Paul Lees-Haley - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Paul Lees-Haley
Environment and Behavior, 1993
This article reports on the relationship between outcome knowledge regarding an environmental eve... more This article reports on the relationship between outcome knowledge regarding an environmental event and self-reported fear of future illness. A sample of 95 subjects in three conditions showed that outcome knowledge increases post event likelihood estimations, thus indicating a hindsight bias. Subjects' perceived likelihood of increases in disease rate is shown to substantially predict subjects' level of fear of future illness for both cancer and no cancer disease. Demographic variables of gender, political ideology, and attitude toward environmental activism were shown to have mixed results in predicting fear of future illness. Positive attitude toward environmental activism modesty predicted fear of cancer but not fear of noncancer disease. Political ideology failed to significantly predict fear of future illness, although it showed a trend toward significance for predicting fear of cancer. Gender significantly predicted fear of noncancer disease but not fear of cancer, wi...
Psychological Reports, 1992
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992
Reactions to chemical exposures often include fears of future illness, cancerphobia, reports of m... more Reactions to chemical exposures often include fears of future illness, cancerphobia, reports of multiple chemical sensitivity, and other ill-defined complaints. Frequently, these complaints occur at levels of exposure not known to cause physiological harm. Although frequently dismissed as hysterical or hypochondriacal reactions, these complaints, along with other indefinite symptoms, may be better understood in terms of biases in perception and reporting. In this paper, we outline various sources of perceptual and response biases including prior beliefs, the media, influential others, reconstructed personal histories, self-perceptions, and the forensic environment. It is recommended that a thorough understanding of symptom-reporting and psychological distress following a chemical exposure involves consideration of these issues.
Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 2001
Female and male subjects read one of three scenarios depicting a social-sexual interaction betwee... more Female and male subjects read one of three scenarios depicting a social-sexual interaction between a man and a woman. The scenarios varied in severity of the stimulus male's behavior according to whether sexual harassment had occurred. Subjects then rated the offensiveness of his behavior and whether it constituted sexual harassment. Subjects also rated the stimulus male's behavior on Weiner's (1986) three basic dimensions of causality: locus of causality, or the perceived cause of the behavior as internal or external; stability, or the likelihood of its recurrence; and controllability, or the amount of volitional influence he exercised during the interaction. Additionally, subjects reported their anger at the target male and sympathy for the target female. Findings generally indicated that for both women and men, as the scenarios increased in severity, these ratings were elevated. Gender comparisons also showed elevations in these ratings for female but not for male subjects, and only in the scenarios of lesser severity. Regression analyses revealed attribution variables-control, stability, and anger-as reliable predictors of perceived offensiveness and harassment in the most severe scenario, whereas affects were the most reliable predictors in scenarios of lesser severity. The implications of these findings for perception of sexual harassment are discussed. The study of sexual harassment has been described as an interdisciplinary endeavor involving law, sociology, organizational psychology, and social psychology (Brewer & Berk, 1982). Investigations from these fields have focused on various factors related to sexual harassment including conditions associated with persons' vulnerability to unwanted sexual attention, physical contact, coercion, intimidation, or other forms of social-sexual behavior occurring in the workplace (e.g., Mynatt & Allgeier, 1990; Tangri, Burt, & Johnson, 1982); the perception or labeling of social-sexual behaviors as harassment (e.g., Baker, 'We thank Andrew Baum, Sandra Graham, Bernard Weiner, and two anonymous reviewers *Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Paul R. Lees-Haley, 5445 for helpful comments on an earlier draft.
Organophosphates are among the most commonly used and most toxic pesticides. They act directly on... more Organophosphates are among the most commonly used and most toxic pesticides. They act directly on the nervous system by inhibiting the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Organophosphates evoke a consistent pattern of physical symptoms. They also have acute psychological and behavioral effects, such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairments. Research suggests that moderate levels of acute poisoning may cause persistent problems. Long-term psychological effects of low-level exposure, however, have not been determined satisfactorily. Some research has documented cognitive and emotional deficits due to chronic exposure to organophosphates, but not all studies have found ill effects. To date, psychologists have played only a small role in studying the psychological effects of organophosphates, despite the substantial contribution their expertise could make.
Assessment
Converging lines of evidence suggest that attorneys are influencing data relied upon by psycholog... more Converging lines of evidence suggest that attorneys are influencing data relied upon by psychological experts in forensic cases. This is a problem because a consequence of attorney prompting may be invalid expert opinions that mislead rather than inform the trier of fact. Attorneys influence psychological data by a variety of means. They advise their clients how to respond to psychological tests, make suggestions of what to tell examining psychologists and what to emphasize, and lead patients not to disclose certain information important to psychologists. The purpose of this article is to alert psychologists to a growing threat to the validity of psychological and neuropsychological evaluations in forensic matters. Several examples of attorney preparation of clients for examinations are described.
Three primary purposes: 1) Measure the extent to which effort accounts for the statistical varian... more Three primary purposes: 1) Measure the extent to which effort accounts for the statistical variance in neuropsychological tests. 2) Identify the best predictor of test performance among several independent variables, including measures of effort, age, education, and diagnosis. 3) Determine the degree of influence that effort has on ability test scores in contrast to brain injury severity and neurological disease.
The first purpose of the current study was to measure the extent to which effort affects the stat... more The first purpose of the current study was to measure the extent to which effort affects the statistical variance in neuropsychological tests and also in symptom reporting scales in a large clinical sample of people undergoing neuropsychological assessment for purposes of evaluating eligibility for financial compensation. A second purpose was to identify the best predictor of test performance among several possible predictors, including measures of effort and also other variables, such as intelligence, age and diagnosis. The analysis included a ranking of several effort measures for predictive power. Finally, a third purpose was to rank several clinical measures in terms of their apparent sensitivity or vulnerability to suboptimal effort.
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 2001
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 1999
NeuroRehabilitation, 2001
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 2001
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 1999
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 2003
Psychological Reports, 1991
This paper presents a scale for using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 for the d... more This paper presents a scale for using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 for the detection of malingerers in personal injury claims. Data are reported for personal injury claimants and for medical outpatients simulating emotional distress caused by motor vehicle accidents, industrial stress, and toxic exposure. Criterion problems are discussed. The answers and scored directions are presented in an appendix to the paper.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1978
Attempts to utilize Davis' (1975) How Do You Think? test with a population familiar with psycholo... more Attempts to utilize Davis' (1975) How Do You Think? test with a population familiar with psychological testing drew criticism of the test's format and led to improvements in format and in scoring procedures. Subjects pointed out that the answer scales are unclear and not necessarily logical. Instead of Davis' answers for the first HDYT scale, the following answers are substituted: 1) definitely not me, 2) tends to not apply to me, 3) in between, 4) tends to apply to me, 5) definitely applies to me. For Davis' second scale these answers are substituted: 1) false, 2) probably false, 3) don't know or neutral, 4) probably true, 5) true. As a labor saving device, the numbers "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" respectively, are substituted for Davis' answer labels of "a, b, c, d, e." Using the numerical code, the scorer needs only to change the fours to twos (and vice versa) and the fives to ones (and vice versa) on the eighteen negatively scored items, and then to sum all of the numbers on the page in order to arrive at the score. Using the numerical system each subject's score can be obtained by hand scoring in only a couple of minutes. REFERENCE DAVIS, G. A. In frumious pursuit of the creative person. Journal of Creatiue Behauior, 1975, (9) (2).
Environment and Behavior, 1993
This article reports on the relationship between outcome knowledge regarding an environmental eve... more This article reports on the relationship between outcome knowledge regarding an environmental event and self-reported fear of future illness. A sample of 95 subjects in three conditions showed that outcome knowledge increases post event likelihood estimations, thus indicating a hindsight bias. Subjects' perceived likelihood of increases in disease rate is shown to substantially predict subjects' level of fear of future illness for both cancer and no cancer disease. Demographic variables of gender, political ideology, and attitude toward environmental activism were shown to have mixed results in predicting fear of future illness. Positive attitude toward environmental activism modesty predicted fear of cancer but not fear of noncancer disease. Political ideology failed to significantly predict fear of future illness, although it showed a trend toward significance for predicting fear of cancer. Gender significantly predicted fear of noncancer disease but not fear of cancer, wi...
Psychological Reports, 1992
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992
Reactions to chemical exposures often include fears of future illness, cancerphobia, reports of m... more Reactions to chemical exposures often include fears of future illness, cancerphobia, reports of multiple chemical sensitivity, and other ill-defined complaints. Frequently, these complaints occur at levels of exposure not known to cause physiological harm. Although frequently dismissed as hysterical or hypochondriacal reactions, these complaints, along with other indefinite symptoms, may be better understood in terms of biases in perception and reporting. In this paper, we outline various sources of perceptual and response biases including prior beliefs, the media, influential others, reconstructed personal histories, self-perceptions, and the forensic environment. It is recommended that a thorough understanding of symptom-reporting and psychological distress following a chemical exposure involves consideration of these issues.
Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 2001
Female and male subjects read one of three scenarios depicting a social-sexual interaction betwee... more Female and male subjects read one of three scenarios depicting a social-sexual interaction between a man and a woman. The scenarios varied in severity of the stimulus male's behavior according to whether sexual harassment had occurred. Subjects then rated the offensiveness of his behavior and whether it constituted sexual harassment. Subjects also rated the stimulus male's behavior on Weiner's (1986) three basic dimensions of causality: locus of causality, or the perceived cause of the behavior as internal or external; stability, or the likelihood of its recurrence; and controllability, or the amount of volitional influence he exercised during the interaction. Additionally, subjects reported their anger at the target male and sympathy for the target female. Findings generally indicated that for both women and men, as the scenarios increased in severity, these ratings were elevated. Gender comparisons also showed elevations in these ratings for female but not for male subjects, and only in the scenarios of lesser severity. Regression analyses revealed attribution variables-control, stability, and anger-as reliable predictors of perceived offensiveness and harassment in the most severe scenario, whereas affects were the most reliable predictors in scenarios of lesser severity. The implications of these findings for perception of sexual harassment are discussed. The study of sexual harassment has been described as an interdisciplinary endeavor involving law, sociology, organizational psychology, and social psychology (Brewer & Berk, 1982). Investigations from these fields have focused on various factors related to sexual harassment including conditions associated with persons' vulnerability to unwanted sexual attention, physical contact, coercion, intimidation, or other forms of social-sexual behavior occurring in the workplace (e.g., Mynatt & Allgeier, 1990; Tangri, Burt, & Johnson, 1982); the perception or labeling of social-sexual behaviors as harassment (e.g., Baker, 'We thank Andrew Baum, Sandra Graham, Bernard Weiner, and two anonymous reviewers *Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Paul R. Lees-Haley, 5445 for helpful comments on an earlier draft.
Organophosphates are among the most commonly used and most toxic pesticides. They act directly on... more Organophosphates are among the most commonly used and most toxic pesticides. They act directly on the nervous system by inhibiting the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Organophosphates evoke a consistent pattern of physical symptoms. They also have acute psychological and behavioral effects, such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairments. Research suggests that moderate levels of acute poisoning may cause persistent problems. Long-term psychological effects of low-level exposure, however, have not been determined satisfactorily. Some research has documented cognitive and emotional deficits due to chronic exposure to organophosphates, but not all studies have found ill effects. To date, psychologists have played only a small role in studying the psychological effects of organophosphates, despite the substantial contribution their expertise could make.
Assessment
Converging lines of evidence suggest that attorneys are influencing data relied upon by psycholog... more Converging lines of evidence suggest that attorneys are influencing data relied upon by psychological experts in forensic cases. This is a problem because a consequence of attorney prompting may be invalid expert opinions that mislead rather than inform the trier of fact. Attorneys influence psychological data by a variety of means. They advise their clients how to respond to psychological tests, make suggestions of what to tell examining psychologists and what to emphasize, and lead patients not to disclose certain information important to psychologists. The purpose of this article is to alert psychologists to a growing threat to the validity of psychological and neuropsychological evaluations in forensic matters. Several examples of attorney preparation of clients for examinations are described.
Three primary purposes: 1) Measure the extent to which effort accounts for the statistical varian... more Three primary purposes: 1) Measure the extent to which effort accounts for the statistical variance in neuropsychological tests. 2) Identify the best predictor of test performance among several independent variables, including measures of effort, age, education, and diagnosis. 3) Determine the degree of influence that effort has on ability test scores in contrast to brain injury severity and neurological disease.
The first purpose of the current study was to measure the extent to which effort affects the stat... more The first purpose of the current study was to measure the extent to which effort affects the statistical variance in neuropsychological tests and also in symptom reporting scales in a large clinical sample of people undergoing neuropsychological assessment for purposes of evaluating eligibility for financial compensation. A second purpose was to identify the best predictor of test performance among several possible predictors, including measures of effort and also other variables, such as intelligence, age and diagnosis. The analysis included a ranking of several effort measures for predictive power. Finally, a third purpose was to rank several clinical measures in terms of their apparent sensitivity or vulnerability to suboptimal effort.
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 2001
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 1999
NeuroRehabilitation, 2001
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 2001
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 1999
Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 2003
Psychological Reports, 1991
This paper presents a scale for using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 for the d... more This paper presents a scale for using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 for the detection of malingerers in personal injury claims. Data are reported for personal injury claimants and for medical outpatients simulating emotional distress caused by motor vehicle accidents, industrial stress, and toxic exposure. Criterion problems are discussed. The answers and scored directions are presented in an appendix to the paper.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1978
Attempts to utilize Davis' (1975) How Do You Think? test with a population familiar with psycholo... more Attempts to utilize Davis' (1975) How Do You Think? test with a population familiar with psychological testing drew criticism of the test's format and led to improvements in format and in scoring procedures. Subjects pointed out that the answer scales are unclear and not necessarily logical. Instead of Davis' answers for the first HDYT scale, the following answers are substituted: 1) definitely not me, 2) tends to not apply to me, 3) in between, 4) tends to apply to me, 5) definitely applies to me. For Davis' second scale these answers are substituted: 1) false, 2) probably false, 3) don't know or neutral, 4) probably true, 5) true. As a labor saving device, the numbers "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" respectively, are substituted for Davis' answer labels of "a, b, c, d, e." Using the numerical code, the scorer needs only to change the fours to twos (and vice versa) and the fives to ones (and vice versa) on the eighteen negatively scored items, and then to sum all of the numbers on the page in order to arrive at the score. Using the numerical system each subject's score can be obtained by hand scoring in only a couple of minutes. REFERENCE DAVIS, G. A. In frumious pursuit of the creative person. Journal of Creatiue Behauior, 1975, (9) (2).