and school psychology practice, less so in forensic and counseling psychology, and largely ignored in neuropsychological assessment. On a cautionary note, this review observed a slight diminutive trend on the use of drawing tests in practice settings over the last five years. However, a bibliometric analysis of the extant literature indicated that research attention on specific drawing instruments remains undiminished over the past decade. Overall, these findings provide data-based evidence that drawing techniques have been a major assessment approach to a sizeable minority of practitioners who conduct psychological testing. At the same time, academic and internship programs have largely shunned drawing instruments in coursework and training. This perplexing discrepancy in training versus practice should provide a lively, scholarly forum for the assessment field. Finally, there is a need for additional research regarding graduate-level assessment training in countries outside the USA (Piotrowski, 2015b), due to the dearth of studies of academic settings overseas.

Instructional emphasis with projective methods has been an enduring and enigmatic feature of asse... more Instructional emphasis with projective methods has been an enduring and enigmatic feature of assessment training in professional and clinical psychology for the past 75 years. However, over the past decade, there has been diminishing instructional emphasis on individual projective methods in both academic and internship training. The purpose of this commentary is to

To address a void in the literature, the current study presents the results of a content analysis... more To address a void in the literature, the current study presents the results of a content analysis of published primary research on the topic of acupuncture, spanning the past 20 years (1998-2018). The aim was to identify the major issues that were the focus of investigation in acupuncture research using a bibliometric design. PsycINFO was the repository of literature for the current analysis since extant research on acupuncture is cross-disciplinary and international in scope. An online (any field) search in PsycINFO produced a pool of 1,064 references; of these, 840 were primary studies reported in peer-reviewed articles. The author reviewed each study and determined the main topic and focus of the article emphasized by the investigator(s) of each study. A runningtab, based on frequency counts across categories was maintained, producing a systematic ranking of major topics. The most emphasized investigatory area was by far central nervous system (CNS) physiology reflecting the neurobiological basis for acupuncture procedures (15% of dataset). Other major topical areas, representing from 5 to 8% of the reviewed articles, were: mechanisms of action in the peripheral nervous system, acceptance in the modern care milieu, depression states, substance abuse disorders, acupoints/meridians, and placebo-expectancy effects. A sizeable minority of acupuncture research covered clinical dysfunctions and investigatory areas (patient satisfaction, smoking cessation), outside the domain of pain conditions. The current analysis identified several areas of moderate research emphasis. There appears to be a dearth of acupuncture research on disorders that have mainly a psychological component, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive conditions, PTSD, and eating disorders. Methodological limitations of study were noted. Pain is a chief complaint in primary care visits (Gatchel et al., 2014, 2017; Turk & Melzack, 2011), but persistent, intense pain is the cause of much morbidity, mental stress, and human suffering which motivates the afflicted in search of relief. Moreover, recent national survey data indicate that over 10% of the U.S. population experience profound or persistent pain (

Projective techniques have been the target of extensive criticism, from both clinicians and acade... more Projective techniques have been the target of extensive criticism, from both clinicians and academicians, since the 1940s. However, the last two decades have witnessed a steady stream of rather reviled and condescending commentary directed largely on the lack of psychometric credibility of individual projective methods. The intent of the current study is to determine whether this collective movement, evident in the scholarly literature, against projective techniques has had a deleterious impact on test usage worldwide. To that end, the author identified, through an extensive literature review, published survey research that reported on test usage patterns from 1995-2015. The 28 identified studies served as the data pool to ascertain the extent of use of projective instruments within the context of psychological tests available to mental health practitioners. Around 70% of the sample was from the USA, but other countries (e.g.,

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

Journal of Educational Technology Systems, Mar 1, 2015

There has been wide academic and research interest in the application of social media modalities,... more There has been wide academic and research interest in the application of social media modalities, as pedagogical tools, in higher education. Recent research indicates that business-related topics are a major focus of study on this emerging educational issue. Yet a systematic review of outcome studies regarding instructional Web 2.0 adaptations in business education has not appeared. To chart, the contemporary landscape of scholarly research in this area, the current study (a) identified, based on a keyword search in the ProQuest database, the key empirically based studies on the business education-social media nexus and (b) summarized the major findings of a subset of these studies ( n = 11) with a focus on views of business students and faculty. The main social media tools used in instruction were Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and YouTube. Although a majority of studies reported positive attitudes by students regarding academic applications of Web 2.0 technologies, faculty views were more tepid and reserved. Transgression of “socializing” during academic interactivity, privacy issues, and data overload were the major drawbacks noted by students. Faculty were most concerned about the vast breadth of social media modalities and the lack of training support in emerging interactive-mobile technology. Future research needs to address the views of business school administrators on educational adaptation of Web 2.0 tools.

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal office building in Oklahoma City in 1995 remains the ... more The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal office building in Oklahoma City in 1995 remains the most devastating act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. This review focuses on the major research findings on posttraumatic stress responses of both victims and the general population in the affected area, the effects on children, and the coping reactions of emergency services personnel in the aftermath of the tragedy.

North American Journal of Psychology, Aug 1, 2015

With the advent of the new millennium, survey findings confirmed a high degree of educational emp... more With the advent of the new millennium, survey findings confirmed a high degree of educational emphasis with projective techniques in both clinical/professional psychology programs and internship settings (Belter & Piotrowski, 2001; Childs & Eyde, 2002; Meyer et al., 2001; Mihura & Weinle, 2002). However, more recent survey data, on the extent of training emphasis in assessment in graduate professional training programs, point to a precipitous decline in instruction with projective techniques within the last 5 years (Neukrug et al., 2013). In fact, Ready and Veague (2014), in a survey of APA-accredited programs regarding training in assessment, found that no projective methods were ranked in the top 10 most popular tests. These findings clearly indicate a very recent de-emphasis in graduate-level instruction with projective techniques. At the same time, extensive review of studies of applied settings indicate that projective techniques continue to be relied upon and considered a valuable clinical tool by practicing psychologists. For example, Piotrowski (2015), in an analysis of 28 survey-based studies worldwide, reported that at least one projective test was noted among the top 5 tests used in practice in 50% of these reports. Additionally, the Rorschach, H-F-Ds, sentence completion methods, and the TAT were ranked among the top 15 tests in all but 3 of these 28 studies. Despite these disparate findings of training versus practice settings, bibliometric analysis of the recent psychological literature (conducted in the database PsycINFO) reveals a total of 2,943 references on projective techniques, including 1,746 articles in academic and professional journals (from 2008-2012). Thus, what could account for this apparent moribund state with regard to the rapid decline in educational emphasis with projective assessment in clinical/professional training programs? This commentary aims to discuss several pedagogic, editorial preference, critical review, and professional practice factors that can be attributed to the diminutive status of projective techniques in professional graduate-level instruction. Managed Care Policy By the mid-1990s, changes in mental health care policies had a profound impact on professional psychology practice (Phelps et al., 1998). The untoward effect was that reimbursement and time constraints significantly impacted the extent and availability of psychological testing, particularly reliance on traditional assessment batteries (Wood et al., 2002). Research has shown a stark shift in focus on 'brief and short-form testing instruments, with a concomitant decrease in the clinical use of projective techniques (Piotrowski, 1999; Stedman et al., 2001). Most projective tests are individually administered and, moreover, protocol scoring, interpretation, and assessment report integration can be rather time-consuming for the clinician. Thus, faculty members responsible for clinical training in assessment have gradually shifted away from tests that do not meet a time-sensitive threshold in practice. With the exception of specialty-based practice such as forensic assessment (Weiner & Otto, 2013), restrictive mental health administrative policies have limited authorized clinical use of projective assessment over the past 20 years. Professional Psychology Curriculum At the turn of the century, studies of APA-accredited professional doctoral training programs revealed that projective testing was a major required clinical competency, although training emphasis in this area was expected to decline in the near future (Belter & Piotrowski, 2001; Cashel, 2002; Handler & Smith, 2013). At the same time, attitudes toward projective tests by directors of internship training were relatively positive and opportunities for advanced training on select projective tests was an expected function of the internship experience (Piotrowski & Belter, 1999; Stedman et al., 2002). …

North American Journal of Psychology, Sep 1, 2019

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

Clinicians need to be cognizant of the influence that an individual's occupation can have on asse... more Clinicians need to be cognizant of the influence that an individual's occupation can have on assessment results. Since business personnel can have an acumen for creativity, responses obtained from projective testing may be mediated by the creative potential of the individual tested

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

This Editorial proffers that AI will have a major impact on personality assessment, including eva... more This Editorial proffers that AI will have a major impact on personality assessment, including evaluation with projective techniques.

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

Clinical testing data and reports based on the Rorschach have applications in neuropsychological ... more Clinical testing data and reports based on the Rorschach have applications in neuropsychological assessment. This study reports on scholarship that supports this assertion.

Journal of Projective Psychology, 2025

The study of psychological trauma and associated stressors has attracted extensive scholarly atte... more The study of psychological trauma and associated stressors has attracted extensive scholarly attention in the social sciences. The current investigation utilized a bibliometric approach to examine current topical investigatory coverage across 3 prominent journals in the field of trauma psychology: Traumatology, Journal of Traumatic Stress, and Psychological Trauma. The main focus was to determine topical areas that attract sparse coverage in these publications in recent years. The content analysis identified copious topics that represent less than 1% of the peer-reviewed studies across the 3 datasets of journal references. Most noteworthy: acute stress disorder, poly-trauma, mass/school shootings, the disabled, catastrophizing, sexual harassment, divorce, poverty, and pre-existing conditions. These findings should a) illuminate our understanding of under-studied areas in trauma research, b) promote the use of multi-database search strategies during the literature review process, and c) provide a catalyst and descriptive framework for further bibliometric research on the sub-field of trauma psychology.

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2024

A review of the mental health literature clearly indicates that both clinicians and researchers h... more A review of the mental health literature clearly indicates that both clinicians and researchers have, for many decades, considered various projective measures as suitable and pragmatic assessment instruments in the mental health evaluation of children. The aim of the current study is to present a brief overview of recent scholarship reflected in this body of literature on projective assessment with child samples, based on a bibliographic analysis. To that end, a comprehensive search of the database PsycINFO identified 250 peer-reviewed articles with a focus on projective tests and children. Of these, the author selected 38 studies or key references cited in these publications. Based on an aggregated analysis of this contemporary bibliographic dataset (2000-2022, inclusive), the author contends that projective techniques have been found to have empirical support for critical clinical issues such as the ability to reveal latent psychodynamics, identify cognitive deficits, and differentiate select diagnostic groups in children and pediatric populations. These attributes of projective measures are a key feature in the assessment of children, where issues such as developmental milestones, social adaptations, emotion regulation, and verbal expression are central clinical challenges. A select historical bibliography of key studies and books is provided.

Bibliometric studies, particularly content analysis methodologies, of the extant literature can p... more Bibliometric studies, particularly content analysis methodologies, of the extant literature can provide a snapshot on the nature, scope, and breadth of a select body of knowledge available in scholarly repositories. Although several bibliometric studies regarding the field of Personality Assessment have appeared, few have reported on an exploratory 'topical' analysis on the main subject areas or domains across a pool of studies over time. The current study is an initial attempt to address this gap in the literature by conducting a content analysis of research studies published in the Journal of Personality Assessment(JPA) over the past 10 years. The major aim is to determine the scope and breadth of investigatory topical areas most emphasized by researchers during this time frame (not on individual tests or assessment instruments under study). An online search in PsycINFO identified a total of 750 articles in JPA from 2009 to 2018; of these, 677 were determined to be 'primary' articles (comments, replies, erratum, editorials were excluded) and served as the data-set for the analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified34 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top researched topics were: personality disorders, statistical approaches/methods analysis, models/theory, construct validation, scoring issues/response format, 5-factor/Big 5, interpersonal factors, brief tests/short forms, therapeutic assessment, and cross-national test adaptations. Moreover, a myriad of highly salient topics in the clinical literature received limited investigatory attention in JPA (e.g., Computer report narratives, substance abuse, suicide potential, stress syndromes, Dark Triad, assessment of the elderly, well-being). Overall, this descriptive analysis confirms that the field of personality assessment is robust in scope and reflects varied research interests, yet the breadth of investigatory and/or perhaps editorial topical interest could be expanded to include diverse clinical areas. These exploratory findings should be considered tentative since the study results are based on the scholarly content of only one journal in the field. Future bibliometric studies would benefit by examination of the extant literature, indexed across multidisciplinary scholarly databases, on the general subject area of personality assessment.

The Covid-19 pandemic is attracting an exponential volume of scholarly output across most academi... more The Covid-19 pandemic is attracting an exponential volume of scholarly output across most academic fields. Yet little is known about the breadth and scope of the research literature and structure of published scholarship on this pandemic. The current study addresses this issue by conducting a content analysis of research studies (i.e., articles, references) already indexed in the social sciences database PsycINFO. This bibliometric analysis should shed some light regarding the major focus areas of study on COVID-19 by researchers in the field of Psychology. An online search, restricting notation of the term COVID-19 in the Abstract, produced a total of 1,824 references (including comments, editorials). Of these, the first 1,200 studies served as the dataset for the current analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified 31 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top 10 researched topics were: Mental health (in general), Tele-health, mental health services, health care workers, the elderly, neurological factors, physical distancing, research protocols, measures on COVID-19, and mitigation issues. Moreover, a myriad of salient topics was largely neglected by researchers (e.g., loneliness, domestic violence, child abuse, home-schooling, unemployment). These findings are limited by restricting the reference pool to scholarship reported in a social science database. Future bibliometric study on COVID-19 should include medically-oriented repositories of research (e.g., Medline). The current findings are exploratory in nature with the sole intent to present an overview on the scope and breadth of topical focus regarding scholarly research on COVID-19.

There is a dearth of bibliometric studies regarding the general field of Psychological Assessment... more There is a dearth of bibliometric studies regarding the general field of Psychological Assessment which report on investigatory emphasis based on 'topical' analysis of subject areas or domains across a pool of studies over time. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by conducting a content analysis of research studies (i.e., articles) published in the APA journal, Psychological Assessment (PA) over the past 10 years. The major aim was to determine the scope and breadth of investigatory topical subject areas that are the major focus of study by researchers (not on individual tests or assessment instruments under study). PsycINFO indexes a total of 1273 peer-reviewed articles in PA from 2010 to 2019; of these, 1221 were determined to be primary articles (comments, replies, erratum, & editorials were excluded) and served as the dataset for the analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified 43 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top 10 researched topics were: statistical approaches/methods analysis, psychopathy, models/theory, informant/3 rd party evaluations, anxiety/phobias, IQintelligence factors, risk assessment, cross-national comparisons, PTSD, and depression. Moreover, a myriad of subject areas received limited investigatory attention in PA. Overall, this descriptive analysis confirms that the field of psychological assessment is robust in scope and reflects varied research interests, yet the breadth of investigatory and/or perhaps editorial topical coverage could be expanded to reflect salient, highlyresearched areas noted in the general clinical literature. In addition, compared to the major topical areas indexed in the Journal of Personality Assessment (see Piotrowski, 2019), the journal Psychological Assessment has more emphasis in several areas, i.e., 3 rd party/informant reports, anxiety/phobias, intelligence, and risk assessment.

The intent of the current study is to determine whether this collective movement has had a delete... more The intent of the current study is to determine whether this collective movement has had a deleterious impact on the popularity of drawing methods in graduate training programs and professional usage worldwide. To that end, the author identified survey-based research with regard to drawing techniques that reported on assessment training and test usage patterns from 1989-2015. The 60 identified survey-based or records-based studies served as the data pool(USA=47; Overseas nations=13). The analysis showed that 38 of the 60 studies (63%) reported that drawing tests were viewed positively in the USA and in some countries outside of Europe. However, a bifurcation trend between academic training and professional practice settings was noted. Drawing techniques were ranked 'moderately' high (amongst the top 15 tests) in terms of usage, in 23 of the 49 studies of practice settings. However, only one of the 11 studies of academic settings showed a high degree of training emphasis with drawing techniques. In professional settings, drawing methods appear to be somewhat popular in clinical psychology and school psychology practice, less so in forensic and counseling psychology, and largely ignored in neuropsychological assessment. On a cautionary note, this review observed a slight diminutive trend on the use of drawing tests in practice settings over the last five years. However, a bibliometric analysis of the extant literature indicated that research attention on specific drawing instruments remains undiminished over the past decade. Overall, these findings provide data-based evidence that drawing techniques have been a major assessment approach to a sizeable minority of practitioners who conduct psychological testing. At the same time, academic and internship programs have largely shunned drawing instruments in coursework and training. This perplexing discrepancy in training versus practice should provide a lively, scholarly forum for the assessment field. Finally, there is a need for additional research regarding graduate-level assessment training in countries outside the USA (Piotrowski, 2015b), due to the dearth of studies of academic settings overseas.

Instructional emphasis with projective methods has been an enduring and enigmatic feature of asse... more Instructional emphasis with projective methods has been an enduring and enigmatic feature of assessment training in professional and clinical psychology for the past 75 years. However, over the past decade, there has been diminishing instructional emphasis on individual projective methods in both academic and internship training. The purpose of this commentary is to

To address a void in the literature, the current study presents the results of a content analysis... more To address a void in the literature, the current study presents the results of a content analysis of published primary research on the topic of acupuncture, spanning the past 20 years (1998-2018). The aim was to identify the major issues that were the focus of investigation in acupuncture research using a bibliometric design. PsycINFO was the repository of literature for the current analysis since extant research on acupuncture is cross-disciplinary and international in scope. An online (any field) search in PsycINFO produced a pool of 1,064 references; of these, 840 were primary studies reported in peer-reviewed articles. The author reviewed each study and determined the main topic and focus of the article emphasized by the investigator(s) of each study. A runningtab, based on frequency counts across categories was maintained, producing a systematic ranking of major topics. The most emphasized investigatory area was by far central nervous system (CNS) physiology reflecting the neurobiological basis for acupuncture procedures (15% of dataset). Other major topical areas, representing from 5 to 8% of the reviewed articles, were: mechanisms of action in the peripheral nervous system, acceptance in the modern care milieu, depression states, substance abuse disorders, acupoints/meridians, and placebo-expectancy effects. A sizeable minority of acupuncture research covered clinical dysfunctions and investigatory areas (patient satisfaction, smoking cessation), outside the domain of pain conditions. The current analysis identified several areas of moderate research emphasis. There appears to be a dearth of acupuncture research on disorders that have mainly a psychological component, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive conditions, PTSD, and eating disorders. Methodological limitations of study were noted. Pain is a chief complaint in primary care visits (Gatchel et al., 2014, 2017; Turk & Melzack, 2011), but persistent, intense pain is the cause of much morbidity, mental stress, and human suffering which motivates the afflicted in search of relief. Moreover, recent national survey data indicate that over 10% of the U.S. population experience profound or persistent pain (

Projective techniques have been the target of extensive criticism, from both clinicians and acade... more Projective techniques have been the target of extensive criticism, from both clinicians and academicians, since the 1940s. However, the last two decades have witnessed a steady stream of rather reviled and condescending commentary directed largely on the lack of psychometric credibility of individual projective methods. The intent of the current study is to determine whether this collective movement, evident in the scholarly literature, against projective techniques has had a deleterious impact on test usage worldwide. To that end, the author identified, through an extensive literature review, published survey research that reported on test usage patterns from 1995-2015. The 28 identified studies served as the data pool to ascertain the extent of use of projective instruments within the context of psychological tests available to mental health practitioners. Around 70% of the sample was from the USA, but other countries (e.g.,

Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 2025

Journal of Educational Technology Systems, Mar 1, 2015

There has been wide academic and research interest in the application of social media modalities,... more There has been wide academic and research interest in the application of social media modalities, as pedagogical tools, in higher education. Recent research indicates that business-related topics are a major focus of study on this emerging educational issue. Yet a systematic review of outcome studies regarding instructional Web 2.0 adaptations in business education has not appeared. To chart, the contemporary landscape of scholarly research in this area, the current study (a) identified, based on a keyword search in the ProQuest database, the key empirically based studies on the business education-social media nexus and (b) summarized the major findings of a subset of these studies ( n = 11) with a focus on views of business students and faculty. The main social media tools used in instruction were Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and YouTube. Although a majority of studies reported positive attitudes by students regarding academic applications of Web 2.0 technologies, faculty views were more tepid and reserved. Transgression of “socializing” during academic interactivity, privacy issues, and data overload were the major drawbacks noted by students. Faculty were most concerned about the vast breadth of social media modalities and the lack of training support in emerging interactive-mobile technology. Future research needs to address the views of business school administrators on educational adaptation of Web 2.0 tools.

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal office building in Oklahoma City in 1995 remains the ... more The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal office building in Oklahoma City in 1995 remains the most devastating act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. This review focuses on the major research findings on posttraumatic stress responses of both victims and the general population in the affected area, the effects on children, and the coping reactions of emergency services personnel in the aftermath of the tragedy.

North American Journal of Psychology, Aug 1, 2015

With the advent of the new millennium, survey findings confirmed a high degree of educational emp... more With the advent of the new millennium, survey findings confirmed a high degree of educational emphasis with projective techniques in both clinical/professional psychology programs and internship settings (Belter & Piotrowski, 2001; Childs & Eyde, 2002; Meyer et al., 2001; Mihura & Weinle, 2002). However, more recent survey data, on the extent of training emphasis in assessment in graduate professional training programs, point to a precipitous decline in instruction with projective techniques within the last 5 years (Neukrug et al., 2013). In fact, Ready and Veague (2014), in a survey of APA-accredited programs regarding training in assessment, found that no projective methods were ranked in the top 10 most popular tests. These findings clearly indicate a very recent de-emphasis in graduate-level instruction with projective techniques. At the same time, extensive review of studies of applied settings indicate that projective techniques continue to be relied upon and considered a valuable clinical tool by practicing psychologists. For example, Piotrowski (2015), in an analysis of 28 survey-based studies worldwide, reported that at least one projective test was noted among the top 5 tests used in practice in 50% of these reports. Additionally, the Rorschach, H-F-Ds, sentence completion methods, and the TAT were ranked among the top 15 tests in all but 3 of these 28 studies. Despite these disparate findings of training versus practice settings, bibliometric analysis of the recent psychological literature (conducted in the database PsycINFO) reveals a total of 2,943 references on projective techniques, including 1,746 articles in academic and professional journals (from 2008-2012). Thus, what could account for this apparent moribund state with regard to the rapid decline in educational emphasis with projective assessment in clinical/professional training programs? This commentary aims to discuss several pedagogic, editorial preference, critical review, and professional practice factors that can be attributed to the diminutive status of projective techniques in professional graduate-level instruction. Managed Care Policy By the mid-1990s, changes in mental health care policies had a profound impact on professional psychology practice (Phelps et al., 1998). The untoward effect was that reimbursement and time constraints significantly impacted the extent and availability of psychological testing, particularly reliance on traditional assessment batteries (Wood et al., 2002). Research has shown a stark shift in focus on 'brief and short-form testing instruments, with a concomitant decrease in the clinical use of projective techniques (Piotrowski, 1999; Stedman et al., 2001). Most projective tests are individually administered and, moreover, protocol scoring, interpretation, and assessment report integration can be rather time-consuming for the clinician. Thus, faculty members responsible for clinical training in assessment have gradually shifted away from tests that do not meet a time-sensitive threshold in practice. With the exception of specialty-based practice such as forensic assessment (Weiner & Otto, 2013), restrictive mental health administrative policies have limited authorized clinical use of projective assessment over the past 20 years. Professional Psychology Curriculum At the turn of the century, studies of APA-accredited professional doctoral training programs revealed that projective testing was a major required clinical competency, although training emphasis in this area was expected to decline in the near future (Belter & Piotrowski, 2001; Cashel, 2002; Handler & Smith, 2013). At the same time, attitudes toward projective tests by directors of internship training were relatively positive and opportunities for advanced training on select projective tests was an expected function of the internship experience (Piotrowski & Belter, 1999; Stedman et al., 2002). …

North American Journal of Psychology, Sep 1, 2019