How are you presently addressing the issues of transitivity and reciprocity.
How do you measure them with grids? How are you measuring the causal
reasoning of the client? Are you taking into account that the client may not
know the constraints and heuristics she uses in making attributions. I think
expert systems folks have run into this problem with modeling medical experts
constructions in many areas. This was one of the problems I had hoped
corresponding regressions could solve. What are the constructs that make up
the client or experts judgement of Wellness? Since so much expertise is
domain specific and intuitive, it is likely that you will do best having
clients rate real events/animals along many constructs and gradually narrow
down to the most salient.
Its a tough task because sensitive people are aware of more than they can put
into words, at least in an articulate manner. You may need to infer their
implicit judgements. Correlations between constructs can be a problem here
because they may reflect a kind of halo effect. The client may pull along a
lot of constructions that follow after a decision that has already been made.
This could make differential evaluations difficult, both for the psychologist
and for the client. People tend to believe their own rationalizations,
sometimes ignoring their actual decision making criteria/processes. In
principle, at least, my method of corresponding regressions should help here.
The problem is that you would need to ask the client to rate 30-50 elements
along what ever number of constructs you decide. You could use fewer elements
by pooling the grids from many clients, so long as they used the same
constructs. The elemens could differ. This would be useful if you were trying
to discover general paths of construction of clients as a group.
You might also try something like an implications grid (Hinkle). The trouble
with the imp grid is that ambiguities inevitably arise as a function of the
client's metacognition. A resistance to change grid may be useful, however.
Bannister and Mair's book discusses this, I think. Hinkle's dissertation also
used this, along with the imp grid.
You are embarking on one of the greatest adventures to which PCP may have
something novel to contribute. Solve the problems you have outlined and you
will help a lot of good people and their pets. My dog Molly-the-Black-Lab and
I wish you well.
Bill
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