Clinical psychologists, when they act in their diagnostic role, are considered by some of their colleagues in other professions to be, at the one extreme, charlatans, and, at the other extreme, the ultimate in psychodiagnostic prognostication. Most of the persons who make referrals to clinical psychologists fortunately take some more moderate, in-between view, but there is still wide variation in the evaluation of what the psychologist actually contributes to the diagnostic process. It is not the purpose of this paper to go into the reasons for this diversity of views. These views certainly do condition what will be asked of the psychologist and what will be expected of him. The way in which he responds to these requests and the extent to which he meets these expectations will, in turn, affect the attitudes which are held toward him.
For a long period in their relatively