The Effects of Level of Simulation upon Observers' Ratings of a Counselor in a Role-Played Interaction

Since the vicarious participation analogue is frequently used to provide modeling of appropriate counselor skills to beginning counselor trainees, this model and its various forms are of particular relevance to counselor training. An investigation was designed to examine the effects of the level of the simulation of a counseling session upon volunteer subjects' evaluations of a role-played counselor. Female counseling students (N=44) were randomly assigned to rate: (1) a videotaped counselor making interchangeable empathy responses to a client; (2) a videotaped counselor who made the same responses while the subject read a transcript of the clients' responses; (3) a live counselor making the identical responses while the subject read the client statements; or (4) the counselor from responses on a written transcript with no videotape observation or role-playing on the part of the subject. A second sample of 22 male counseling students were randomly assigned to conditions 1 and 4. The measures completed by subjects included the Counselor Rating Form, two scales from the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, a measure assessing the counselor's ability to help the client to explore her concerns, and a measure of overall counselor effectiveness. Multivariate analysis of variance of the data indicated no significant differences in ratings of counselor effectiveness for either level of simulation or sex of subject. (Author/NRB)