Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 02:47, 5 June 2007 editRyanGerbil10 (talk \| contribs)19,082 editsm Remove template per TfD, Replaced: {{LGAT}} → using AWB ← Previous edit		Revision as of 16:57, 6 June 2007 edit undoLsi john (talk \| contribs)6,364 edits WP:OR - none of these texts make either of these claims. These statements require the texts as emperical evidence to demonstrate the truth. hence, OR. Also this is about the book, not the term.Next edit →
Line 25:		Line 25:
	'''''Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Effects''''' is a ] ] book on ], published in 1990 by ]. The book was co-authored by ]s ], ], ], ], and ]. At the time of the book's publication, all of the researchers were associated with the Department of Psychology at the ], save Silver, a ] in the University's Program in ]<ref name="evaluating" />.		'''''Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Effects''''' is a ] ] book on ], published in 1990 by ]. The book was co-authored by ]s ], ], ], ], and ]. At the time of the book's publication, all of the researchers were associated with the Department of Psychology at the ], save Silver, a ] in the University's Program in ]<ref name="evaluating" />.

	The term ] had been used by ]s, ]s and academics in ] ] articles and ] books and ]s, prior to the study<ref name="lieberman">Lieberman, "Effects of Large Group Awareness Training on Participants' Psychiatric Status", ''American Journal of Psychiatry'' v 144 p 460-464, April 1987.</ref><ref>{{cite journal
	\| last = Finkelstein
	\| first = P.
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors = Wenegrat, B.; Yalom, I.
	\| title = Large Group Awareness Training
	\| journal = Annual Review of Psychology
	\| volume = 33
	\| issue =
	\| pages = 515-539
	\| publisher = ]
	\| date = 1982
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = {{ISSN\|0066-4308}}
	\| accessdate = }}
	</ref><ref name="Pettijohn">{{cite book
	\| last = Pettijohn
	\| first = Terri F.
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors = Charles G Morris,
	Eliot Shimoff, Charles Catania
	\| title = Annotated Instructor's Edition, Psychology an Introduction, 6th Ed.
	\| publisher = Prentice Hall
	\| date = 1988
	\| location =
	\| pages =
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = ISBN 0137345003}}<br>"A recent development has been the emergence of large-group awareness training. Erhard Seminar Training (EST) is one of the best known."</ref>. However, usage of the term continued and became more prevalent after the publication of ''Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training''<ref>{{Citation
	\| first = Charles Wayne
	\| last = Denison
	\| author-link =
	\| first2 =
	\| last2 =
	\| author2-link =
	\| editor-last =
	\| editor-first =
	\| editor2-last =
	\| editor2-first =
	\| contribution =
	\| contribution-url =
	\| title = Children of EST a Study of the Experience and Perceived Effects of a Large Group Awareness Training.
	\| year = 1994
	\| pages = ] Dissertation
	\| place =
	\| publisher = ]
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = }}
	</ref><ref name="denniscoon">{{cite book
	\| last = Coon
	\| first = Dennis
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors =
	\| title = Psychology: A Journey
	\| publisher = Thomson Wadsworth
	\| date = 2004
	\| location =
	\| pages = 520, 528, 538
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = ISBN 0534632645}}<br>"Large-group awareness training refers to programs that claim to increase self-awareness and facilitate constructive personal change. Lifespring, Actualizations, the Forum, and similar commercial programs are examples. Like the smaller groups that preceded them, large-group trainings combine psychological exercises, confrontation, new view-points, and group dynamics to promote personal change."</ref><ref>{{cite book
	\| last = Howard
	\| first = Martin
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors = Douglas Rushkoff
	\| title = We Know What You Want: How They Change Your Mind
	\| publisher = The Disinformation Company
	\| date = 2005
	\| location =
	\| pages =
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = ISBN 1932857052}}
	</ref><ref>{{cite book
	\| last = Lilienfeld
	\| first = Scott O.
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors = Steven Jay Lynn, Jeffrey M. Lohr, Helen M. Otley
	\| title = Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology
	\| publisher = Guilford Press
	\| date = 2003
	\| location =
	\| pages = 186
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = ISBN 1572308281}}
	</ref><ref name="tindale">{{cite book
	\| last = Tindale
	\| first = R. Scott
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors =
	\| title = Group Processes: Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology
	\| publisher = Blackwell Publishing
	\| date = 2001
	\| location =
	\| pages = 630
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = ISBN 1405106530}}<br>"EST, FORUM and LIFESPRING are all examples of LGATs, for members seek to improve their overall level of satisfaction and interpersonal relations by carrying out such experiential exercises as role-playing, group singing and chanting, and guided group interaction."</ref>.

	== Background ==		== Background ==
Line 297:		Line 196:
	\| id =		\| id =
	\| accessdate = }}		\| accessdate = }}
	</ref>, and Lieberman<ref name="lieberman" />.		</ref>, and Lieberman<ref name="lieberman">Lieberman, "Effects of Large Group Awareness Training on Participants' Psychiatric Status", ''American Journal of Psychiatry'' v 144 p 460-464, April 1987.</ref><ref>{{cite journal
			\| last = Finkelstein
			\| first = P.
			\| authorlink =
			\| coauthors = Wenegrat, B.; Yalom, I.
			\| title = Large Group Awareness Training
			\| journal = Annual Review of Psychology
			\| volume = 33
			\| issue =
			\| pages = 515-539
			\| publisher = ]
			\| date = 1982
			\| url =
			\| doi =
			\| id = {{ISSN\|0066-4308}}
			\| accessdate = }}
			</ref>.

	== Methods ==		== Methods ==

Revision as of 16:57, 6 June 2007

Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training
Book cover, 1990 ed.
Author	Roxane Cohen Silver Jack M. Chinsky Barry Goff Yechiel Klar Jeffrey D. Fisher
Language	English
Subject	Large Group Awareness Training, Psychology
Genre	non-fiction
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publication date	October 1990
Publication place	United States
Media type	Hardcover
Pages	142
ISBN	] Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character

Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Effects is a non-fiction psychology book on Large Group Awareness Training, published in 1990 by Springer-Verlag. The book was co-authored by psychologists Roxane Cohen Silver, Jack M. Chinsky, Barry Goff, Yechiel Klar, and Jeffrey D. Fisher. At the time of the book's publication, all of the researchers were associated with the Department of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, save Silver, a Ph.D. in the University's Program in Social Ecology.

Background

The book was based on a psychological study of "The Forum", a course at the time run by Werner Erhard and Associates, the company that commissioned the study. The results of the research study itself had been previously published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1989, by Fisher, et. al., and in 1990 in the same journal by Klar, et. al.

The study was conducted under an agreement between Werner Erhard and Associates and the researchers, which gave the researchers independence in research methods. The agreement itself is attached as an appendix to the work, and states: "The Forum Sponsor agrees to arrange for all payments for costs related to expenses in the following manner. The only specific fixed cost delineated by this agreement was "..piloting experimental procedures and developing a full proposal for subsequent research..", which was USD$88,000.

Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training provides a historical analysis of the research published in academic journals and books prior to the publication of the study. Notable studies analyzed and put into a methodological context by Fisher et. al. included those of Cinnamon, Rome, Brewer, Conway, Glass, Kirsch, Baer, Berger, Beit-Hallahmi, and Lieberman.

Methods

The book analyzed whether Large Group Awareness Training could be classified as psychotherapy, and also attempted to determine if these techniques are harmful, beneficial, or produce no effects to an individual's mental health. Participants were told that the psychologists were studying the "Quality of Life" in North America. These participants included men and women that had attended Werner Erhard and Associates' "The Forum" seminar in 1985, in a large city in the northeastern United States. Participants in the study were split into Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 was told to fill out a questionnaire both prior to and after completing their "Forum". Group 2 was told only to fill out the questionnaire after completing their Forum course.

Conclusions

The researchers concluded that attending The Forum had minimal lasting effects, positive or negative, on participants' self-perception. However, the researchers did briefly go over potential negative and positive affects of attending The Forum. The researchers did not find any negative effects on the test subjects that participated in their study. In an analysis of the possible positive outcomes, the researchers found that subjects "became more internally oriented."

The researchers found that subjects had some minor short-term positive effects perceived from the Large Group Awareness Training, but no noticeable longer term effects, stating: "In fact, with the exception of the short-term multivariate results for Perceived Control, there was no appreciable effect on any dimension which could reflect positive change."

Award

The research reported in Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training garnered the American Psychological Association's "National Psychological Consultants to Management Award", in 1989.

Referenced by other psychologists

The book was referenced in a college-level psychology course, "Developmental Effects of Participation in a Large Group Awareness Training", at the University of Minnesota. A 2005 study published by the British Psychological Society which analyzed the Landmark Forum course cited Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training for background on the Large Group Awareness Training phenomenon.

External links

Springer, Full citation of work, at official publisher's Web site.

References

^ Fisher, Jeffrey D. (1990). Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training. Springer-Verlag. p. 142. ISBN 0387973206 , ISBN 978-0387973203. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Page. vii. -- "The research reported in this volume was awarded the American Psychological Association, Division 13, National Consultants to Management Award, August 13, 1989."
Fisher, Jeffrey D. (1989). "Psychological effects of participation in a large group awareness training". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 57: 747–755. ISSN 0022-006X. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Klar, Yechiel (February 1990). "Characteristics of Participants in a Large Group Awareness Training". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 58 (1): 99–108. ISSN 0022-006X. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Cinnamon, K. (1979). Cults and cons: The exploitation of the emotional growth consumer. Chicago: Nelson Hall. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Rome, H.P. "Limits of the human mind". Psychiatric Annals. 7 (11): 11–32. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Brewer, M. "We're going to tear you down and put you back together". Psychology Today: 35–40, 82, 88-89. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Conway, Flo (1979). Snapping. Philadelphia: Lippincott. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Glass, L.L. "Psychiatric disturbances associated with Erhard Seminars Training: I. A report of cases". American Journal of Psychiatry. 134: 245–247. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Kirsch, M.A. "Psychiatric disturbances associated with Erhard Seminars Training: 2. Additional cases and theoretical considerations". American Journal of Psychiatry. 134: 1254–1258. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Baer, D.M. "A description of the Erhard Seminars Training (est) in the terms of behavioral analysis". Behaviorism. 6: 45–70. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Berger, F.M. "Awareness groups and psychiatry". Bioscience Communication. 3: 89–98. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. "The psychotherapy subculture: Practice and ideology". Social Science Information. 26: 475–492. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Lieberman, "Effects of Large Group Awareness Training on Participants' Psychiatric Status", American Journal of Psychiatry v 144 p 460-464, April 1987.
Finkelstein, P. (1982). "Large Group Awareness Training". Annual Review of Psychology. 33. Calvin Perry Stone: 515–539. ISSN 0066-4308. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Hughes, Steven J., "Developmental Effects of Participation in a Large Group Awareness Training", University of Minnesota, presented at "Educational, Instructional and School Psychology", Symposia: SY EDC (18) 4, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Rubinstein, Gidi (2005). "Characteristics of participants in the Forum, psychotherapy clients, and control participants: A comparative study". Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. 78 (4). British Psychological Society: 481–492. doi:10.1348/147608305X42721. ISSN 1476-0835. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Misplaced Pages