Book Announcement: Goal-Based Approaches to Assessment and Intervention with Addiction and Other Problems

W. Miles Cox and Eric Klinger are pleased to announce the publication of the 2nd edition of their Handbook of Motivational Counseling: Goal-Based Approaches to Assessment and Intervention with Addiction and Other Problems (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011; http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470749261.html).

As in the first edition, they strove for comprehensive coverage of empirically supported concepts and evidence on principles of motivation, the development of motivational problems, motivational assessment tools, and the most effective, evidence-based individual and group interventions. The new edition incorporates extensive new empirical research published in this rapidly evolving field. With its international team of contributors, the book constitutes the most comprehensive and updated guide to the nature of motivation, how motivational problems develop, how they can be identified, and how they can be corrected. In addition to the significant revision of all retained first-edition chapters to reflect recent developments--with concepts and applications that range from basic personality to clinical, work, and corrections settings--five chapters are new, encompassing motive-based approaches, motivational counseling with the dually diagnosed, cognitive and motivational retraining, meaning-centered counseling, and motivation in sport.

Book Announcement: The Shyness Workbook: 30 Days to Dealing Effectively With Shyness

Bernie Carducci, Director of the Shyness Research Institute and Professor of Psychology at Indiana University Southeast, recently had his book titled The Shyness Workbook: 30 Days to Dealing Effectively With Shyness translated and published in Danish by Dansk Psykologisk Forlag.

Comings and Goings: Christopher Nave

Christopher Nave is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, Camden.

Job Announcement: Post-doctoral Positions at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are currently seeking 1-2 Ph.D.-level researchers to serve as data analysts on a large-scale, longitudinal research project concerning character development, psychological well-being, and work outcomes.  Applicants must have thorough knowledge and experience in applied statistics and quantitative research methodology. 

The analyst will work with researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and government personnel.  They will be responsible for compiling and organizing data in a way that supports the testing of various hypotheses, analyzing and reporting results based on evaluation questions identified by the team, and translating analytic findings into take-away messages for the project’s key stakeholders.  The position may be multi-year depending upon the interests of the candidates and the needs of the research team.

To be considered for this position, applicants should go to http://employment.unl.edu, requisition number 110561 and complete the Faculty/Academic Administrative Form, attaching required documents.  Applicants will be expected to attach a cover letter, curriculum vitae and the names and contact information for three references.  Additionally, reference letters should be mailed to:  Dr. Peter Harms, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dept. of Management, 209 CBA, 1240 R Street, PO Box 880491, Lincoln, NE 68588-0491.  Applications will be considered until the positions are filled.  For specific questions about the application process, please email mngtsearch@unl.edu.

The University of Nebraska has an active National Science Foundation ADVANCE gender equity program, and is committed to a pluralistic campus community through affirmative action, equal opportunity, work-life balance, and dual careers.

Comings and Goings: Joshua Jackson

Joshua Jackson is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Comings and Goings: Ryne Sherman

Ryne Sherman is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University.

Job Announcement: Florida Atlantic University

The Department of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University invites applications for a tenure track position beginning August 2012 in Experimental Psychology, Area Open (Position#991847). We welcome applications from researchers who apply advanced quantitative methodologies to the analysis of data from any of the following areas of research: Behavioral Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Social Psychology. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain a productive, externally funded research program, and to teach graduate and undergraduate-level courses in advanced quantitative methods, in addition to courses in one of the content areas listed above.

The application deadline is November 30, 2011.

Comings and Goings: Jennifer Lodi-Smith

Jennifer Lodi-Smith is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Canisius College, in Buffalo, NY.

Book Announcement: Quantitative Models in Psychology

Robert McGrath announces the publication of his new book, Quantitative Models in Psychology.

Training in quantitative methods primarily involves studying the mechanics of statistics or, in other words, the "how" of data analysis. What is less studied is the "why," or the foundational theory underlying these concepts.

Using the organizing principle that quantitative methods are the building blocks of models, this book focuses on models of inference, models of measurement, and the modeling of psychological phenomena. Specifically, it presents inferential statistics and quantitative modeling of psychological phenomena; the logic and limits of null hypothesis significance testing; alternatives to significance testing, including confidence intervals, meta-analysis, and Bayesian methods; models of measurement error; latent-variable models; the mathematical qualities of quantitative variables; the modeling of psychological phenomena, including such concepts as moderation and mediation.

Book Announcement: The Longevity Project

Howard S. Friedman's new trade book, The Longevity Project, has recently received attention from major outlets including NPR's Talk of the Nation, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

The book's Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/h8NzQS) includes links to TV clips, radio shows, and print interviews. To read the book's Introduction, visit http://www.howardsfriedman.com/longevityproject/ . Also, a paperback edition, suitable for class use and costing only about $10, will be published in February 2012.

New Journal: Scientific Study of Literature

Dear Colleagues,

We are happy to announce the launch of a new journal, Scientific Study of Literature (SSOL). SSOL is the official journal of the International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature. Our purview is broad, including all cultural artefacts that make use of literary devices (e.g., narrativity, symbolism), including novels, poetry, theatre, film, television, and videogames. We welcome contributions from many disciplinary perspectives, including psychological, developmental, cross-cultural, cognitive, neuroscience, computational, and educational.

To learn more about our new journal, please visit our website: http://bit.ly/SSOLjournal

Sincerely,

EDITOR
Willie van Peer (w_vp@yahoo.com)

ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Max Louwerse (mlouwers@memphis.edu)
Joan Peskin (j.peskin@utoronto.ca)
Raymond A. Mar (mar@yorku.ca)

EDITORIAL BOARD

Markus Appel, University of Linz
Douglas Biber, Northern Arizona University
Marisa Bortolussi, University of Alberta
Gerald Cupchik, University of Toronto
Peter Dixon, University of Alberta
Richard Gerrig, Stony Brook University
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., University of California at Santa Cruz
Rachel Giora, University of Tel Aviv
Arthur C. Graesser, University of Memphis
Melanie C. Green, University of North Carolina
Frank Hakemulder, University of Utrecht
David Ian Hanauer, Indiana University Pennsylvania
James W. Pennebaker, University of Texas
David S. Miall, University of Alberta
Keith Oatley, University of Toronto
Mary Beth Oliver, Penn State
Steven Pinker, Harvard University
David N. Rapp, Northwestern University
Margrit Schreier, Jakobs University Bremen
Reinhold Viehoff, University of Halle
Peter Vorderer, University of Mannheim
Joris van Zundert, Huygens Institute, The Netherlands
Rolf A. Zwaan, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Call for Programs: ARP Conference

Building on the success of the first standalone meeting in 2009, the ARP Program Committee is soliciting abstracts for presentations at the 2nd Biennial Meeting of the Association for Research in Personality, which is scheduled to take place Thursday, June 16, to Saturday, June 18, 2011, in Riverside, California. The program will include a provocative slate of invited speakers as well as symposium and posters selected in response to this open call. More details of the meeting can be found at the following URL: http://www.personality-arp.org/riverside1.html
The ARP Executive Board recently drafted a white paper—“The Grand Challenges of Personality and Individual Differences for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science”—that was developed and submitted in response to a call from the National Science Foundation. The full text of the white paper can be found on the ARP website. In short, the Board identified the key, broad questions in the psychological study of personality as follows:

1. What are the primary dimensions of personality and ability, and how can they best be measured?
2. What are the origins of these individual differences?
3. What are the psychological processes that underlie individual differences in personality?
4. To what degree and in what ways is personality stable, variable, and changeable across the lifespan?
5. What are the behavioral implications of personality and how do these implications vary with situational circumstances?
6. What are the long‐term implications of personality for important life outcomes and how do these implications vary according to the nature of physical, social and cultural environment?

Although there is no official “theme” for this upcoming meeting, these Grand Challenges are presented here to inspire prospective presenters. The overriding goal of the Program Committee is to develop a slate of presentations that broadly reflects the diversity of basic questions facing our discipline, including (but not limited to) these six.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PRESENTERS
Two formats are available for submissions: Symposia and Posters. The Program Committee will make a final selection of presentations based on quality, balance of content, and diversity, broadly speaking, in the overall conference program. Submissions not accepted for oral presentation will be considered for presentation as individual posters unless the authors stipulate otherwise. The first author is expected to give the oral presentation or be available at the poster.
Symposia
Symposia are 90 minutes in length and include presentations from a maximum of 4 speakers, including an optional discussant, on a related topic. Thus, typical symposia will be comprised of 3 talks plus a discussant or 4 talks with no discussant; however, symposia with fewer speakers are permitted as well. In planning a symposium, please allow sufficient time for audience questions and discussion. Submissions must include (a) names and contact information for the chairperson(s), all presenters, and the discussant (if applicable), (b) a symposium title and overarching abstract of no more than 200 words, and (c) individual abstracts (200 words max) for each talk to be included in the symposium. Please address in the overarching abstract how Q&A/discussion will be integrated into the symposium.
Poster PresentationsPoster submissions may include presentations of works that are either complete or in progress (e.g., studies for which data collection is well under way, but for which full results are not yet available at the time of submission). Submissions must include (a) names and contact information for all authors, (b) presentation title, and (c) an abstract of no more than 200 words describing the rationale, methods, results, and implications of the work to be presented.
Graduate student poster presenters may elect to have their abstracts considered for the Rising Stars Symposium, which will provide the opportunity for the top poster authors to present their work orally rather than by poster. To be considered for the Rising Stars Symposium, presenters must describe a completed project and submit an extended abstract of no more than 1,000 words (which can include tables, figures, and references) detailing the rationale, methods, results, and implications of the work. Presenters also must submit a current CV. Rising Stars will be selected by the Program Committee based on the quality of the work described in the abstract and the quality of their academic records. Potential candidates must be enrolled in graduate school at the time of abstract submission.
Number of SubmissionsThere is no limit to the number of submissions on which a presenter may be an author. However, anyone submitting an abstract may be first author on only one oral presentation (discussant roles are exempted from this limit). There is no limit to the number of first-authored poster abstract submissions.
Submission WithdrawalsIf it is necessary to withdraw a submission, please notify the Program Chair as soon as possible.
Abstract Submission Details and DeadlineThe deadline for all abstract submissions is January 21, 2011. Please prepare your submission using the appropriate abstract templates. For the symposium template, click here. For the poster template, click here. Submit all materials via email to arp2011submissions@gmail.com. Please follow the templates: Abstracts that do not follow the template will be returned to authors.