Subjective science and natural science.

D. B. Wiseman's (see record 2000-08566-004) claim that Kenneth Spence's human learning research program is an example of a subjective science derives from his misconception of the role of subjectivity in natural-science methodology. Natural science is suffused with subjective ideas, but the major consideration is not their subjectivity but whether they are designed to meet the objective standards of natural-science epistemology or some vague knowledge base that has no predictive validity. Within this context, Kenneth Spence, as his entire career reveals, was actively committed to the ideal that psychology should operate within a natural-science orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discussion of Roy Schafer's (1999) article.

The author comments on R. Schafer's article (see record 1999-01070-001), "Interpreting Sex." Schafer's article is set in perspective of his past work as well as in perspective of contemporary trends in psychoanalytic thinking in general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Owen Renik (1999).

This article is an examination of points of agreement with O. Renik's (see record 1999-01070-002) view on psychoanalytic epistemology and a critique of his outlook on psychoanalytic method and results as they are laid out in his discussion of R. Schafer's article (see record 1999-01070-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two portraits of Spence.

A response to H. H. Kendler's (see record 2001-00864-005) comments on D. B. Wiseman's (see record 2000-08566-004) original article about Kenneth Spence's human learning research is presented. Specifically addressed are distinctions between objectivity and subjectivity and Kendler's view about Spence. The current response also describes a contrast between Spence's (a) philosophical views about science as formally expressed to psychologists outside of the University of Iowa and (b) behavior when conducting his experimental research within the Iowa classical conditioning laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Free will and psychotherapy: The enhancement of agency.

Proposes that to the extent that psychotherapy allows the individual to exercise greater freedom in his or her life it does so through enhancing psychological agency. The conceptions of free will and of agency used here are influenced strongly by J. F. Rychlak's (1988, and 1994) discussion of the human capacity for "dialectical" thinking. The author discusses these conceptions of agency in terms of some of R. Schafer's (1976, and 1983) recent ideas regarding psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A. H. Jenkins further notes that this conception of individuality is contextually embedded and thus is fully compatible with the idea of a person devoted to others in mutually gratifying relationships and committed to self-definition through participation in community life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whatever became of George Kelly? Applications and implications.

The 20th anniversary of the death of George Kelly provides an occasion for a brief review of his ideas. Personal construct psychology is practiced by a small group of enthusiasts, originally clinical psychologists, but more recently, industrial-organizational psychologists and, increasingly, management development specialists and occupational counselors. The reasons for the relative neglect of Kelly's ideas are outlined, and material to account for the greater popularity of these ideas overseas, particularly in Britain, is provided. A review of recent applications in the field of industrial-organizational psychology suggests that they are characterized by an emphasis on content rather than structure and by the need for the psychologist to speak the language of the employee rather than the language of psychological expertise. Personal construct psychology lends itself particularly well to this venture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Theory and problems of adolescent development.

Reviews "Theory and problems of adolescent development," by David P. Ausubel (see record 1955-00581-000). Unlike most other books in this area, this book offers a systematic presentation of psychological knowledge woven around a dynamic point of view. It is a scholarly book written in language that makes for easy and interesting reading. The author opens his book with an organized set of arguments designed to convince his readers that there is justification for a book on the "Psychology of Adolescent Development." His major premise states that "adolescence is treated as a separate developmental period not because it covers a decade but because it spans an interval in which distinctive changes occur in a biosocial status of the human organism. The author has marshaled his psychological knowledge and psychiatric experience into a well-organized book. Dr. Ausubel quotes freely from other authors and from his own writings and research. There are extensive references contained in the bibliography at the end of each chapter. Although the author states that "this book is primarily intended as an advanced textbook in adolescent psychology for graduate students in psychology and education," it would appear that this book is written with sufficient clarity and nontechnical language to be used in any college course dealing with adolescent behavior. It would be especially desirable in clinically-oriented courses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early Career Awards for 1978: John Robert Anderson.

John Robert Anderson was awarded an Early Career Award for contributions concerning development of theoretical models of mental processes involved in language acquisition, comprehension, and language use. He shows how human memory might be organized according to declarative and procedural knowledge and how this knowledge might be used when we understand a sentence, verify it, learn its content, search memory and answer questions about it, draw implications from it, and plan and execute effective actions based on it. Anderson's ideas are translated into computer programs that simulate the behavior of interest. Alongside his theorizing, he has carried on a vigorous program of experimentation that evaluates and forwards his theorizing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On theories and metatheories: An amplification of Miller.

In his recent article, George A. Miller (see record 1965-10025-001) makes a most articulate appeal for recognition of the failure of behavioristically oriented explanations of language acquisition and utilization. It should be noted that his "catalogue of preliminary admonitions" applies not only to the study of psycholinguistics, but also to many other areas and forms of behavior to which the more traditional, mechanistic metatheoretical frameworks have been applied for many years. The author expands on this topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Todd R. Risley (1937-2007).

This obituary of Todd R. Risley explains his life in Alaska and his lifelong journey to eventually becoming a pioneer of applied behavior analysis. He was born in Alaska on September 8, 1937, and died in his home there on November 2, 2007, after returning from Minnesota for heart surgery. He credited some of his vigor and appreciation for the importance of change to his early days in the rugged territory of Alaska, where his father was a homesteader and railroad worker. Todd received his bachelor's degree from San Diego State College and his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Washington. Todd applied the principles of behavior analysis to a variety of populations and settings. Todd felt that his most important work was his and Betty Hart's study of the language use of middle-class and low socioeconomic status (SES) families. He argued that the single most important parenting practice was for parents to talk as much as possible to their children about anything and everything and to require as much language use as possible back from them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pribram's ideas.

Reviews the book, Languages of the Brain--Experimental Paradoxes and Principles in Neuropsychology by K. H. Pribram (see record 1973-03824-000). Pribram's book might be better called Pribram's Ideas. In some 400 pages the author describes his ideas on memory, awareness, motivation, emotion, language, caring, association cortex--most everything and the brain. Many will hail Pribram's book as an important source of ideas. There may be some readers however, who will be upset by Professor Pribram's book. His tendency to use neologisms, the inclusion of illustrations and experiments that are indeed elegant but often irrelevant, his failure to really consider the ideas of others, the inclusion of a twentieth chapter apparently on the grounds that a round number for a book is desirable, the rather hasty application of findings from computer technology, genetics and optics to the brain, the discovery by the author of the organization of the book at the stage of the final draft, his failure to document sources of information, just might upset them. Pribram is an accomplished investigator and an acknowledged leader in the field. It is a pity that Pribram, with so many exceptional abilities, has chosen to display them in so disappointing a form. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why talk? Comment on Savage-Rumbaugh et al.

Replies to the E. S. Savage-Rumbaugh et al (see record 1984-22384-001) article on chimpanzee language acquisition, arguing that inherent in the concept of human language is the assumption that language is an instrument for the carrying out of certain purposes, such as communication and the free expression of ideas. Apes may be trained to produce behaviors that exhibit properties of human linguistic behavior. Evidence exists, however, that the motivational and intentional bases of the language acquired by ape and child differ profoundly. Insofar as these differences exist, they imply that apes and children are doing something different when they "talk." If they are doing something different, then it is not clear what to make of the formal properties shared by their talk, even when those properties include properties of human referential behavior. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organization of language behavior and cognitive performance in chronic schizophrenia.

Reports data from 10 31-51 yr old chronic schizophrenic patients which relate formal categories of language behavior to performance on the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test--a task of verbal encoding under distracting and nondistracting conditions. The data show that the most simple type of language behavior is related to difficulty in verbal articulation and verbal encoding on the Stroop task. More complex language behavior, utilizing a conditional framework to express ideas, is related to increased interference from the distracting verbal text. Data are discussed in terms of attention regulation in chronic schizophrenia, and a speculation is offered regarding the role of attention in language development. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Retelling a life: Narration and dialogue in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Retelling a life: Narration and dialogue in psychoanalysis by Roy Schafer (see record 1992-97655-000). Although most of the chapters in Retelling a life have been printed previously, they have been edited so that the work reads seamlessly, even as it covers an extraordinary range of topics of interest to analysts: self-interest; female psychology; training analysis; theories of the "self; projective identification and enactment; Freud's legacy; the differences between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy; the desirability of talking directly to patients; and the larger issues of metapsychology, epistemology, and narration that give the book its title and backbone. It is always clearly written with useful clinical illustrations so that it may prove accessible to a lay reader looking to sample the work of a sophisticated, contemporary psychoanalyst. For the experienced therapist or analyst, the advantage of reading this book all the way through is that one ends up knowing pretty well how Schafer would approach a particular problem; he becomes a familiar voice in one's mind. Schafer's discussion of "the self" is well worth reading. Summarizing greatly, he thinks we do best to consider one "person" who narrates multiple self narratives. Order is brought to bear by reducing the narrative data to "storylines" so that particular narrations can be recognized as "versions of the same basic story" (e.g., of imprisonment, rebirth, odyssey, or oedipal rivalry). What Schafer is attempting to do--as before in A new language for psychoanalysis (1976)--is to provide a modern, philosophically correct basis for psychoanalytic practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Free Will Versus Determinism.

Comments on an article by Rolland Waters (see record 1959-07228-001). The commentator states that this article has motivated him to make an observation about another situation which some persons perceive as a dilemma in psychology. He refers to the paradox of free will versus determinism in human behavior. The commentator states that the fact that some persons are still disturbed by the free will-determinism paradox is evidence that philosophical thinking in psychology is still somewhat confused. This would not be the case if psychological thinking was completely operational as most psychologists claim it should be. The bewilderment when faced with this apparent paradox is simply a function of language and not of human behavior. The commentator states that what we are doing is to employ two modes of thought or frames of reference simultaneously where this cannot be done. Lastly, the commentator admits that he may be incorrect in assuming that psychologists in general are not aware of this philosophical interpretation. However, the fact that the free will determinism paradox is still cited in many current works reinforces his belief. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The herring gull's world.

Reviews the book "The herring gull's world," by Niko Tinbergen (see record 1955-00376-000). This book summarizes in nontechnical language a large number of observations and experiments by the author and his students on the behavior of herring gulls. Primary emphasis is placed upon social behavior including formation of breeding pairs, establishment and maintenance of a territory, courtship and mating, and rearing of young. The book achieves several objectives very effectively. First, it presents a clearly drawn picture of the behavior of gulls in their natural environment. Second, it illustrates authoritatively a method of analyzing behavior which differs in several important ways from techniques used by American psychologists. Third, the book exemplifies an attitude or philosophy of behavior study quite unlike that of experimental psychologists. The author's enthusiasm for behavior study combines with his long-standing affection for sea gulls to produce an eminently readable, entertaining, and informative volume, the attractiveness of which is enhanced by numerous excellent photographs of gull behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lashley on serial order and Skinner on verbal behavior.

Comments that in his summary of K. S. Lashley's (1951) paper on the problem of serial order in behavior, D. Bruce (see record 1994-24098-001) has written as if all behavioristic explanations of language necessarily appealed to associative chains and as if Skinner's (1957) account of verbal behavior is incompatible with Lashley's analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowing what you'll do: Effects of analyzing reasons on self-prediction.

Analyzing the reasons why one would or would not act in a certain way was predicted to increase the perceived likelihood of the behavior and to lower the accuracy of the self-predictions. In 3 studies, college students predicted whether they would act in friendly or unfriendly ways toward an acquaintance. Those asked to analyze reasons why they would or would not perform the behaviors, as compared with no-analyze controls, were more likely to say they would perform the behaviors, showing a confirmation bias; made less accurate predictions, because analyzing reasons changed their predictions but not their actual behavior; and were more overconfident, because analyzing reasons lowered accuracy but not confidence. Each of these effects was especially pronounced when people's initial liking for the target person was different from the valence of the behavior they were predicting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)