A comment on Marshall: Monkey see, monkey do.

Abstract

Marshall points out numerous problems associated with graduate studies in psychology, and in particular, clinical training programmes at Canadian universities. Two observations are central to Marshall's arguments: 1. too few doctoral level clinical psychologists pursue research following graduation, and 2. there are problems with the current clinical training programme curriculum. Marshall believes there is a direct causal relationship between these two events.TOO FEW DOCTORAL LEVEL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS PURSUE A RESEARCH CAREER FOLLOWING GRADUATIONMarshall summarizes the goals of graduate studies in psychology and the scientist/practitioner model for clinical training as: 1. to inform students of current relevant knowledge; 2. to teach them to apply such knowledge; and 3. to train them to be researchers. Marshall feels recent graduates have not lived up to the third goal. The data, albeit sparse and probably unrepresentative, seem to support Marshall's view that few clinical psychologists seem to be involved in research (e.g., Hunsley & Lefebvre, 1990). As Marshall indicates, whether or not this is a problem is another issue. Disagreement on the interpretation, value, and even viability of the third goal has been debated for some time (e.g., Rotter, 1973; Albee, 1970).If the proliferation and popularity of applied professional training programmes (i.e., Psy.D programmes) in the United States is any indication, many psychologists would still seem to dispute the merits or viability of this goal. Nevertheless Marshall seems to assume that most students enter Canadian programmes with a keen interest to pursue a research career of their own. He underestimates the number of students with purely professional career goals who enter Ph.D programmes because there no Psy.D programmes in Canada. This debate aside, Marshall's definition of the problem is not inappropriate, because most Canadian clinical psychology training programmes have adopted the scientist/practitioner model. Similarly, Marshall dismisses lack of opportunity in the employment setting as a possible reason for the problem. He feels that if students were imbued with enthusiasm for research they would find ways to overcome unsupportive work environments. Just as teaching load affects research productivity, clinical case load has a significant effect on a working clinical psychologist's degree of involvement in research. This impediment to research is compounded by the difficulty which non - academic psychologists experience in obtaining major research funding. In my experience, many clinical psychologists have a keen interest in developing their own research programmes. For these psychologists, it is the absence of reasonable opportunity and not the absence of legitimate desire which limits research productivity.By creating research opportunities for clinicians, by creating more clinical research positions at applied institutions, by providing dedicated research time as part of clinical psychologists' job descriptions, and by appointing more joint - , cross - , or adjunct faculty between applied and academic or research settings, more clinical psychologists will achieve the goals of the scientist/practitioner model.The fact remains that Marshall believes a large part of the problem lies in the nature of the training programme. More specifically, Marshall believes that students' enthusiasm for research is killed by the thesis requirement. I agree with Marshall that there are problems with many current clinical training programmes. Unlike Marshall, I am not convinced that problems with graduate school curricula are entirely responsible for the failure of many clinical psychologists to include research in their jobs. Many graduates probably do not pursue research careers for reasons which are essentially extrinsic to graduate curricula.THE NATURE OF GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAMMESFor some psychologists, the nature of current training programmes no doubt has contributed to their lack of desire to become researchers. …