Challenges in the transfer of contingency management techniques: Comment on Silverman et al. (2001).

This article critiques K. Silverman, D. Svikis, E. Robles, M. L. Stitzer, and G. E. Bigelow's (see record 2001-14365-002) study of a contingency management intervention for reinforcing development of job-related skills in substance abusing women. The strengths of Silverman et al.'s study include studying a patient population of major public health concern, expanding contingency management techniques to a vocational training setting, reinforcing gradual approximations, implementing the intervention for a long duration, and carefully designing and executing the experimental procedures. However, many of these strengths may also be interpreted as weaknesses if the ultimate goal is to apply contingency management techniques in self-sustaining, community-based settings. The need to evaluate long-term cost-effectiveness of these procedures is described, and the difficulties in transferring contingency management techniques to real-world settings is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problems with linking constructs from different domains: Commentary on Pistole's "adult attachment style and narcissistic vulnerability."

Comments on M. C. Pistole's (see record 1995-33117-001) article on adult attachment (AAT) style. Silverman questions Pistole's linkage of insecure AATs and narcissistic pathology and suggests that the lack of uniformity and consistency across AAT studies limits generalizations. Silverman also argues that Pistole conflates divergent theoretical views, thereby further obscuring the meanings of narcissism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An alternative interpretation of oneness.

Comments on L. H. Silverman and J. Weinberger's (see record 1986-15022-001) interpretation of their data as supporting the concept that subliminally induced gratification of wishes can enhance adaptation in both schizophrenic (SCZ) and non-SCZ individuals. This interpretation was strongly biased by Silverman and Weinberger's original intent. An alternative interpretation of their data is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Pure Types are Rare.

Reviews the book, Pure Types Are Rare by Irwin Silverman. This is a provocative book. In it, Silverman, with ambitious abandon, sets out to denude the "medical model of mental illness" of its Emperor's Clothing. Unceremoniously, Silverman strips away the clothing of the medical model: psychiatric diagnoses are unreliable and invalid, labels are applied at the whim of the psychodiagnostician; mental illness bears no resemblance to physical disease, mental "illness" is a myth; biological causes of mental illness do not exist; biological treatments serve only to mask the real social and psychological causes of madness; psychotherapy is no treatment at all, there are no "treatment" principles or methods. What remains after Silverman's assault on the medical model? The medical model as Emperor remains, albeit naked. Silverman views the medical model and the entire mental health enterprise as an Emperor indeed: it is a political ideology that serves to control the socially and economically impoverished. Silverman goes on to offer an alternative to the medical model, a social psychological perspective on madness. He favours a view of madness as a social role which may be adopted by a person in the process of coping with life conflict. Silverman attacks practically all of the important assumptions and practices of psychiatry and clinical psychology. His radical social perspective on mental illness is at such odds with the common psychological perspective that, obviously, most psychologists, be they practitioners or researchers, will not like this book. Silverman insists on too radical a departure from our common beliefs. Despite the reviewer's disagreement with Silverman's radical social perspective on mental illness, he thinks that this is a worthwhile book. While the reviewer disagrees with his premise that clinical practices are exclusively or primarily political in essence, the reviewer does agree that there are essential social and political functions served by our practices. Silverman relentlessly and effectively uncovers important social and political meanings of diagnostic and treatment practices. This, according to the reviewer, is the strength of the book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Silverman.

Replies to comments by L. H. Silverman (see record 1982-21579-001) on the author's (see record 1980-32531-001) earlier criticism of and failure to replicate Silverman's subliminal symbiotic stimulation as an adjunct to systematic desensitization. The role of individual differences and the implications for a failure to replicate effects of subliminal psychodynamic activation in light of other supportive evidence are discussed. Silverman contends that the results of a particular kind of study using subliminal psychodynamic activation cannot properly be generalized to all studies using this method; the author proposes an alternative view. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The migration hypothesis: A rebuttal to Silverman and Saunders.

Reports the results of a study with 65 psychiatric patients that was conducted in order to investigate the results obtained by I. Silverman and D. Saunders (see record 1982-01855-001), from which they concluded that a mental hospital in or nearby a community seems to create a mental illness culture and that psychiatric facilities foster not the detection, but the perception, of mental illness. The present results render Silverman and Saunders's conclusions unsubstantiated and do not support the supposed simplicity of their concept of mental illness. A reply by Silverman and Saunders is included. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Silverman.

Responds to commentary by I. Silverman (see record 2007-08963-001) entitled "Review of Pure types are rare": Comment on book review. I do not think that either one of us will change his position, and therefore it is up to the interested (yet disinterested) reader to adjudicate our dispute by checking Professor Silverman's book and his references. In the process, the reader will be forced to consider the thought-provoking implications for our mental health system of some of the incidents which the author describes so vividly, and that will not be a bad thing. There is one point, however, which is worth pursuing further here, for Professor Silverman persists in an elementary statistical fallacy. Let us take the situation which he cites, where the base rate for diagnosing schizophrenia is 50%. Suppose with the same base rate the degree of agreement is in fact 53%; this is far above chance level. It must be emphasized, however, that the 53% agreement under discussion came not from a study where the base rate for diagnosing schizophrenia was 50%, but from one where the conditions were far more stringent since the base rate for diagnosing schizophrenia was around 20%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whither subliminal psychodynamic activation? A reply to Silverman.

The authors reply to comments by L. H. Silverman (see record 1982-21579-001) on their earlier criticisms (see record 1980-26153-001) of subliminal symbiotic stimulation as a clinical adjunct to systematic desensitization. The authors contend that Silverman credits them with an overly nebulous "challenge" that was not made, and cites new data that purportedly contradict this overgeneralized conclusion. None of this "contradictory" evidence deals with desensitization or any other treatment for phobic anxiety. The alternative explanations he derives from these new data are based on an arbitrary and simplistic method of data aggregation that lacks consistency across investigations. The resulting selective bias severely reduces the explanatory power of these alternative possibilities and does not negate the authors' contention that stimulation of unconscious merging fantasies is superfluous in desensitization. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SPA is subliminal, but is it psychodynamically activating?

Responds to comments by J. Weinberger (see record 1990-04808-001) on Balay and Shevrin's (B&S; see record 1988-20203-001) work on the subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) method, which, contrary to Weinberger's assertion, was not an attempt to destroy the work of L. H. Silverman (published 1974–1985) and others who have used the SPA method. Rather, B&S hoped to encourage investigators using this method to take a closer look at the theoretical assumptions underlying SPA (i.e., the generic vs specific nature of subliminal stimuli that might activate conflict-related, unconscious fantasies). Analyses are also offered of comments made by T. E. Moore (see record 1990-04745-001), M. D. Figueroa (see record 1990-04666-001), and D. K. Silverman (see record 1990-04785-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychiatric hospital admission rates: Facts and artifacts.

Examined types of patient admissions in the 1st yr of a new psychiatric hospital opening to address issues raised by I. Silverman and D. Saunders (see record 1982-01855-001). It was found that, for all patients residing in the county where the new facility was located, 39%, 48%, and 13% were transfer admissions, readmissions, and 1st admissions, respectively. By using a more valid definition of the same criterion variable (admission rates), these results question Silverman and Saunders's interpretation of the same data. (French abstract) (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internet use and ties that bind.

Replies to comments by T. Silverman (see record 1999-11125-007), J. Rierdan (see record 1999-11125-008), and J. S. Shapiro (see record 1999-11125-009) regarding the original article by Kraut et al (see record 1998-10886-001) on the impact of Internet usage on social relations and depression. The authors respond to the concerns of the previous authors. In response to Silverman, they note that most online relationships formed by participants in their study resulted primarily in informational rather than emotional support, unlike the participants in Silverman's group. In response to Rierdan, the authors argue that the importance of results was not in the size of the effects, but in their direction; even small negative changes experienced by many people using the Internet can be significant. The authors also respond to Shapiro's methodological concerns and her alternative explanation of results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relevance of irrelevant relevance.

Comments on I. Silverman (see record 1972-02778-001) and encourages him to devote his methodological efforts to areas in which realistic contributions can be made to the improvement of society and of social psychology (in that order). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Cyr and Haley.

Responds to comments by Cyr and Haley, on the authors' original record entitled, "Extraneous factors in institutionalization for mental retardation: Demographic analyses for Ontario" (Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 1982, 1, 107-113). Silverman and Saunders discuss the effects of residence changes on readmissions to mental retardation institutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Silverman replies to Lasser.

Lasser's (see record 1990-58318-001) concern about the ethics of conducting research in which psychopathology is intensified is fully justified and one that I have spent considerable time reflecting on. There were two relevant references (Footnotes 9 and 14) in the Silverman (1976) article, but to do justice to the ethical issues would have required a lengthy discussion that was not in place in that article. The explicit purpose of the Rubin and Mitchell (1976) article, to which Lasser alludes, was the unintended effects of research procedures on human subjects, while the purpose of the Silverman (1976) article was very different. To set the record straight, as far as our own research is concerned, the following points can be made, each of which has been elaborated on in the past and are now discussed collectively in a single document (Silverman, Note 1): (a) Informed consent is regularly obtained, (b) Pathology intensification brought about by subliminal psychodynamic activation is slight and, with but rare exceptions, very fleeting. Note that pathology-intensifying stimuli are presented only in a single session. It is only pathology-reducing stimuli, which are given for therapeutic purposes, that are presented over a period of time, (c) Extensive debriefings are regularly carried out at the end of each experiment, one part of which involves revealing the content of stimuli to the subjects. This, we have found, further lessens the possibility of any lingering negative effects, (d) In the rare instances where there are indications that there may be such effects, clinical interviews are conducted and further appropriate action taken, if necessary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical considerations in pathology-intensifying research.

Suggests that L. H. Silverman's (see record 1977-05955-001) article on psychoanalytic theory fails to confront an important ethical issue raised by the research it reviews. It does not appear that the Ss' informed consent was acquired before participation in the research. A response from Silverman is also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Silverman and Weinberger: Rankian hypotheses confirmed.

Comments on L. H. Silverman and J. Weinberger's (see record 1986-15022-001) research that reflected many ideas suggested by O. Rank (e.g., 1929) in the mid-1920s. The parallels with Rank are highlighted, focusing on the role of symbiotic fantasies in allaying anxiety, promoting adaptive behaviors, and increasing receptiveness to helping people, as well as on Rank's concept of balance between conflicting and irresolvable wishes and fears. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Human Subject in the Psychological Laboratory.

Reviews the book, The Human Subject in the Psychological Laboratory by Irwin Silverman (see record 1978-20076-000). In this book, the author presents his assessment of the laboratory experiment following years of research on the social psychology of the psychological experiment. Silverman makes his views clear from the outset: the laboratory is "an excellent place to study laboratory behavior; but by virtue of this it is suited for little else", and he relentlessly pursues this thesis throughout the book. Through the seeming enormity of evidence and Silverman's constant attention to his thesis, the reader is brought to the precipice from which the laboratory experiment must surely fall. The uncritical reader will find Silverman's arguments well-written and effectively woven together in a relatively concise, easily readable manner. Any criticisms of the book must focus on errors of omission rather than problems of style or misrepresentation of fact. The important questions seem to concern a need to better understand how an experimenter can conduct meaningful research with human subjects. This understanding will not come about from proclaiming that other methods are better or from research which has only the objective of documenting the inadequacies of current methods. More than anything else Silverman's book suggests the need for a new direction for increased research on the social psychology of the psychological experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Silverman and Saunders "Creating the mental illness culture."

Argues that Silverman and Saunders's (1980) conclusions regarding the creation of a mental illness culture are based on limited demographic information, consisting of admission rates to Ontario mental hospitals and some sociological and economic indices that are held to characterize the regions served by those hospitals. Emphasis is placed on Silverman and Saunders's conclusions that (a) there is confusion in the definition of mental illness, (b) there is legal impropriety in admitting and retaining many patients in mental hospitals, and (c) public funds would be better used in reducing the social and economic problems of mental patients, resulting in a decrease in the number of such patients. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Understanding the current facts and principles of mental health systems planning": Comment.

Comments on an article by W. A. Anthony et al (see record 1991-10848-001) describing planning principles for the development of future mental health systems. Contrary to the implication of Anthony et al, it is not certain whether a new technology will change for the better the way mental health services are delivered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Balay and Shevrin's critique of Silverman's subliminal psychodynamic activation research.

Responds to J. Balay and H. Shevrin's (B&S; see record 1988-20203-001) criticisms of L. H. Silverman's subliminal psychodynamic activation studies (e.g., L. H. Silverman and J. Weinberger; see record 1986-15022-001). B&S's insistence on exact replication advocates a mechanistic rather than a clinical approach to the study of schizophrenia. Although tailoring stimuli to address individual conflicts should provide more robust results, B&S minimize the possibility that particular types of subliminal stimuli can evoke powerful emotional responses, even though less specifically tied to an individual's conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)