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Board certification in clinical

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BOARD CERTIFICATION IN CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
OXFORD WORKSHOP SERIES:
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CLINICAL
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Series Editors
Greg J. Lamberty, Editor-in-Chief
Ida Sue Baron
Richard Kaplan
Sandra Koffler
Jerry Sweet

Volumes in the Series


Ethical Decision Making in Clinical Neuropsychology
Shane S. Bush

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Postconcussion Syndrome:


The New Evidence Base for Diagnosis and Treatment
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Understanding Somatization in the Practice of Clinical Neuropsychology


Greg J. Lamberty

Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology:


A Guide to Becoming ABPP/ABCN Certified Without Sacrificing Your Sanity
Kira Armstrong, Dean W. Beebe, Robin C. Hilsabeck, and Michael W. Kirkwood
BOARD CERTIFICATION
IN CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
A Guide to Becoming ABPP/ABCN Certified
Without Sacrificing Your Sanity

Kira Armstrong, PhD, ABPP/CN


Dean W. Beebe, PhD, ABPP/CN
Robin C. Hilsabeck, PhD, ABPP/CN
Michael W. Kirkwood, PhD, ABPP/CN

■■■
OXFORD WORKSHOP SERIES

1
2008
3
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.

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Copyright © 2008 by Oxford University Press, Inc.

Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.


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Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press


All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Board certification in clinical neuropsychology : how to become board
certified without sacrificing your sanity / Kira Armstrong . . . [et al.].
p. cm. — (Oxford workshop series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-534134-8
1. Clinical neuropsychology—Certification—Study guides. I.
Armstrong, Kira.
RC386.6.N48S74 2008
616.80076—dc22 2008005895

Note: The book presents the views and opinions of the individual authors and does not necessarily
represent the policies and opinions of the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology.

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
We dedicate this book to our mentors, students, and colleagues
in BRAIN, whose experiences and wisdom form the backbone
of this book. We also thank our families and friends who have
supported us in our personal and professional journeys.
This page intentionally left blank
Prologue

The American Psychological Association (APA) has 148,000 members,


but only 3,000 psychologists are active and board certified through the
American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). This amounts to roughly
2% of active psychologists having attained specialty board certification. In
contrast, 694,438 physicians in the United States hold board certification
through one of the 24-member boards of the American Board of Medical
Specialties (ABMS).
There are 13 specialty boards that are members of ABPP, one of them being
the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN). As of early 2008,
there were 625 active board-certified specialists in clinical neuropsychology
as compared to the membership of the Division of Clinical Neuropsychology
(Division 40) of APA of roughly 4,000 members. This amounts to roughly
16% of those practicing clinical neuropsychology, a somewhat better pro-
portion than the estimated percentage of practicing psychologists overall.
Nevertheless, this is far below the desired goal of ABCN to have every eligi-
ble practicing clinical neuropsychologist board certified.
In discussing the benefits or lack thereof for specialty board certification
in clinical neuropsychology with colleagues and students, it has continu-
ally been my experience that there is a significant lack of understanding of
the rationale, policies, and procedures requisite to obtaining specialty board
certification. For one thing, these policies and procedures have changed sig-
nificantly over time since the founding of ABPP in 1947 and ABCN in 1981.
Change is to be expected as an examination process such as that for specialty
certification is a living undertaking, continually being adapted to the needs
of patients and those of the profession. Nevertheless, when outmoded notions
about what board certification means and how it is conducted persist, stu-
dents and independent professionals often feel estranged from a process that
no longer functions in the manner for which misconceptions may be held.
For example, ABPP used to have a requirement that practicing psychologists
had to be five years beyond the attainment of their doctorate to apply for
board certification. Although this requirement was dropped around 1985, it
is amazing how many individuals still hold that this requirement remains.

vii
The best way to address the possibility of persistent incorrect notions or
misconceptions is to make the contemporary examination process for board
certification as clear, transparent, and user friendly as possible. In the Board
Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology, Drs. Armstrong, Beebe, Hilsabeck,
and Kirkwood have done exactly that. The authors are all recently board cer-
tified in clinical neuropsychology and belonged to a group called “Be ready
for ABPP in Neuropsychology (BRAIN)” as candidates. BRAIN became, and
remains, a national resource and study group for candidates for board certi-
fication in clinical neuropsychology. Based on their experiences, with ques-
tions, uncertainties, misconceptions, rumors, and ambiguities, the authors
have put together this book to move candidates beyond common pitfalls and
unnecessary distractions in preparing for board examination.
Starting with something as simple as decoding commonly used acro-
nyms, the authors lay out the benefits of becoming board certified, the most
important of which is quality assurance of services to the public, and attempt
to address popular myths and misconceptions about the process. It guides
the reader through all necessary steps, beginning with how to complete the
application, how to prepare one’s credentials for review, how to get ready for
the written examination (including how to secure readily available resources
for review), how to prepare the practice sample and how to get ready for
the oral exam. As already mentioned, the authors have been through this
process themselves and they share their group experience and first-hand
knowledge about what steps are the most beneficial and what activities pro-
vide distraction or lead to misstep along the way.
I commend this fine volume to the reader’s attention and trust it will pro-
vide the support and assistance to make candidacy for board certification in
clinical neuropsychology as rewarding an experience as possible and to ren-
der the process user friendly and fluid. We all continue to aspire to the goal
of having most, if not all, qualified practitioners of clinical neuropsychology
achieve ABPP/ABCN board certification.

Linas A. Bieliauskas
Executive Director
American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology
Ann Arbor, Michigan

viii Prologue
Preface

This book reflects as much a process as it does a product. In fact, many of the
ideas presented can be traced to 2002, when about a dozen friends decided
to pursue board certification in clinical neuropsychology through the
American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). They had heard rumors,
some of which persist to this day, about how difficult and time consuming
the route to board certification was. So, they decided to approach the task
the same way they made it through graduate school—by joining forces and
dividing the work into smaller, more manageable parts. In the process, they
learned that becoming board certified, though no picnic, was not nearly as
painful as they had been led to believe. They began spreading the word and
inviting friends and colleagues to freely use and add to the resources that
the group had developed. Over time, this peer support group grew impres-
sively larger, and eventually developed its own website and email listserve.
You may now know this group as “BRAIN” (which stands for Be Ready for
ABPP in Neuropsychology).
BRAIN’s increasing membership made it clear that well-trained, board-
eligible neuropsychologists still sought resources to help them through the
certification process. BRAIN eventually became a standing committee of the
American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN), so that the efforts
of both groups could be combined. At around the same time that BRAIN
was growing and gaining more recognition, AACN and Oxford University
Press were developing the AACN Workshop Series. Consequently, we (the
authors of this book) were asked to draw upon our experiences as part of the
current leadership of BRAIN to write this “how to” book. The hope was that
by doing so we would create a book that could be used by readers such as
you (or your trainees) as a guide to effectively and efficiently achieve board
certification in clinical neuropsychology through ABPP (without, of course,
sacrificing your sanity!).
We cannot take full credit for the material in this book. In the truest
sense, the content stems from a collective wisdom that has developed every
time a peer, colleague, or trainee asked a question or contributed an idea
toward making the preparation process easier or more efficient. The many

ix
members of BRAIN have contributed most significantly to the tips and prep-
aration strategies you will read here. We do not have room to thank them
all individually, but we do want to gratefully acknowledge their input and
express our sincere appreciation for their ongoing devotion, collegiality,
optimism, and generosity in sharing ideas and volunteering their time to
help qualified neuropsychologists become board certified.
If you have additional study tips or ideas for improving this book, we
invite you to contact us. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to incor-
porate every recommendation into future revisions, but we assure you that
your ideas will be considered carefully. As you will read, we fervently believe
in the importance of ABPP certification in clinical neuropsychology and are
convinced that, by sharing the accumulated wisdom of successful candi-
dates, we will move toward our goal of having all qualified clinical neurop-
sychologists become boarded. We welcome your input and hope that you
find this book useful in your own pursuit of board certification. We believe
your work will be well worth the effort!

x Preface
Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
The Whos, the Whys, and (Some of) the Whats 3

Chapter 2 The Written Application and Credential Review


Taking the Plunge 27

Chapter 3 The Written Examination


Less Painful Than You Think 41

Chapter 4 The Practice Sample


Showcasing Your Clinical Talents 67

Chapter 5 The Oral Examination


One More Hurdle to Go 87

Chapter 6 Staying Motivated


Surviving Bumps in the Road 123

Epilogue 131

References 133

Index 135

About the Authors 139

xi
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BOARD CERTIFICATION IN CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
This page intentionally left blank
1
■■■

Introduction
The Whos, the Whys, and (Some of) the Whats

Welcome! We are so glad you decided to take this step toward board
certification in clinical neuropsychology or, if you are a supervisor, toward
preparing your trainees to take that step. This book has been written for
you. It provides support and down-to-earth advice for practicing neuropsy-
chologists who are pursuing board certification via the American Board of
Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN), a specialty board of the American Board
of Professional Psychology (ABPP). It also provides neuropsychology super-
visors and their trainees with information that will give a “leg up” on the
preparation process.
We (the authors) share the belief that the discipline of clinical neuropsy-
chology and the consumers of neuropsychological services are best served
by the board certification of qualified clinicians. We also know that quali-
fied clinicians, like you, lead busy lives and need practical information and
advice if you are to become board certified. Consequently, we take a decid-
edly pragmatic tone in this book.
Who are we and, more pointedly, why should you trust our advice? The
reasons are several. First, each of us completed ABPP/ABCN certification
only a few years before writing this book, so the preparation process and
the up-to-date procedures are still fresh in our minds. Second, collectively
we represent the full developmental spectrum of clinical neuropsychologi-
cal practice, from pediatric to geriatric. Third, each of us is experienced
in mentoring individual trainees and peers through the board certification

3
process. Fourth, our involvement in Be Ready for ABPP In Neuropsychology
(BRAIN), a board-preparation support network that we will tell you more
about later, has given us unique insight into successful and unsuccessful
preparation strategies. Finally, through personal and professional connec-
tions (mixed with a healthy dose of impetuousness and gall) we have been
able get the “inside scoop” on important aspects of the process.
In this introductory chapter, we will describe the multiple potential ben-
efits of board certification, followed by straight talk on some myths and
misinformation you may have encountered about ABPP/ABCN and the cer-
tification process. Our goal is to help you to appraise realistically how board
certification fits into your life and career plans. In this chapter you will also
find important resources that you can (and should) access to make this pro-
cess easier. Finally, we will introduce the rest of the book, which provides
step-by-step advice regarding the practical aspects of getting board certified
through ABPP/ABCN.
Before moving on, you should take a moment to look over Box 1.1. Within
the first pages of this chapter, we have already managed to throw three acro-
nyms at you: ABCN, ABPP, and BRAIN. Box 1.1 will help you sort through
these and the rest of the “alphabet soup” of acronyms and organizations
within neuropsychology—the “who’s who”—that you will encounter as you
pursue board certification.

Why Bother? The Benefits of Board Certification


Now that you know who’s who, it’s time to get to the “why” of the matter.
Simply stated, ABPP/ABCN board certification benefits the practitioner, the
profession, and the public. Box 1.2 summarizes some of these benefits.
We cannot guarantee that you will personally benefit from board certifi-
cation. We have no crystal ball, and the benefits you might receive once you
become certified will vary depending on your situation. Given our unpre-
dictable career paths, some of the benefits from board certification may not
be apparent for years. That being said, in our experience, every neuropsy-
chologist who has achieved ABPP/ABCN certification can point to multiple
personal benefits.

Benefits to the Practitioner


On a basic level, getting boarded could boost your income or job security.
The most recent neuropsychology salary survey (Sweet et al., 2006) showed
that ABPP/ABCN-certified neuropsychologists on average earn one-third

4 Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology


BOX 1.1 Alphabet Soup: Making Sense of the Acronyms
APA American Psychological Association. Founded in 1892, this is the dominant professional membership
and advocacy organization in professional psychology. As a membership organization, APA has relatively
minimal standards for entry, and consequently cannot be considered a strong credentialing body.

ABPP American Board of Professional Psychology. Created in 1947 with the support of the APA, ABPP
is the most highly respected credentialing board in professional psychology. It is composed of a
unitary governing body and 13 affiliated specialty boards linked to subdisciplines such as clinical
psychology, clinical health psychology, forensic psychology, rehabilitation psychology and, of course,
clinical neuropsychology.

ABCN American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology. Created in 1981, ABCN is the ABPP specialty board
responsible for developing and implementing the assessment procedures that are specific to ABPP
certification in clinical neuropsychology. Becoming board certified in clinical neuropsychology
involves passing the general requirements of ABPP and the specific requirements of ABCN. Because
these requirements are melded together, we will often refer to ABPP/ABCN together. Note that the
shared responsibilities of ABPP and ABCN can lead to somewhat confusing credentialing labels; you
will find that board-certified individuals denote this credential in different ways, including ABPP/
CN, ABPP-CN, or ABPP/ABCN. These acronyms all mean the same thing: board certified in clinical
neuropsychology by the ABCN and ABPP.

(continued)
BOX 1.1 Alphabet Soup: Making Sense of the Acronyms (Continued)

AACN American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology. Established in 1996, this is a membership


organization composed primarily of individuals who have been board certified by ABPP/ABCN.
Non-ABPP/ABCN-certified individuals also can apply to become “affiliate” members; affiliates cannot
vote but enjoy many of the same benefits as voting members. AACN is not the same as ABCN. In
fact, ABCN and AACN are legally separate because there is a potential conflict of interest when the
same body that is involved in credentialing is also involved in professional advocacy. ABCN handles
the specialty credentialing. AACN focuses on advocacy and education, including a yearly convention
that is open to all neuropsychologists (not just those who are board certified). If you are interested in
the history of ABCN and AACN, see Yeates and Bieliauskas (2004).

APPCN Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology. Created in 1992, this is a federation
of postdoctoral residency/fellowship programs that share a common mission: “to foster the develop-
ment of advanced postdoctoral education and training programs in clinical neuropsychology and to
establish standards for residency programs in clinical neuropsychology that lead to the development
of competency in this area of specialty practice.” All APPCN programs are led by an ABPP/
ABCN-certified clinical neuropsychologist and are intended to prepare trainees to pursue ABPP/
ABCN certification. Although you do not need to have an APPCN fellowship to pursue ABPP/ABCN
certification, it is good to know that they are designed to prepare you for the process. APPCN uses a
computerized trainee match program that also integrates many non-APPCN training programs.

ABPN American Board of Professional Neuropsychology and American Board of Pediatric


Neuropsychology. Neither ABPN nor ABPdN is part of ABPP. In a different context, ABPN is also the
acronym for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a specialty board in the American
Board of Medical Specialties. There is no affiliation between the medical version of ABPN and the
neuropsychology version of ABPN (or ABPdN or ABCN, for that matter).

ABPdN American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. An independent neuropsychology board that is not
affiliated with ABCN or ABPP.

BRAIN Be Ready for ABPP in Neuropsychology. This is a free peer support organization founded in the
early 2000s with the goal of helping qualified clinical neuropsychologists achieve ABPP/ABCN
certification. Three of us are founding members of BRAIN and all four held leadership positions in
the organization at the time we wrote this book.
BOX 1.2 Some Benefits of Board Certification
Benefits to the Practitioner Benefits to the Profession
• Better pay and job • Set standards for
satisfaction competence
• Job security • Uniform training
• Streamlined models for
credentialing
competence
• Preserved credentialing
• Increased breadth and
• License and practice
depth of knowledge base
mobility
of practitioners
• Prestige within
• Preserved self-regulation
profession
• Credibility in eyes of
Benefits to the Public
colleagues and referral
sources • Reduced confusion
• Renewed emphasis on • Quality assurance
learning

more and are significantly more satisfied with their income and job than
those who are not ABPP/ABCN certified. Obviously, income and job sat-
isfaction are dependent on a lot of factors, but board certification is one of
the best single predictors of both (Sweet et al., 2006). Furthermore, some
institutions specifically link bonuses and promotions to board certifica-
tion. Others require board certification or its timely pursuit as a condition of
employment. It appears that, if anything, more institutions are moving in
that direction, so board certification may one day be critical for your job and
salary, especially if you are relatively young in the profession.
Perhaps you have considered changing positions. ABPP/ABCN certifica-
tion may help here too, by streamlining the credentialing process at state
licensing boards, insurance companies, and professional practice networks.
Indeed, with increasingly restrictive criteria being used to join and main-
tain membership on some insurance panels, board certification can help
you to stand out. In addition, if you are considering a private practice, it is
worth knowing that some malpractice insurance policies offer discounts to
ABPP-certified psychologists.

8 Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology


ABPP/ABCN certification is intended to be a marker of competence in the
specialty area of clinical neuropsychology. In a field like neuropsychology,
where there is insufficient regulation of training and competence, board cer-
tification is an important means of identifying yourself as competent based
on having been examined using objective, rigorously defined methods. This
may lead to increased referrals from clinicians, families, and lawyers who
have come to trust board certification procedures, as well as increased cred-
ibility in both clinical and legal proceedings. On a personal level, if you
harbor deep dark doubts about a self-perceived shortcoming in your back-
ground (e.g., you did not get into the “right” graduate school, internship, or
postdoc), becoming ABPP/ABCN certified makes an unambiguous statement
that your knowledge and skill set in clinical neuropsychology can stand tall
next to some of the best in the field.
If you are involved in a training program, being board certified can help
you attract excellent candidates as well. Sure, there are celebrities in neu-
ropsychology who will attract great trainees even if they are not board cer-
tified. However, odds are that, marvelous as you are, you have not quite
reached celebrity status . . . yet. For you (like us) ABPP/ABCN certification
is important because savvy trainees seek out positions that are supervised
by board-certified neuropsychologists. Why? Consider the potential impact
of your board certification status on them. The value of your name on a stu-
dent’s vita or letter of recommendation is often based on your reputation.
Unless you are a celebrity in the field, your students may be applying to jobs
and placements where the reviewers have never heard of you. When faced
with tough decisions about evenly matched applicants, reviewers look at the
quality of former supervisors and recommenders. If you are an “unknown”
without board certification, your name may carry less weight than it may if
you are ABPP/ABCN certified.
If you work at a hospital or receive referrals from physicians, you can
bet that most of your medical colleagues already assume that you are board
certified. After all, they had to undergo their own stringent board certifica-
tion procedures. In this context, the fact that you are not board certified
may look odd. At the very least, you may have some explaining to do. Be
honest in your explanation—there is a rigorous board process in clinical
neuropsychology that is widely recognized and respected, even if you have
not yet pursued it. Sure, board certification has not penetrated psychology
as much as it has medicine, but clinical neuropsychology boarding has been
around for only 25 years, compared to over a century for medical boarding.

The Whos, the Whys, and (Some of) the Whats 9


Given its rapid expansion, we predict that board certification in clinical neu-
ropsychology will become the expected standard, as it has in the medical
subspecialties, within the span of your career.
Finally, in the process of becoming ABPP/ABCN certified, you will learn
a tremendous amount. Time limitations and practicality have no doubt dic-
tated that you focus on specific clinical populations in your training and
clinical work. Even the broad exposure that you received as a trainee is
prone to “getting stale” in areas you do not use regularly. In preparing for
board certification, you will be surprised by the things that you did not
know or that you mistakenly thought you knew. More sobering are the
things you will realize you probably should have known all along because
they are directly relevant to your daily work. This is the value of continuing
education. Pursuing board certification allows you to prioritize continuing
education in a way that is otherwise very difficult to do. Without a doubt,
you will end the process with more depth and breadth of knowledge than
when you started. Moreover, though it is hardly worth mentioning, you will
get several hours of American Psychological Association (APA)-approved CE
credit when you are done with the process, which is helpful when it is time
to renew your license or hospital privileges.

Benefits to the Profession and the Public


With rare exception (e.g., in the State of Louisiana), the term “neuropsychol-
ogist” has little legal protection. Almost any practicing psychologist can call
him or herself a neuropsychologist, and in some jurisdictions, even masters-
level clinicians might legally do so. Anyone who has been in the field long
enough has encountered reports from self-proclaimed “neuropsychologists”
who clearly lack the training and clinical acumen to work competently in
this specialized area. Ethics codes and legal mandates generally prohibit
practicing outside of one’s area of competence, but an uninformed clinician
is not in a position to “know what he or she does not know.” In addition, in
all but the most egregious cases, it is extremely difficult to prove that a clini-
cian has practiced outside of his or her boundaries of competence.
In the absence of a clear standard for specialty competence, the reputa-
tion of the profession is sullied whenever the title “clinical neuropsycholo-
gist” is paired with poor quality work. The profession is also vulnerable to
definitions from the outside (e.g., state bureaucrats) or from those whose
allegiances are more with their own financial security than with the good
of the public. An important way the profession can prevent this kind of

10 Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology


counterproductive meddling is by establishing and promoting objective, high
standards for specialty competence and a rigorous means of demonstrating
this competence via board certification. The profession also benefits when
there is some uniformity in its training models and when its members strive
for a comprehensive knowledge base. At the time we wrote this book, the
Houston Conference guidelines for training (Hannay et al., 1998) comprised
the single most widely recognized and respected training model in clinical
neuropsychology. ABCN is the only neuropsychology certifying organization
that has explicitly endorsed the Houston Conference guidelines for training.
Further, because clinicians who pursue board certification typically under-
take extensive continuing education, the process builds the field’s overall
breadth and depth of knowledge.
When you pursue board certification, you also join ABCN and ABPP
in their mission to protect public welfare. Aside from board certification,
John Q. Public has no way to distinguish a legitimate specialist from a ques-
tionable character. We have all been in a similar situation when we needed
a plumber, auto mechanic or other service professional, but the stakes are
much higher here. Neuropsychologists assist with key decisions about peo-
ple’s lives—the appropriate care of an elderly parent, the proper educational
setting for a brain-injured child, and so on—that have significant and last-
ing effects. An inadequately trained or skilled clinician poses a real risk
of not only being ineffective, but also actually hurting people. Objectively
verifiable board certification protects the public by designating individu-
als who have passed rigorous criteria for specialized competency (anyone
can look up providers at the public ABCN and ABPP web sites). Further, it
reduces public confusion by defining who we are as a profession, what our
background is, and what we do.
In short, board certification is good for the profession and good for the
public. By extension, when you, the competent neuropsychologist, pursue
and achieve ABPP/ABCN certification, you will strengthen the profession as
a whole and promote public welfare. Indeed, we believe that the profession
and public will be in the best position when, as with medical boards, board
certification becomes the accepted standard in clinical neuropsychology.

Myths, Distortions, and Plain Nonsense


Now that we have laid out the benefits of board certification, let us address
some of the potential deterrents. There is a lot of misinformation floating
around that we hope to set straight. Here’s what’s what.

The Whos, the Whys, and (Some of) the Whats 11


Myth 1: Nobody is board certified, so you don’t need to bother.
It is true that the discipline of psychology has been later than the discipline
of medicine to adopt board certification as the expected clinical credential
needed to practice. However, ABPP certification has been growing rapidly.
Moreover, the number of new certifications in the specialty of clinical neu-
ropsychology recently has either exceeded any other ABPP specialty, or been
a close second to the clinical psychology specialty, which has been recog-
nized longer and has a much larger potential applicant pool (Sweet, 2008).
Unless you plan to practice in a remote setting, many of your colleagues in
town (or your competitor!) are likely to become ABPP/ABCN certified soon,
if they are not already.
Myth 2: Board certification amounts to little more than a popular-
ity contest. Don’t confuse ABPP/ABCN certification with membership in a
“vanity board” or with “fellow” status in some professional societies. “Vanity
boards” have no meaningful standards for entry, and may even grow from
groups of friends nominating each other. Vanity boards have no positive role
in protecting the profession or public, and can in fact harm both. Fellow status
in a society is a legitimate professional honor, granted to people by virtue of
their reputations and past accomplishments, which for some academic psy-
chologists does not concern clinical practice at all. Nevertheless, obtaining
fellow status often involves peer nominations and a vote by society members
or board of directors. In contrast, ABPP/ABCN certification involves a well-
structured and objective four-step progression, which is outlined in Box 1.3.
Each of these steps will be discussed in considerable detail in their
respective chapters. For now, it is important to know that there are these
four steps, and that they are based upon what you know, not who you know
or your prior accomplishments (see also Myth 4).
Myth 3: All board certifications in clinical neuropsychology are
alike. This has probably been the most contentious topic facing the sub-
discipline for the past couple of decades. As of the time we wrote this book,
there were three boarding systems that provided credentials in clinical neu-
ropsychology: ABCN, American Board of Professional Neuropsychology
(ABPN) and the newest comer, American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology
(ABPdN). Of these, only ABCN is affiliated with ABPP. There are no rules pro-
hibiting anyone from becoming certified by more than one neuropsychology
board. However, all four of us are board certified solely through ABPP/ABCN.
Here are some of our reasons. First, we believe that ABPP/ABCN certification
is more desirable than certification through independent organizations. As

12 Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology


BOX 1.3 Steps of the ABPP/ABCN Certification Process

Four basic steps:


1. Initial application and credential review. You will submit
application materials that allow ABPP and ABCN to review
your background, training, licensure, and ethics history (if
any). The goal is to screen out people who are unlikely to
pass later steps.
2. Written examination. You will need to pass a 100-item
multiple-choice exam covering topics relevant to the
practice of clinical neuropsychology.
3. Practice sample review. You will submit two
neuropsychological evaluations that you have conducted,
including de-identified test protocols, data sheets, and
reports. This will be reviewed by 3 to 4 boarded
neuropsychologists and rated as “acceptable” or
“unacceptable.”
4. Oral examination. You will undergo an oral examina-
tion broken into three 1-hour segments: defense of prac-
tice samples, ethics/professional issues, and “fact-finding”
(a simulated evaluation process designed to look at your
clinical process and formulations).

Other important information about the process:


●There is a (liberal) time limit. Once you pass the initial
application and credential review, you have up to 7 years to
finish the remaining three steps.
●You can move on to the next step only after you pass the
earlier one. For example, you cannot have your practice
samples reviewed until you pass the written examination.
●After the initial application and credential review, you have
up to three chances to pass each step. For example, you can
take the written exam up to three times if needed. Even if
you stumble on all three attempts at a given step, you can
restart the process after the 7-year period has elapsed.

The Whos, the Whys, and (Some of) the Whats 13


one of 13 specialty boards within ABPP, ABCN is recognized and endorsed
by the largest, oldest, and most respected board certification organization
in professional psychology. Although the APA has not endorsed any specific
specialty board, ABPP is an outgrowth of the APA. Moreover, ABPP was
modeled after the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), which is
the dominant umbrella board for medical subspecialties. The steps in the
ABCN certification process closely parallel those of the medical specialty
boards, with similar pass rates as well (McSweeny et al., 2004).
Second, ABCN is the largest and most influential clinical neuropsychol-
ogy board. When we wrote this book, ABCN was at least twice the size of
other credentialing bodies in neuropsychology and also growing at a faster
rate. It had certified over 600 clinical neuropsychologists by the first half of
2007, which is more than twice the number that had been certified less than
a decade earlier. Furthermore, although ABCN focuses exclusively on the
board certification process, its sister organization, the American Academy of
Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN), is energetically involved in advocacy and
education, including a successful yearly convention that is open to all. Many
recognized leaders in the field of clinical neuropsychology (e.g., authors of
major neuropsychology texts, those holding elected office in neuropsychol-
ogy organizations) are ABCN certified.
Third, ABPP and ABCN have taken exceptional care to ensure the most
ethical credentialing process possible. Some examples of this will be listed
in our response to the next myth. For now, it is worth noting that even the
separation of ABCN (which sets and maintains board certification standards)
and AACN (which is a membership organization that charges dues and has
educational and advocacy missions) is intentional. Although the point can
be subtle, there is a potential conflict of interest when the same organization
that awards board certification is also involved in professional advocacy.
Myth 4: ABCN is an “old boys’ network.” One of the most widely
perpetuated myths is the belief that you have to be part of an “in” crowd
to become ABPP/ABCN certified. We cannot assure you enough that this
is false. In fact, great pains have been taken to ensure a fair assessment,
regardless of “who you know.” For example, of the four steps in the assess-
ment process, two (the written examination and practice sample review) are
scored completely “blind” to the candidate’s name, background, or affilia-
tion. There cannot be such blinding in the initial application and creden-
tial review but, as you will see in Chapter 2, this step is almost a “gimme”
for anyone with a reasonable background in clinical neuropsychology. In

14 Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology


addition, as described in Chapter 5, though it is impractical to “blind” the
face-to-face oral evaluation, there are well-defined procedures for avoiding
bias and conflict of interest during that step.
There are plenty of opportunities for you to appeal decisions or provide
feedback on the process. In fact, you can appeal an unfavorable decision
at any step. Moreover, your feedback will be solicited at all steps beyond
the initial application. For example, after the oral examination, you will get
a chance to anonymously rate the performance of your examiners and to
make suggestions for improvement of the examiners and the process. Don’t
worry; the examiners don’t get your feedback until after they have finalized
their ratings, so you need not fear negative repercussions.
As will be described in Chapter 4, ABCN has developed an automatic
appeal process for the practice samples that allows you to have an additional
review if your sample is not accepted. This helps ensure that you have not
fallen victim to an overly critical review. Finally, for the written examina-
tion, there is an ongoing reappraisal of the accuracy, writing, and psycho-
metric quality of individual items by practicing neuropsychologists and by
an independent test-development service (Professional Evaluation Service;
the same folks who run the national Examination for Professional Practice
in Psychology or EPPP).
If only everything in life was as self-consciously fair as the ABCN pro-
cess! Oh, and for those who think the “boys” part of “old boys’ network” is
still applicable, it may surprise you to know that about half of ABPP/ABCN-
certified individuals are women (Sweet et al., 2006).
Myth 5: Not passing a step in the ABCN process means you are incom-
petent or unqualified to practice neuropsychology, let alone become
board certified. This myth may have roots in the insecurity of individual
applicants, but unfortunately it has been fertilized by misleading statements
by some professionals, even in print (Rohling et al., 2003). ABPP/ABCN’s
central assertion that board-certified practitioners are competent clinical
neuropsychologists is not a statement about anyone who is not board certi-
fied. ABCN and ABPP draw no conclusions about those who have not been
board certified, for two very good reasons. First, it is understood that many
practicing clinical neuropsychologists have not yet attempted to become
board certified. Second, as you no doubt know from your own clinical work,
a single test performance is the product of many factors, only some of which
are of primary interest. For example, with the ABPP/ABCN oral examination,
you can imagine that anxiety or unfamiliarity with test procedures might

The Whos, the Whys, and (Some of) the Whats 15


play important roles. As a result, competent clinicians may get tripped up at
some step in the ABCN process (McSweeny et al., 2004).
That said, not passing a stage of the process can feel pretty disheartening.
Clinical neuropsychology is part of who you are, your identity. It’s probably
right after your name on your business card, your reports, and the wall out-
side your door. It is natural for you to pose hard questions if you—who may
not have been an academic superstar but who has always at least passed (for
crying out loud)—get feedback that you did not pass a step in the ABCN
process. If this happens to you, Chapter 6 can help get you through. In
the meantime, realize that no one else is questioning your competence, least
of all ABCN or ABPP. In fact, ABCN and ABPP will not release the names
of candidates until they have passed all four steps of the process and have
consequently become board certified. Moreover, when you take the written
and oral examinations, which are semi-public because you will see other
applicants, you will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality. That
statement prohibits revealing the identity of your fellow test-takers, in addi-
tion to specific information about test content. So, in terms of public embar-
rassment, no one else should know that you even attempted a given step in
the process unless you have told them, let alone how well you did.
Myth 6: Getting tripped up on one step will be held against you
later. As noted in Box 1.3, after you pass the initial credential review you
are allowed three tries at each step in the process before you are required to
start over completely. If you stumble on one of the steps, we strongly recom-
mend that you try again. The number of times that you attempt any given
step is never revealed to the examiners. Once you pass a step, you pass the
step, regardless of how many times you have attempted it. The flip side, of
course, is that there are no bonus points for doing really well on any given
step. The only exception, we suppose, are your practice samples. Since one-
third of the oral examination involves discussing your practice samples, that
part might be easier if your practice samples excel. Even so, the oral examin-
ers will have no idea if the practice samples they see are your first submission
or your third.
Myth 7: Only academic neuropsychologists are board certified. Why
would a strictly academic neuropsychologist waste their time and money?
Board certification in clinical neuropsychology is a clinical credential, not
an academic one. The primary benefits to the individual (e.g., insurance
credentialing, practice portability) are in the clinical realm. The ABCN
web site even notes that board certification may particularly benefit private

16 Board Certification in Clinical Neuropsychology


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
“The number of immigrants of all nations was 720,045 in 1881. Of
these 20,711 were Chinese. There is no record in the Bureau of
Statistics of the number who departed within the year. But a very
high anti-Chinese authority places it above 10,000. Perhaps the
expectation that the hostile legislation under the treaty would not
affect persons who entered before it took effect stimulated somewhat
their coming. But the addition to the Chinese population was less
than one seventy-second of the whole immigration. All the Chinese
in the country do not exceed the population of its sixteenth city. All
the Chinese in California hardly surpass the number which is easily
governed in Shanghai by a police of one hundred men. There are as
many pure blooded Gypsies wandering about the country as there
are Chinese in California. What an insult to American intelligence to
ask leave of China to keep out her people, because this little handful
of almond-eyed Asiatics threaten to destroy our boasted civilization.
We go boasting of our democracy, and our superiority, and our
strength. The flag bears the stars of hope to all nations. A hundred
thousand Chinese land in California and everything is changed. God
has not made of one blood all the nations any longer. The self-
evident truth becomes a self-evident lie. The golden rule does not
apply to the natives of the continent where it was first uttered. The
United States surrender to China, the Republic to the despot,
America to Asia, Jesus to Joss.
“There is another most remarkable example of this prejudice of
race which has happily almost died out here, which has come down
from the dark ages and which survives with unabated ferocity in
Eastern Europe. I mean the hatred of the Jew. The persecution of the
Hebrew has never, so far as I know, taken the form of an affront to
labor. In every other particular the reproaches which for ten
centuries have been leveled at him are reproduced to do service
against the Chinese. The Hebrew, so it was said, was not a Christian.
He did not affiliate or assimilate into the nations where he dwelt. He
was an unclean thing, a dog, to whom the crime of the crucifixion of
his Saviour was never to be forgiven. The Chinese quarter of San
Francisco had its type in every city of Europe. If the Jew ventured
from his hiding-place he was stoned. His wealth made him the prey
of the rapacity of the noble, and his poverty and weakness the victim
of the rabble. Yet how has this Oriental conquered Christendom by
the sublimity of his patience? The great poet of New England, who
sits by every American fireside a beloved and perpetual guest, in that
masterpiece of his art, the Jewish Cemetery at Newport, has
described the degradation and the triumph of these persecuted
children of God.
How came they here? What burst of Christian hate,
What persecution, merciless and blind,
Drove o’er the sea—that desert desolate—
These Ishmaels and Hagars of mankind?
They lived in narrow streets and lanes obscure,
Ghetto and Judenstrass, in mirk and mire;
Taught in the school of patience to endure
The life of anguish and the death of fire.

· · · · ·

Anathema maranatha! was the cry


That rang from town to town, from street to street;
At every gate the accursed Mordecai
Was mocked and jeered, and spurned by Christian feet.

Pride and humiliation hand in hand


Walked with them through the world where’er they went;
Trampled and beaten were they as the sand,
And yet unshaken as the continent.

Forty years ago—


Says Lord Beaconsfield, that great Jew who held England in the
hollow of his hand, and who played on her aristocracy as on an
organ, who made himself the master of an alien nation, its ruler, its
oracle, and through it, and in despite of it, for a time the master of
Europe—
Forty years ago—not a longer period than the children of Israel
were wandering in the desert—the two most dishonored races in
Europe were the Attic and the Hebrew. The world has probably by
this discovered that it is impossible to destroy the Jews. The attempt
to extirpate them has been made under the most favorable auspices
and on the largest scale; the most considerable means that man
could command have been pertinaciously applied to this object for
the longest period of recorded time. Egyptian Pharaohs, Assyrian
kings, Roman emperors, Scandinavian crusaders, Gothic princes,
and holy inquisitors, have alike devoted their energies to the
fulfillment of this common purpose. Expatriation, exile, captivity,
confiscation, torture on the most ingenious and massacre on the
most extensive scale, a curious system of degrading customs and
debasing laws which would have broken the heart of any other
people, have been tried, and in vain.
“Lord Beaconsfield admits that the Jews contribute more than
their proportion to the aggregate of the vile; that the lowest class of
Jews are obdurate, malignant, odious, and revolting. And yet this
race of dogs, as it has been often termed in scorn, furnishes Europe
to-day its masters in finance and oratory and statesmanship and art
and music. Rachel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Disraeli, Rothschild,
Benjamin, Heine, are but samples of the intellectual power of a race
which to-day controls the finance and the press of Europe.
“I do not controvert the evidence which is relied upon to show that
there are great abuses, great dangers, great offenses, which have
grown out of the coming of this people. Much of the evil I believe
might be cured by State and municipal authority. Congress may
rightfully be called upon to go to the limit of the just exercise of the
powers of government in rendering its aid.
“We should have capable and vigilant consular officers in the
Asiatic ports from which these immigrants come, without whose
certificate they should not be received on board ship, and who should
see to it that no person except those of good character and no person
whose labor is not his own property be allowed to come over.
Especially should the trade in human labor under all disguises be
suppressed. Filthy habits of living must surely be within the control
of municipal regulation. Every State may by legislation or by
municipal ordinance in its towns and cities prescribe the dimension
of dwellings and limit the number who may occupy the same
tenement.
“But it is urged—and this in my judgment is the greatest argument
for the bill—that the introduction of the labor of the Chinese reduces
the wages of the American laborer. ‘We are ruined by Chinese cheap
labor’ is a cry not limited to the class to whose representative the
brilliant humorist of California first ascribed it. I am not in favor of
lowering any where the wages of any American labor, skilled or
unskilled. On the contrary, I believe the maintenance and the
increase of the purchasing power of the wages of the American
working man should be the one principal object of our legislation.
The share in the product of agriculture or manufacture which goes to
labor should, and I believe will, steadily increase. For that, and for
that only, exists our protective system. The acquisition of wealth,
national or individual, is to be desired only for that. The statement of
the accomplished Senator from California on this point meets my
heartiest concurrence. I have no sympathy with any men, if such
there be, who favor high protection and cheap labor.
“But I believe that the Chinese, to whom the terms of the
California Senator attribute skill enough to displace the American in
every field requiring intellectual vigor, will learn very soon to insist
on his full share of the product of his work. But whether that be true
or not, the wealth he creates will make better and not worse the
condition of every higher class of labor. There may be trouble or
failure in adjusting new relations. But sooner or later every new class
of industrious and productive laborers elevates the class it displaces.
The dread of an injury to our labor from the Chinese rests on the
same fallacy that opposed the introduction of labor-saving
machinery, and which opposed the coming of the Irishman and the
German and the Swede. Within my memory in New England all the
lower places in factories, all places of domestic service, were filled by
the sons and daughters of American farmers. The Irishmen came
over to take their places; but the American farmer’s son and
daughter did not suffer; they were only elevated to a higher plane. In
the increased wealth of the community their share is much greater.
The Irishman rose from the bog or the hovel of his native land to the
comfort of a New England home, and placed his children in a New
England school. The Yankee rises from the loom and the spinning-
jenny to be the teacher, the skilled laborer in the machine shop, the
inventor, the merchant, or the opulent landholder and farmer of the
West.”

A letter from F. A. Bee, Chinese Consul, approving the


management of the estate, accompanied the report of the referee:
“Mr. President, I will not detain the Senate by reading the
abundant testimony, of which this is but the sample, of the
possession by the people of this race of the possibility of a
development of every quality of intellect, art, character, which fits
them for citizenship, for republicanism, for Christianity.
“Humanity, capable of infinite depths of degradation, is capable
also of infinite heights of excellence. The Chinese, like all other races,
has given us its examples of both. To rescue humanity from this
degradation is, we are taught to believe, the great object of God’s
moral government on earth. It is not by injustice, exclusion, caste,
but by reverence for the individual soul that we can aid in this
consummation. It is not by Chinese policies that China is to be
civilized. I believe that the immortal truths of the Declaration of
Independence came from the same source with the Golden Rule and
the Sermon on the Mount. We can trust Him who promulgated these
laws to keep the country safe that obeys them. The laws of the
universe have their own sanction. They will not fail. The power that
causes the compass to point to the north, that dismisses the star on
its pathway through the skies, promising that in a thousand years it
shall return again true to its hour and keep His word, will vindicate
His own moral law. As surely as the path on which our fathers
entered a hundred years ago led to safety, to strength, to glory, so
surely will the path on which we now propose to enter ring us to
shame, to weakness, and to peril.”
On the 3d of March the debate was renewed. Senator Farley
protested that unless Chinese immigration is prohibited it will be
impossible to protect the Chinese on the Pacific coast. The feeling
against them now is such that restraint is difficult, as the people,
forced out of employment by them, and irritated by their constantly
increasing numbers, are not in a condition to submit to the
deprivations they suffer by the presence of a Chinese population
imported as slaves and absorbing to their own benefit the labor of
the country. A remark of Mr. Farley about the Chinese led Mr. Hoar
to ask if they were not the inventors of the printing press and of
gunpowder. To this question Mr. Jones, of Nevada, made a brief
speech, which was considered remarkable, principally because it was
one of the very few speeches of any length that he has made since he
became a Senator. Instead of agreeing with Mr. Hoar that the
Chinese had invented the printing press and gunpowder, he said that
information he had received led him to believe that the Chinese were
not entitled to the credit of either of these inventions. On the
contrary, they had stolen them from Aryans or Caucasians who
wandered into the kingdom. Mr. Hoar smiled incredulously and
made a remark to the effect that he had never heard of those Aryans
or Caucasians before.
Continuing his remarks, Mr. Farley expressed his belief that
should the Mongolian population increase and the Chinese come in
contact with the Africans, the contact would result in demoralization
and bloodshed which the laws could not prevent. Pig-tailed
Chinamen would take the place everywhere of the working girl unless
Congress extended its protection to California and her white people,
who had by their votes demanded a prohibition of Chinese
immigration. Mr. Maxey, interpreting the Constitution in such a way
as to bring out of it an argument against Chinese immigration, said
he found nothing in it to justify the conclusion that the framers of it
intended to bring into this country all nations and races. The only
people the fathers had in view as citizens were those of the Caucasian
race, and they contemplated naturalization only for such, for they
had distinctly set forth that the heritage of freedom was to be for
their posterity. Nobody would pretend to express the opinion that it
was expected that the American people should become mixed up
with all sorts of races and call the result “our posterity.” While the
American people had, in consequence of their Anglo-Saxon origin,
been able to withstand the contact with the African, the Africans
would never stand before the Chinese. Mr. Maxey opposed the
Chinese because they do not come here to be citizens, because the
lower classes of Chinese alone are immigrants, and because by
contact they poison the minds of the less intelligent.
Mr. Saulsbury had something to say in favor of the bill, and Mr.
Garland, who voted against the last bill because the treaty had not
been modified, expressed his belief that the Government could
exercise properly all the powers proposed to be bestowed by this bill.
Some time was consumed by Mr. Ingalls in advocacy of an
amendment offered by him, proposing to limit the suspension of
immigration to 10 instead of 20 years. Mr. Miller and Mr. Bayard
opposed the amendment, Mr. Bayard taking the ground that
Congress ought not to disregard the substantially unanimous wish of
the people of California, as expressed at the polls, for absolute
prohibition. The debate was interrupted by a motion for an executive
session, and the bill went over until Monday, to be taken up then as
the unfinished business.
On March 6th a vote was ordered on Senator Ingalls’ amendment.
It was defeated on a tie vote—yeas 23, nays 23.
The vote in detail is as follows:
Yeas—Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, Brown, Cockrell, Conger,
Davis of Illinois, Dawes, Edmunds, Frye, Harris, Hoar, Ingalls,
Jackson, Lapham, McDill, McMillan, Mitchell, Morrell, Saunders,
Sewell, Sherman and Teller—23.
Nays—Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cameron of Wisconsin, Coke,
Fair, Farley, Garland, George, Hale, Hampton, Hill of Colorado,
Jonas, Jones of Nevada, McPherson, Marcy, Miller of California,
Miller of New York, Morgan, Ransom, Slater, Vest and Walker—23.
Pairs were announced between Davis, of West Virginia, Saulsbury,
Butler, Johnson, Kellogg, Jones, of Florida, and Grover, against the
amendment, and Messrs. Windom, Ferry, Hawley, Platt, Pugh,
Rollins and Van Wyck in the affirmative. Mr. Camden was also
paired.
Mr. Edmunds, partially in reply to Mr. Hoar argued that the right
to decide what constitutes the moral law was one inherent in the
Government, and by analogy the right to regulate the character of the
people who shall come into it belonged to a Government. This
depended upon national polity and the fact as to most of the ancient
republics that they did not possess homogeneity was the cause of
their fall. As to the Swiss Republic, it was untrue that it was not
homogeneous. The difference there was not one of race but of
different varieties of the same race, all of which are analogous and
consistent with each other. It would not be contended that it is an
advantage to a republic that its citizens should be made of diverse
races, with diverse views and diverse obligations as to what the
common prosperity of all required. Therefore there was no
foundation for the charge of a violation of moral and public law in
our making a distinction as to the foreigners we admit. He
challenged Mr. Hoar to produce an authority on national law which
denied the right of one nation to declare what people of other nations
should come among them. John Hancock and Samuel Adams, not
unworthy citizens of Massachusetts, joined in asserting in the
Declaration of Independence the right of the colonies to establish for
themselves, not for other peoples, a Government of their own, not
the Government of somebody else. The declaration asserted the
family or consolidated right of a people within any Territory to
determine the conditions upon which they would go on, and this
included the matter of receiving the people from other shores into
their family. This idea was followed in the Constitution by requiring
naturalization. The Chinaman may be with us, but he is not of us.
One of the conditions of his naturalization is that he must be friendly
to the institutions and intrinsic polity of our Government. Upon the
theory of the Massachusetts Senators, that there is a universal
oneness of one human being with every other human being on the
globe, this traditional and fundamental principle was entirely
ignored. Such a theory as applied to Government was contrary to all
human experience, to all discussion, and to every step of the
founders of our Government. He said that Mr. Sumner, the
predecessor of Mr. Hoar, was the author of the law on the coolie
traffic, which imposes fines and penalties more severe than those in
this bill upon any master of an American vessel carrying a Chinaman
who is a servant. The present bill followed that legislation. Mr.
Edmunds added that he would vote against the bill if the twenty-year
clause was retained, but would maintain the soundness of principle
he had enunciated.
Mr. Hoar argued in reply that the right of expatriation carried with
it the right to a home for the citizen in the country to which he
comes, and that the bill violated not only this but the principles of
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments which made citizenship
the birthright of every one born on our soil, and prohibited an
abridgement of the suffrage because of race, color, etc.
Mr. Ingalls moved an amendment postponing the time at which
the act shall take effect until sixty days after information of its
passage has been communicated to China.
After remarks by Messrs. Dawes, Teller and Bayard, at the
suggestion of Mr. Brown Mr. Ingalls modified his amendment by
providing that the act shall not go into effect until ninety days after
its passage, and the amendment was adopted.
On motion of Mr. Bayard, amendments were adopted making the
second section read as follows: “That any master of any vessel of
whatever nationality, who shall knowingly on such vessel bring
within the jurisdiction of the United States and permit to be landed
any Chinese laborer,” &c.
Mr. Hoar moved to amend by adding the following: “Provided,
that this bill shall not apply to any skilled laborer who shall establish
that he comes to this country without any contract beyond which his
labor is the property of any person besides himself.”
Mr. Farley suggested that all the Chinese would claim to be skilled
laborers.
Mr. Hoar replied that it would test whether the bill struck at
coolies or at skilled labor.
The amendment was rejected—Yeas, 17; nays, 27.
Mr. Call moved to strike out the section which forfeits the vessel
for the offense of the master. Lost.
Mr. Hoar moved to amend by inserting: “Provided that any laborer
who shall receive a certificate from the U.S. Consul at the port where
he shall embark that he is an artisan coming to this country at his
own expense and of his own will, shall not be affected by this bill.”
Lost—yeas 19, nays 24.
On motion of Mr. Miller, of California, the provision directing the
removal of any Chinese unlawfully found in a Customs Collection
district by the Collector, was amended to direct that he shall be
removed to the place from whence he came.
On motion of Mr. Brown an amendment was adopted providing
that the mark of a Chinese immigrant, duly attested by a witness,
may be taken as his signature upon the certificate of resignation or
registration issued to him.
The question then recurred on the amendment offered by Mr.
Farley that hereafter no State Court or United States Court shall
admit Chinese to citizenship.
Mr. Hawley, of Conn., on the following day spoke against what he
denounced as “a bill of iniquities.”
On the 9th of March what proved a long and interesting debate
was closed, the leading speech being made by Senator Jones (Rep.)
of Nevada, in favor of the bill. After showing the disastrous effects of
the influx of the Chinese upon the Pacific coast and answering some
of the arguments of the opponents of restriction, Mr. Jones said that
he had noticed that most of those favoring Chinese immigration were
advocates of a high tariff to protect American labor. But, judging
from indications, it is not the American laborer, but the lordly
manufacturing capitalist who is to be protected as against the
European capitalist, and who is to sell everything he has to sell in an
American market, one in which other capitalists cannot compete
with him, while he buys that which he has to buy—the labor of men—
in the most open market. He demands for the latter free trade in its
broadest sense, and would have not only free trade in bringing in
laborers of our own race, but the Chinese, the most skilful and
cunning laborers of the world. The laborer, however, is to buy from
his capitalist master in a protective market, but that which he himself
has to sell, his labor, and which he must sell every day (for he cannot
wait, like the capitalist, for better times or travel here and there to
dispose of it), he must sell in the openest market of the world. When
the artisans of this country shall be made to understand that the
market in which they sell the only thing they have to sell is an open
one they will demand, as one of the conditions of their existence, that
they shall have an open market in which to buy what they want. As
the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Dawes) said he wanted the
people to know that the bill was a blow struck at labor, Mr. Jones
said he reiterated the assertion with the qualification that it was not a
blow at our own, but at underpaid pauper labor. That cheap labor
produces national wealth is a fallacy, as shown by the home
condition of the 350,000,000 of Chinamen.
“Was the bringing of the little brown man a sort of counter balance
to the trades unions of this country? If he may be brought here, why
may not the products of his toil come in? Now, when the laborer is
allowed to get that share from his labor that civilization has decided
he shall have, the little brown man is introduced. He (Mr. Jones)
believed in protection, and had no prejudice against the capitalist,
but he would have capital and labor equally protected. Enlarging
upon the consideration that the intelligence or creative genius of a
country in overcoming obstacles, not its material resources,
constitutes its wealth, and that the low wages of the Chinese, while
benefiting individual employers, would ultimately impoverish the
country by removing the stimulant to create labor-saving machinery
and like inventions. Mr. Jones spoke of what he called the dearth of
intellectual activity in the South in every department but one, that of
politics.
“This was because of the presence of a servile race there. The
absence of Southern names in the Patent Office is an illustration. We
would not welcome the Africans here. Their presence was not a
blessing to us, but an impediment in our way. The relations of the
white and colored races of the South were now no nearer adjustment
than they were years ago. He would prophesy that the African race
would never be permitted to dominate any State of the South. The
experiment to that end had been a dismal failure, and a failure not
because we have not tried to make it succeed, but because laws away
above human laws have placed the one race superior to and far above
the other. The votes of the ignorant class might preponderate, but
intellect, not numbers, is the superior force in this world. We clothed
the African in the Union blue and the belief that he was one day to be
free was the candle-light in his soul, but it is one thing to aspire to be
free and another thing to have the intelligence and sterling qualities
of character that can maintain free government. Mr. Jones here
expressed his belief that, if left alone to maintain a government, the
negro would gradually retrograde and go back to the methods of his
ancestors. This, he added, may be heresy, but I believe it to be the
truth. If, when the first ship-load of African slaves came to this
country the belief had spread that they would be the cause of political
agitation, a civil war, and the future had been foreseen, would they
have been allowed to land?
“How much of this country would now be worth preserving if the
North had been covered by Africans as is South Carolina to-day, in
view of their non-assimilative character? The wisest policy would
have been to exclude them at the outset. So we say of the Chinese to-
day, he exclaimed, and for greater reason, because their skill makes
them more formidable competitors than the negro. Subtle and adept
in manipulation, the Chinaman can be put into almost any kind of a
factory. His race is as obnoxious to us and as impossible for us to
assimilate with as was the negro race. His race has outlived every
other because it is homogeneous, and for that reason alone. It has
imposed its religion and peculiarities upon its conquerors and still
lived. If the immigration is not checked now, when it is within
manageable limits, it will be too late to check it. What do we find in
the condition of the Indian or the African to induce us to admit
another race into our midst? It is because the Pacific coast favor our
own civilization, not that of another race, that they discourage the
coming of these people. They believe in the homogeneity of our race,
and that upon this depends the progress of our institutions and
everything on which we build our hopes.
Mr. Morill, (Rep.) of Vt., said he appreciated the necessity of
restricting Chinese immigration, but desired that the bill should
strictly conform to treaty requirements and be so perfected that
questions arising under it might enable it to pass the ordeal of
judicial scrutiny.
Mr. Sherman, (Rep.) of Ohio, referring to the passport system,
said the bill adopted some of the most offensive features of European
despotism. He was averse to hot haste in applying a policy foreign to
the habits of our people, and regarded the measure as too sweeping
in many of its provisions and as reversing our immigration policy.
After remarks by Messrs. Ingalls, Farley, Maxey, Brown and Teller,
the amendment of Mr. Farley, which provides that hereafter no court
shall admit Chinese to citizenship, was adopted—yeas 25, nays 22.
The following is the vote:
Yeas—Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cameron of Wisconsin, Cockrell,
Coke, Fair, Farley, Garland, George, Gorman, Harris, Jackson,
Jonas, Jones of Nevada, Maxey, Morgan, Pugh, Ransom, Slater,
Teller, Vance, Vest, Voorhees and Walker—25.
Nays—Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, Brown, Conger, Davis of
Illinois, Dawes, Edmunds, Frye, Hale, Hill of Colorado, Hoar,
Ingalls, Lapham, McDill, McMillan, Miller of New York, Mitchell,
Morrill, Plumb, Saunders and Sawyer—22.
Mr. Grover’s amendment construing the words “Chinese laborers,”
wherever used in the act, to mean both skilled and unskilled laborers
and Chinese employed in mining prevailed by the same vote—yeas
25, nays 22.
Mr. Brown, (Dem.) of Ga., moved to strike out the requirement
for the production of passports by the permitted classes whenever
demanded by the United States authorities. Carried on a viva voce
vote, the Chair (Mr. Davis, of Illinois) creating no little merriment by
announcing, “The nays are loud but there are not many of them.”
MR. INGALLS’ AMENDMENT.

Upon the bill being reported to the Senate from the Committee of
the Whole Mr. Ingalls again moved to limit the suspension of the
coming of Chinese laborers to ten years.
Mr. Jones, of Nevada, said this limit would hardly have the effect
of allaying agitation on the subject as the discussion would be
resumed in two or three years, and ten years, he feared, would not
even be a long enough period to enable Congress intelligently to base
upon it any future policy.
Mr. Miller, of California, also urged that the shorter period would
not measurably relieve the business interest of the Pacific slope,
inasmuch as the white immigrants, who were so much desired,
would not come there if they believed the Chinese were to be again
admitted in ten years. Being interrupted by Mr. Hoar, he asserted
that that Senator and other republican leaders, as also the last
republican nominee for President, had heretofore given the people of
the Pacific slope good reason to believe that they would secure to
them the relief they sought by the bill.
Mr. Hoar, (Rep.) of Mass., briefly replied.
The amendment was lost—yeas 20, nays 21.
The vote is as follows:
Yeas—Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, Brown, Conger, Davis of
Illinois, Dawes, Edmunds, Frye, Hale, Hoar, Ingalls, Lapham,
McDill, McMillan, Mahone, Morrill, Plumb, Sawyer and Teller—20.
Nays—Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cameron of Wisconsin, Coke,
Fair, Farley, Garland, George, Gorman, Jackson, Jonas, Jones of
Nevada, Miller of California, Miller of New York, Morgan, Ransom,
Slater, Yance, Voorhees and Walker—21.
Messrs. Butler, Camden, McPherson, Johnston, Davis of West
Virginia, Pendleton and Ransom were paired with Messrs. Hawley,
Anthony, Sewell, Platt, Van Wyck, Windom and Sherman.
Messrs. Hampton, Pugh, Vest, Rollins and Jones of Florida were
paired with absentees.

PASSAGE OF THE BILL.


The question recurred on the final passage of the bill, and Mr.
Edmunds closed the debate. He would vote against the bill as it now
stood, because he believed it to be an infraction of good faith as
pledged by the last treaty; because he believed it injurious to the
welfare of the people of the United States, and particularly the people
on the Pacific coast, by preventing the development of our great
trade with China.
The vote was then taken and the bill was passed—yeas 29, nays 15.
The following is the vote in detail:—
Yeas—Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cameron of Wisconsin, Cockrell,
Coke, Fair, Farley, Garland, George, Gorman, Hale, Harris, Hill of
Colorado, Jackson, Jonas, Jones of Nevada, Miller of California,
Miller of New York, Morgan, Pugh, Ransom, Sawyer, Teller, Vance,
Vest, Voorhees and Walker—29.
Nays—Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, Brown, Conger, Davis of
Illinois, Dawes, Edmunds, Frye, Hoar, Ingalls, Lapham, McDill,
McMillan and Morrill—15.
Pairs were announced of Messrs. Camden, Davis of West Virginia,
Grover, Hampton, Butler, McPherson, Johnston, Jones of Florida
and Pendleton in favor of the bill, with Messrs. Anthony, Windom,
Van Wyck, Mitchell, Hawley, Sewell, Platt, Rollins and Sherman
against it.
Mr. Frye, (Rep.) of Me., in casting his vote, stated that he was
paired with Mr. Hill, of Georgia, on all political questions, but that he
did not consider this a political question, and besides, had express
permission from Senator Hill to vote upon it.
Mr. Mitchell, (Rep.) of Pa., in announcing his pair with Mr.
Hampton stated that had it not been for that fact he would vote
against the bill, regarding it as un-American and inconsistent with
the principles which had obtained in the government.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read, “An act to execute
certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese,” though Mr. Hoar
suggested that “execute” ought to be stricken out and “violate”
inserted.
The Senate then, at twenty minutes to six, adjourned until to-
morrow.
PROVISIONS OF THE BILL.

The Chinese Immigration bill as passed provides that from and


after the expiration of ninety days after the passage of this act and
until the expiration of twenty years after its passage the coming of
Chinese laborers to the United States shall be suspended, and
prescribes a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding one year and a
fine of not more than $500 against the master of any vessel who
brings any Chinese laborer to this country during that period. It
further provides that the classes of Chinese excepted by the treaty
from such prohibition—such as merchants, teachers, students,
travelers, diplomatic agents and Chinese laborers who were in the
United States on the 17th of November, 1880—shall be required, as a
condition for their admission, to procure passports from the
government of China personally identifying them and showing that
they individually belong to one of the permitted classes, which
passports must have been indorsed by the diplomatic representative
of the United States in China or by the United States Consul at the
port of departure. It also provides elaborate machinery for carrying
out the purposes of the act, and additional sections prohibit the
admission of Chinese to citizenship by any United States or State
court and construes the words “Chinese laborers” to mean both
skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining.
The sentiment in favor of the passage of this bill has certainly
greatly increased since the control of the issue has passed to abler
hands than those of Kearney and Kalloch, whose conduct intensified
the opposition of the East to the measure, which in 1879 was
denounced as “violating the conscience of the nation.” Mr. Blaine’s
advocacy of the first bill limiting emigrants to fifteen on each vessel,
at the time excited much criticism in the Eastern states, and was
there a potent weapon against him in the nominating struggle for the
Presidency in 1880; but on the other hand it is believed that it gave
him strength in the Pacific States.
Chinese immigration and the attempt to restrict it presents a
question of the gravest importance, and was treated as such in the
Senate debate. The friends of the bill, under the leadership of
Senators Miller and Jones, certainly stood in a better and stronger
attitude than ever before.
The anti-Chinese bill passed the House just as it came from the
Senate, after a somewhat extended debate, on the 23d of March,
1882. Yeas 167, nays 65, (party lines not being drawn) as follows:
Yeas—Messrs. Aikin, Aldrich, Armfield, Atkins, Bayne, Belford,
Belmont, Berry, Bingham, Blackburn, Blanchard, Bliss, Blount,
Brewer, Brumm, Buckner, Burrows, of Missouri; Butterworth,
Cabell, Caldwell, Calkins, Campbell, Cannon, Casserley, Caswell,
Chalmers, Chapman, Clark, Clements, Cobb, Converse, Cook,
Cornell, Cox, of New York; Cox, of North Carolina; Covington,
Cravens, Culbertson, Curtin, Darrell, Davidson; Davis, of Illinois;
Davis, of Missouri; Demotte, Deuster, Dezendorf, Dibble, Dibrell,
Dowd, Dugro, Ermentrout, Errett, Farwell, of Illinois; Finley,
Flowers, Ford, Forney, Fulkerson, Garrison, Geddes, George, Gibson,
Guenther, Gunter, Hammond, of Georgia; Hardy, Harmer, Harris, of
New Jersey; Haseltine, Hatch, Hazelton, Heilman, Herndon, Hewitt,
of New York; Hill, Hiscock, Hoblitzell, Hoge, Hollman, Horr, Houk,
House, Hubbell, Hubbs, Hutchins, Jones, of Texas; Jones, of
Arkansas; Jorgenson, Kenna, King, Klotz, Knott, Ladd, Leedom,
Lewis, Marsh, Martin, Matson, McClure, McCook, McKenzie,
McKinley, McLane, McMillan, Miller, Mills, of Texas; Money, Morey,
Moulton, Murch, Mutchler, O’Neill, Pacheco, Page, Paul, Payson,
Pealse, Phelps, Phister, Pound, Randall, Reagan, Rice of Missouri,
Richardson, Robertson, Robinson, Rosecrans, Scranton,
Shallenberger, Sherwin, Simonton, Singleton, of Mississippi, Smith
of Pennsylvania, Smith of Illinois, Smith of New York, Sparks,
Spaulding, Spear, Springer, Stockslager, Strait, Talbott, Thomas,
Thompson of Kentucky, Tillman, Townsend of Ohio, Townsend of
Illinois, Tucker, Turner of Georgia, Turner of Kentucky, Updegraff,
of Ohio, Upson, Valentine, Vance, Van Horn, Warner, Washburne,
Webber, Welborn, Whitthorne, Williams of Alabama, Willis, Willetts,
Wilson, Wise of Pennsylvania, Wise of Virginia, and W. A. Wood of
New York—167.
The nays were Messrs. Anderson, Barr, Bragg, Briggs, Brown,
Buck, Camp, Candler, Carpenter, Chase, Crapo, Cullen, Dawes,
Deering, Dingley, Dunnell, Dwight, Farwell of Iowa, Grant, Hall,
Hammond, of New York, Hardenburgh, Harris, of Massachusetts,
Haskell, Hawk, Henderson, Hepburn, Hooker, Humphrey, Jacobs,
Jones of New Jersey, Joyce, Kasson, Ketchum, Lord, McCoid, Morse,
Norcross, Orth, Parker, Ramsey, Rice of Ohio, Rice of Massachusetts,
Rich, Richardson of New York, Ritchie, Robinson of Massachusetts,
Russel, Ryan, Shultz, Skinner, Scooner, Stone, Taylor, Thompson of
Iowa, Tyler, Updegraff of Iowa, Urner, Wadsworth, Wait, Walker,
Ward, Watson, White and Williams of Wisconsin—65.
In the House the debate was participated in by Messrs.
Richardson, of South Carolina; Wise and Brumm, of Pennsylvania;
Joyce, of Vermont; Dunnell, of Minnesota; Orth, of Indiana;
Sherwin, of Illinois; Hazelton, of Wisconsin; Pacheco, of California,
and Townsend, of Illinois, and others. An amendment offered by Mr.
Butterworth, of Ohio, reducing the period of suspension to fifteen
years, was rejected. Messrs. Robinson, of Massachusetts; Curtin, of
Pennsylvania, and Cannon, of Illinois, spoke upon the bill, the two
latter supporting it. The speech of Ex-Governor Curtin was strong
and attracted much attention. Mr. Page closed the debate in favor of
the measure. An amendment offered by Mr. Kasson, of Iowa,
reducing the time of suspension to ten years, was rejected—yeas 100,
nays 131—and the bill was passed exactly as it came from the Senate
by a vote of 167 to 65. The House then adjourned.
Our Merchant Marine.

An important current issue is the increase of the Navy and the


improvement of the Merchant Marine, and to these questions the
National Administration has latterly given attention. The New York
Herald has given much editorial ability and research to the advocacy
of an immediate change for the better in these respects, and in its
issue of March 10th, 1882, gave the proceedings of an important
meeting of the members of the United States Naval Institute held at
Annapolis the day before, on which occasion a prize essay on the
subject—“Our Merchant Marine; the Cause of its Decline and the
Means to be Taken for its Revival,” was read. The subject was chosen
nearly a year ago, because it was the belief of the members of the
institute that a navy cannot exist without a merchant marine. The
naval institute was organized in 1873 for the advancement of
professional and scientific knowledge in the navy. It has on its roll
500 members, principally naval officers, and its proceedings are
published quarterly. Rear Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers is president;
Captain J. M. Ramsay, vice president; Lieutenant Commander C. M.
Thomas, secretary; Lieutenant Murdock, corresponding secretary,
and Paymaster R. W. Allen, treasurer. There were eleven competitors
for the prize, which is of $100, and a gold medal valued at $50. The
judges were Messrs. Hamilton Fish, A. A. Low and J. D. Jones. They
awarded the prize to Lieutenant J. D. J. Kelley, U. S. N., whose motto
was “Nil Clarius Æquore,” and designated Master C. T. Calkins, U. S.
N., whose motto was “Mais il faut cultiver notre jardin” as next in the
order of merit, and further mentioned the essays of Lieutenant R.
Wainwright, United States Navy, whose motto was “Causa latet, vis
est notissima,” and Lieutenant Commander J. E. Chadwick, United
States Navy, whose motto was “Spes Meliora,” as worthy of
honorable mention, without being entirely agreed as to their
comparative merits.
STRIKING PASSAGES FROM THE PRIZE ESSAY.

From Lieut. Kelley’s prize essay many valuable facts can be


gathered, and such of these as contain information of permanent
value we quote:
“So far as commerce influences this country has a vital interest in
the carrying trade, let theorists befog the cool air as they may. Every
dollar paid for freight imported or exported in American vessels
accrues to American labor and capital, and the enterprise is as much
a productive industry as the raising of wheat, the spinning of fibre or
the smelting of ore. Had the acquired, the ‘full’ trade of 1860 been
maintained without increase $80,000,000 would have been added
last year to the national wealth, and the loss from diverted
shipbuilding would have swelled the sum to a total of $100,000,000.
“Our surplus products must find foreign markets, and to retain
them ships controlled by and employed in exclusively American
interests are essential instrumentalities. Whatever tends to stimulate
competition and to prevent combination benefits the producer, and
as the prices abroad establish values here, the barter we obtain for
the despised one tenth of exports—$665,000,000 in 1880—
determines the profit or loss of the remainder in the home market.
During the last fiscal year 11,500,000 gross tons of grain, oil, cotton,
tobacco, precious metals, &c., were exported from the United States,
and this exportation increases at the rate of 1,500,000 tons annually;
3,800,000 tons of goods are imported, or in all about 15,000,000
tons constitute the existing commerce of this country.
“If only one-half of the business of carrying our enormous wealth
of surplus products could be secured for American ships, our
tonnage would be instantly doubled, and we would have a greater
fleet engaged in a foreign trade, legitimately our own, than Great
Britain has to-day. The United States makes to the ocean carrying
trade its most valuable contribution, no other nation giving to
commerce so many bulky tons of commodities to be transported
those long voyages which in every age have been so eagerly coveted
by marine peoples. Of the 17,000 ships which enter and clear at
American ports every year, 4,600 seek a cargo empty and but 2,000
sail without obtaining it.
“Ships are profitable abroad and can be made profitable here, and
in truth during the last thirty years no other branch of industry has
made such progress as the carrying trade. To establish this there are
four points of comparison—commerce, railways, shipping tonnage
and carrying power of the world, limited to the years between 1850
and 1880:—

Increase Per
1850. 1880. Cent.
Commerce of all
nations $4,280,000,000 $14,405,000,000 240
Railways (miles
open) 44,400 222,600 398
Shipping tonnage 6,905,000 18,720,000 171
Carrying tonnage 8,464,000 34,280,060 304

“In 1850, therefore, for every $5,000,000 of international


commerce there were fifty-four miles of railway and a maritime
carrying power of 9,900 tons; and in 1880 the respective ratios had
risen to seventy-seven miles and 12,000 tons; this has saved one-
fourth freight and brought producer and consumers into such
contact that we no longer hear “of the earth’s products being wasted,
of wheat rotting in La Mancha, wool being used to mend wads and
sheep being burned for fuel in the Argentine Republic.” England has
mainly profited by this enormous development, the shipping of the
United Kingdom earning $300,000,000 yearly, and employing
200,000 seamen, whose industry is therefore equivalent to £300 per
man, as compared with £190 for each of the factory operatives. The
freight earned by all flags for sea-borne merchandise is
$500,000,000, or about 8 per cent. of the value transported. Hence
the toll which all nations pay to England for the carrying trade is
equal to 4 per cent. (nearly) of the exported values of the earth’s
products and manufactures; and pessimists who declare that ship
owners are losing money or making small profits must be wrong, for
the merchant marine is expanding every year.
“The maximum tonnage of this country at any time registered in
the foreign trade was in 1861, and then amounted to 5,539,813 tons;
Great Britain in the same year owning 5,895,369 tons, and all the

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