Tuesday 1/30/01 7:49 p.m.
Good evening TIPSters,
I have been subscribed, here, for a good long time now and have even
posted a
couple of times, but I now realize I may have blundered by not
introducing myself. Please excuse me. I learned about lists via
computer
support lists and, to the best of my knowledge, personal introductions
are
not part of the etiquette there.
I am a psychologist, PhD, Michigan State University,
1970. I majored in experimental/mental retardation and minored in
developmental. I have always earned my living through applied
professional psychology, first in residential institutions for the
mentally retarded, then in independent practice the past 20 years. I
like to teach and many years ago I taught regularly in community
colleges, colleges, and universities as an adjunct staff member. My
salary as a full-time state facility psychologist was ample enough to
allow me to teach in my off hours for the pure enjoyment
of it. The comparatively small amount of money I earned I generally
spent on my
hobbies. When I went into independent practice I had to
actually support myself through fee for service and I found I could no
longer afford to teach. Teaching had always taken lot of time for
comparatively small remuneration. As an adjunct, I typically had to do
a full
preparation for each course, then teach it just one time which is one
of the reasons teaching as an adjunct is virtually out of the question
for me now.
At any rate, I have not lost my interest in teaching and enjoy
following the list. I teach my clients every day, do talks and
presentations from time to time, and many of my
current activities are highly relevant to teaching. For example, I
recently posted responses to a question asking if psychotherapy is
effective in treating major depression (yes, and manic-depression, and
other diagnoses too). A more recent question was the proximal stimulus
for this
Introduction. A few days ago Michael Sylvester asked, "Whatever became
of elicitation theory?" In a very real sense, elicitation theory lives
on in my theoretical work. I'll explain some of that in another post
responding directly to his.
I have a practice which is personally very satisfying. I am in joint
full-time practice with my wife, Judith B. Bachelder, MA, also full
time in our practices. She is an educator, elementary and special
education, Michigan
State University, 1967. She has her own caseload, here, helping kids do
better
in school. We sometimes work jointly on specific individuals. By and
large, my mornings are devoted to professional writing and my
afternoons and
evenings to client appointments. In between, Judi and I take a 10 or 15
mile ride on our tandem road bike.
My professional writing focusses on the development of span theory, a
theory of mental retardation, intelligence, and more. It is not well
known, but I think that is changing. I also work extensively on several
clinical matters, such as psychological formulations of "AD/HD" and
"learning disabilities" and critiques of psychiatric diagnostic
concepts and procedures. I have a particular interest in stress and its
effects on school learning and performance. So far, my writing in
clinical areas has been for regional professional conferences and the
usual local public service talks and is not available in journals.
Two of my projects promise to be especially relevant to classroom
teaching. One is to develop and evaluate some experiencial methods of
teaching basic measurement concepts and procedures, based on my
measures of immediate memory span. The idea is simple: administer a
memory span test to each member of the class (brief and about as
reliable as one wants to make it) then pool the data for analysis of
mean, standard deviation, correlation, variance, ANOVA, and probably
more. Associated lessons can focus on concepts of latent variables,
reliability, face validity, concurrent validity, and construct
validity, all keyed directly to data gathered in class on the students
themselves or other subjects. At advanced levels these data can be the
basis for a discussion of historical and contemporary theoretical
approaches to the span phenomena. Memory span tests have played a major
role both in intelligence testing and intelligence research, but also
in basic short-term-memory and working memory research.
A closely related project is the development of computer software to
assess Miller's three magical numbers, namely, memory span, span of
apprehension, and span of absolute judgment. I will use the software
for my own research, but I also will release it "Open Source" for use
in research and teaching. Span of absolute judgment is in "beta
testing" right now. That is, it works and is useful, but undoubtedly
has problems and
can be improved. Span of apprehension is well along, but not so usable
yet. Memory span is the least developed simply because the manual
methods are effective and sufficient for my current research plans.
Eventually, I would like to strike up a relationship with individuals
with similar interests to test these ideas in the classroom and
prepare manuscripts for publication in journals of teaching methods.
Well, there. I have introduced myself at some length. I look forward to
posting a comment or question from time to time.
Cordially,
Bruce L. Bachelder, PhD
Psychological & Educational Services
Morganton, NC 28655-3729
