A Pilot Study Examining the Longer Term Stability of the Scientist-Practitioner Model of Training

Abstract

This study adds to the growing body of research on scientist and practitioner interests by empirically examining temporal stability as a function of experiences gained through the successful completion of a doctoral-level scientist-practitioner model-based training program in school or counseling psychology. Twenty-six participants, who completed the paper- and-pencil version of the Scientist Practitioner Inventory between 1996 and 2002 at the beginning of their doctoral program, recently completed an online version of the same inventory to measure their preinterest and postinterest in scientist and practitioner domains. At the pretesting and posttesting stages, school and counseling psychology students differed significantly in terms of practitioner interests. For the combined groups, pretesting and posttesting revealed a significant decrease for the scientist domain but not for the practitioner domain. No significant change occurred between preinterests and postinterests for individuals in the scientist or practitioner domains for school psychology or counseling psychology majors when tested separately. Findings from this study support the notion that scientist and practitioner interests are fairly stable over time and across experiences gained through training and professional roles.