The Wolf Man's subjective experience of his treatment with Freud.

Little is known about how Freud actually conducted a treatment. However, from Serge Pankejeff's (the Wolf Man's) subjective experience of his treatment with Freud, as reported in his memoirs and published interviews, one can gain a unique perspective on Freud's technique and the therapeutic action of this technique. The purpose of this article is to extract from Pankejeff's subjective experience of Freud those aspects of their work together that were most memorable and meaningful for the patient. Freud's work with Pankejeff has been severely criticized for breaching his own technical recommendations. However, the authors suggest that, in fact, it was these very controversial interventions that were experienced by Pankejeff as most therapeutic. Furthermore, the authors propose that Freud extracted from Pankejeff's symptoms those features that confirmed his theory of infantile sexuality and, in so doing, overlooked Pankejeff's grief and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud, father, and mother: Quantitative aspects.

The frequency with which Freud used father and mother in his psychological writings was investigated. Overall, he used father much more frequently than mother. This difference began with those writings that followed his father's death and his self-analysis. A most striking, though transitory, reversal followed immediately upon the death of his mother. The data suggest that Freud blended objective, scientific, and sublimated, personal issues in his parental psychology. An ancillary result shows the yearly creation of the pages of his psychological writings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for distinguished contributions to the international advancement of psychology: Harry C. Triandis.

Harry C. Triandis has been instrumental in establishing cross-cultural psychology as a distinct discipline within psychology. His accomplishments in this international component of the field have included major theoretical and methodological innovations as well as educational and leadership contributions. The six-volume Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology, published in 1980 under his general editorship, is widely considered an important milestone in the development of the discipline and is a testament to his stature in the field and to his unique abilities to integrate divergent perspectives from around the world. In more recent years Harry Triandis has focused on the study of cultural syndromes like individualism and collectivism. This article discusses Harry C. Triandis's life and his dedication to the field of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's legacy--is it still with us?

Unconscious processes of mind are a fact of life, both as phenomenon and as explanatory concept and were recognized before Freud. But it was Freud who not only put "the unconscious" on the map but also operationalized it in a new way--as a dynamic unconscious, laying down the foundation of a science of the unconscious, his Copernican revolution. The new science first provided a dual purpose method: investigating the emotional and ideational manifestations of disordered human behavior and psychological conflict and healing those disorders. In becoming a general psychoanalytic psychology, it played an important role in unraveling the dynamics of sexuality in the individual and society, literature and the arts, and in group dynamics in peace and war. The author emphasizes hitherto unacknowledged aspects: (1) The distinction between a theory of method and a theory of disorder; and (2) The role of interpersonal, or dyadic, dynamics in Freud's method, completing the largely monadic or intrapersonal focus in Freud. The author also discusses critiques of Freud's method both within and without psychonalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Collective reflexology: The complete edition.

Reviews the book, Collective reflexology: The complete edition by V. M. Bekhterev, edited by Lloyd H. Strickland, and translated by Eugenia Lockwood and Alisa Lockwood (see record 2001-18070-000). Bekhterev's view of the individual as a system of energy transformation and exchange has obvious affinities with Freud's views. In his foreword to Part 2, Strickland (pp. 278-281) notes that Bekhterev himself was aware of this similarity. However, Behterev attempted to distinguish himself from Freud in several ways, most notably by claiming to be more "objective" in his approach. For Bekhterev, the objective study of the mind meant observing its products (e.g., speech, social affiliation). For this reviewer, reading Bekhterev is refreshing because it harks back to a time when psychology was still a young and optimistic science. The confidence with which Bekhterev puts forth his views may in hindsight be na?ve, but it must have been wonderful to imagine oneself at the forefront of a new discipline, as Bekhterev so clearly did. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's forgotten evolutionary project.

In the last decades psychoanalysis has tended to recast itself as a hermeneutic discipline geared at the retelling of human lives, and Freud is recast as a great writer in the humanist tradition rather than as the scientist as which he saw himself. Although this reconceptualization has good reasons, it tends to obscure the fact that Freud primarily saw himself as a theorist of human nature. One of Freud's deepest convictions was that psychopathology needs to be explained on the basis of evolutionary biology. This paper argues that this may have been one of Freud's greatest ideas. The reason it has been "repressed" by psychoanalysis is that Freud based it on Lamarckian principles. The current flourishing of evolutionary psychology and psychiatry may well turn Freud into one of the precursors of the psychology of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can pluralism be intolerant?

Comments on the article by R. E. Redding (see record 2001-00465-001) which discusses pluralism and sociopolitical diversity in psychology. The current author agrees with Redding's stance that the discipline of psychology is liberally biased and presents his opinions in support of Redding's argument. It is stated that taking Redding's analysis seriously, along with addressing its implications for psychological theory, research, practice, and education, would improve the discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The anatomy of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, The anatomy of psychotherapy by Lawrence Friedman (see record 1988-97848-000). The authors' aim is to clarify the various theories of psychoanalysis from Freud to the current and to examine in depth the personal features of the analyst in the context of his/her work. With a knowledge of the entire range of psychoanalytic literature rare with most theorists or practitioners, the author reviews the philosophical developments of Freudian theory. He includes in this review some of the frictions, disputes and subtle disagreements within the classical analytic tradition. He then proceeds to describe the most significant of the contemporary deviations from classical theory (e.g., object relations, interpersonal theory, self psychology, action language) and compares and contrasts them with each other. Friedman has long been a commentator on contemporary psychoanalytic developments and he has adapted his many articles into this work. The book itself is organized into six sections, focusing on the personal and theoretical. It is well written but quite dense. Much concentration is needed. I believe that one must have an interest in psychoanalytic theory as well as a rather sophisticated appreciation of it to truly enjoy this book. It is long and detailed and I imagine difficult to get through without an intrinsic interest in the "anatomy" of psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The centrality of the system Ucs in the theory of psychoanalysis: The nonrepressed unconscious.

After Freud discovered an unconscious system (Ucs) between 1894 and 1896, a window opened for him to formulate a comprehensive theory of the human psyche, which he called psychoanalysis. The Ucs was its foundation. The object relations theories, ego psychology, self-psychology, and their offshoots managed to erode that concept from the theory in different ways and tried to replace psychoanalysis. The reason is that Freud, for a long time, associated the unconscious with the repressed. It was possible by reviewing his work in the field of repression, defense, and the unconscious to uncover the nature of the system Ucs. It is not possible for a school of psychology within psychoanalysis to ignore the systemic unconscious and replace it with a dynamic unconscious and still claim that it is psychoanalytic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirical issues in theoretical psychology: Comment on Kukla.

It is far from clear that A. Kukla's (see record 1989-24526-001) vision of a discipline concerned with the rigorous development and analysis of psychological theory could be realized in a completely nonempirical theoretical psychology. This issue is discussed in terms of Kukla's treatment of artificial intelligence and his call for the development of theoretical and empirical psychology as distinct disciplines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anna Freud (1895–1982).

Presents an obituary for Anna Freud. No one would have been more surprised than Anna Freud herself to find a memorial tribute to her in the pages of the American Psychologist. She never took a course in psychology and always referred to her field as psychoanalysis, not psychology. It is perhaps a sign of the changing face of American psychology that this obituary has been requested. Anna Freud was born on December 3, 1895, and was the last of Sigmund Freud's six children and the third of his daughters. None of the other children went anywhere near the practice of analysis. With the death of Anna Freud on October 9, 1982, at the age of 86, the last direct link to the founder of psychoanalysis has disappeared. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why Hell is other people: Distinctively human psychological suffering.

Just as there is remarkable continuity between the structures, abilities, and behaviors of closely related species, so too are there equally remarkable differences. Because only our species has evolved the social cognitive mechanisms that enable a heightened sensitivity to the minds of others, only our species suffers the psychological consequences. Using Sartre's famous play No Exit to illuminate the interplay between evolved psychology and social conscious experience, I show how theory of mind is both biologically adaptive and the common denominator in distinctively human types of psychological suffering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Relational concepts in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Relational concepts in psychoanalysis by Stephen A. Mitchell (see record 1988-98472-000). This book is a landmark statement for psychoanalytic theory, and especially of the place of relational theory. It stands outside and above the field, viewing developments over the century since Freud began his explorations. Mitchell compares each of the major positions of psychoanalytic theory specifically to the new model he proposes, which he calls a "relational-conflict model." This model is neither the "drive-conflict" model derived centrally from Freud, nor the "developmental-arrest" model that Mitchell associates with Winnicott and Kohut. Mitchell's model is closest to those proposed by Fairbairn and Racker, but he also relies heavily on Sullivan, Loewtild, Schafer, and other modern writers who have contributed to a view of the individual as centered in the human environment and interactive with it. Mitchell has given us a first-rate book, a scholarly and inventive synthesis with welcome conclusions. The clarity and thoughtfulness of his statement make this book worthy of study, even for those who take issue with him. I believe he takes us as far as analytic theory can go at the moment towards blending the worlds of the intrapsychic and the interpersonal. Mitchell notes that theories are, after all, only metaphors to be used and examined. His own statement seems a particularly sensible and comprehensive one. There is room to grow in psychoanalytic theory and technique. Mitchell makes it abundantly clear that psychoanalysis is not only alive, but is entering an exciting period of synthesis and new growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's mid-life crisis.

Between ages 39 and 44, Freud 1st tried to create a neuronal psychology, then focused his efforts on finding the origins of neurosis. With the seduction theory, Freud thought he had resolved the problem of etiology, as well as secured the means for the realization of his dream of great scientific discovery. However, he was unable to suppress recurring doubts about the theory, and his inability to do so precipitated a mid-life developmental crisis. Unable either to settle his mind about seduction or to solve the problem of neurosis along other lines, he reluctantly turned to The Interpretation of Dreams. As Freud grew comfortable with a more feminine subject matter and a more feminine way of working, he was able to see that his work on The Interpretation of Dreams would also illuminate the problem of neurosis, albeit in purely psychodynamic terms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of congitive-dissonance theory to an aspect of psychotherapeutic practice.

"The present paper is designed to link dissonance theory with one practical reality-oriented aspect of the process of psychotherapy with emotionally troubled individuals—namely, the charging of fees." Freud stated that "money matters are treated by civilized people in the same way as sexual matters—with the same inconsistency, prudishness, and hypocrisy. It is… avowed… that in order to accomplish any significant therapeutic work the patient must be charged a fee that is somewhat painful and discomforting." Dissonance theory "would predict that if a person paid nothing for something that he believed was worth nothing he would not experience cognitive dissonance. Rather his cognitive world would be in a state of harmony in this regard. My main purpose has been to stimulate greater clinical interest in the possibilities of employing general psychological theories, developed in the more traditional academic areas of psychology, to shed light upon seemingly complex issues in the field of clinical psychology." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue: Psychology in the 21st century.

Introduces this special issue of Psychological Bulletin. When this journal was founded just after the turn of the century, the discipline of psychology was in its infancy. The knowledge base of the emerging discipline was quite limited, and the contributors to it were few. During the past century, research and theory on psychological issues have increased exponentially. This special issue of Psychological Bulletin includes articles on a select number of topics that are of broad interest and importance and that are likely to be viewed as fundamental issues for psychologists in the coming years. In these articles, scholars who are leaders in the field offer their insights into what is known about these topics and what issues are of central importance to address in the future. The articles in this issue offer compelling examples of behavioral research that integrates theory and methods within and outside of psychology. The topics discussed contribute to an understanding of a broad range of basic psychological processes, including issues related to positive adjustment and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Who's afraid of John B. Watson? Comments on: Behavior: An introduction to comparative psychology.

Reviews the book, Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology by John B. Watson (Introduction by R. J. Herrnstein) (see record 1967-08039-000). This book, a reprint of the 1914 volume which was Watson's first book, disinters again from its mouldy wrappings the often harrassed spectre of John B. Watson's place in the history of North American psychology. Was he, as Gustav Bergmann (1956) has suggested, second only to Freud as "the most important figure in the history of psychological thought during the first half of the century?" Or was A. A. Roback (1937, 1964) closer to the truth in dismissing Watsonian Behaviorism as a "rah-rah technique" which "made a big noise" which was "not substantiated by deeds?" Or was Watson, as other writers have suggested, simply a footnote to Functionalism? Herrnstein, in his introduction, discusses Watson as the heir of Darwin, Sechenov, and Pavlov, and as the progenitor of Tolman, Hull, and Skinner. The fact of the matter is that Watson's contributions to psychology, however they may be assessed, were not in the field of animal behavior but in the field of methodology. Thorndike's Law of Effect continued to overshadow Watson's frequency principle in learning, Pavlov did more with the reflex in terms of both research and theory, and Lashley began a tradition of revolutionary explorations of the animal nervous system. It is not without good reason that Boring (1950) discusses Watson in a section on Behaviorism '(with the ism)" rather than in sections on Animal Psychology where Romanes, Loeb, Morgan, and Yerkes are included. Indeed, it is to the "history and systems" books one must turn to find consistent reference to Behavior. It would appear that if Behavior is, in fact, a classic, it is a classic in the field of psychological theory and methodology, not in the field of animal behavior or comparative psychology. Perhaps it was this point which Herrnstein was making when he began the first sentence of his introduction with the words, "To find out what behaviorism was, consult this book," rather than with the words, "To find out what comparative psychology was, consult this book." Nevertheless, whether your interest is behaviorism, comparative psychology, or the history and growth of psychological thinking in North America, this book is worth consulting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological climate changes for women in academic psychology: Forecasts, sources, and implications.

Reflecting on the past, and observing the present, what kinds of psychological changes might be in the forecast for women in psychology, for women affected by our discipline, and for the discipline itself? Using metaphors borrowed from meteorology and climatology, a psychological almanac is constructed for feminist psychology in Canada, warming trends are examined on both the academic and applied fronts, and weather advisories are issued. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In celebration of the centennial of Ivan P. Pavlov's (1897/1902) The Work of the Digestive Glands.

Introduces American Psychologist's special issue celebrating the contribution of I. P. Pavlov to the history of psychology, and the publication of Pavlov's The Work of the Digestive Glands (1897/1902). The author cites Pavlov's importance for his contributions in the field of physiology (e.g., blood circulation, and the pathology of the gastrointestinal tract) and his work with direct relevance to psychology: his theory of conditioning, and his work in the areas of brain function, personality, and psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)