A response to Richard Lettieri's "The ego revisited."

R. Lettieri (see record 2005-08806-004) maintained that a modern conflict theory needs a concept of an ego. This commentary is in response to that suggestion. Because the construct of the ego has been seriously criticized in the psychoanalytic literature, such a suggestion must first address the tenability of the criticisms before such a recommendation can be actualized. In this response to Lettieri's paper, I try to do just that. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Self-help treatment books and the commercialization of psychotherapy": Comment.

Asserts that G. M. Rosen (see record 1987-16844-001), in his statements about self-help books, failed to consider what is involved in selling books on any subject. It is acknowledged that some publishers' claims go beyond the author's intentions. The author attempts to place publishing into perspective for those psychologists who want to publish books that should be read by a general audience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"A ubiquitous sex difference in dreams" revisited.

Tested earlier findings by the author and B. Domhoff (see record 1963-08107-001) that indicate that male dreamers dream more often of males than do female dreamers by presenting all the findings on this topic. The characters who appeared or were mentioned in dream reports of children, adolescents, college students, adults, and patients in therapy (35 groups of various nationalities and ethnic groups) were classified by sex regardless of age, relationship to the dreamer, occupation, or nationality. The dreamer was not counted as a character; characters were counted only once no matter how often they appeared in the dream; a one-sex group was counted as 1 male or 1 female and a character differentiated from the same-sex group was counted as one character and the group as another. Results show that the sex difference occurred in 29 of the groups on every continent, in all age groups, and in dreams collected in the laboratory, in the classroom, and in the field by different investigators over a 30-yr period. It is suggested that this widespread confirmation of the sex difference in dreams increases the confidence that may be placed in the existence of a universal sex difference. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-help task forces revisited: A reply to Dr. Lowman.

Addresses comments by R. L. Lowman (see record 1994-34536-001) about G. M. Rosen's (see record 1993-42527-001) discussion of the American Psychological Association's response to self-help therapies. Instances of apparent misinformation regarding the origin of task forces or work groups, failure to endorse work group recommendations, and suppression of work group documents are clarified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"On the possible psychophysical laws" revisited: Remarks on cross-modal matching.

A nonrelational theory of cross-modal matching, including magnitude estimation, is proposed for the general class of 1-dimensional measurement structures that have real-unit (ratio and interval scale) representations. A key feature of these structures is that each point of the structure can be mapped into each other point by a translation, which is the structural analogue of ratio scale transformations of the representation. Let M denote a 1:1 matching relation between 2 (not necessarily distinct) unit structures. The major assumption is that for each translation τ of one structure, there is a translation ?τ of the other such that if xMs, then τ(x)M?τ(s). This property is shown to be equivalent to a power law holding between the unit representations. A concept of similar relations is taken from dimensional analysis, and 2 matching relations are shown to be similar if and only if their power laws differ only in the unit (modulus), not the exponent. A relation R between pairs in each system is said to be a ratio relation relative to a matching relation M satisfying the above condition provided that (x,y)R(s,t) obtains if and only if for some translation τ both τ(x)Ms and τ(y)Mt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reade and Wertheimer's "A bias in the diagnosis of schizophrenia" revisited.

In a study by W. K. Reade and M. Wertheimer (see record 1977-08943-001), it was found that clinicians placed greater diagnostic emphasis on genetic information when this information accompanied secondary behavioral signs of schizophrenia. In the present study, 1 of 4 fictitious case histories varying primary and secondary signs and genetic background information and a neutral, nonschizophrenic case history were administered to 36 practicing clinicians to judge whether the hypothetical person was schizophrenic. Results show that the schizophrenic case histories received ratings that were greater than or equal to the ratings for the neutral, nonschizophrenic case history. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Management "Style."

Some search committees ask applicants to send along with application, resume, references, and so forth a brief statement, not over a few paragraphs, on one's "management style." When I first heard that, I wished desperately to know what some other, any other, psychologist had done. In that spirit, I offer some notes. I do not think it will help in getting appointments. I do not think any responses to such questions do. Perhaps, though, with a little correspondence, psychologists could work out a standard little statement that everyone could copy and send as representing his or her views. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Know thyself."

Explores the understanding of selfhood as a central concern of psychology, the science of human experience. The conscious self defines human beings, fosters socialization, and, to a great extent, determines behavior. The achievement of a mature self-concept is viewed as a developmental process reflecting social experience as well as personal integration. Some implications of the self-concept are considered in relation to the family system, parenting, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and "the promotion of the public welfare." (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Defining "addiction."

For centuries, the word "addiction" meant being "given over" or devoted to something. However, the 19th century temperance and anti-opium movements used it in a more restrictive way, linking "addiction" to drugs, to illness or vice, and to withdrawal symptoms and tolerance. Both the traditional and restrictive meanings survived into the present. In the ensuing uncertainty about its meaning, some authorities now wish to replace "addiction" with substitute terms like "drug dependence", "substance abuse", etc. We hope to show that the term "addiction" is too valuable to discard. Its traditional sense designates the profoundly important, albeit sometimes harmful, capacity of people to become "given over." On the other hand, the restrictive meaning refers only to a special case, which is defined arbitrarily and inconsistently. It is outmoded because of these problems. The traditional meaning remains useful, but can be improved by clarifying the distinction between "positive" and "negative" addictions originally proposed by Glasser (1976). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond "competing," beyond "compatible." Commentary on J. Archer.

Comments on J. Archer's 1996 article in which he considers whether observed patterns of sex differences in human social behavior are best explained by social role theory or by the evolutionary principles of Darwinian theory. The author believes that Archer's conclusion that the 2 theories are actually compatible is important and is concerned that such a valuable conclusion may be lost to discussions over the rest of the article. The author argues several points made in the original article and then concludes that Darwinian and cultural perspectives on human sex differences are not opposing theories, nor are they merely compatible but instead are necessarily interdependent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schools of "thought."

Challenges J. Wolpe's (see record 1979-12261-001) assertion that cognitive (COG) formulations add little to an adequate understanding and treatment of psychological disorders. Conceptual and empirical issues are addressed. Although COG therapies may not be unequivocally superior to other methods, preliminary data suggest that COG approaches may contribute to the clinical effectiveness of psychological or behavioral treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concerning "residual subjectivity."

Further considers residual subjectivity in response to a critique by T. C. Hein (1979) of an earlier analysis of consciousness (T. Natsoulas, see record 1979-22877-001). The author proposed that it is possible to know by objective means all there is to be known about an experience. Such knowledge, however, is anchored by a residual subjectivity that stems from one's first-hand contact with and knowledge of that experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addendum to "Consciousness."

The author extends his previous discussion (see record 1979-22877-001) to encompass the role of a concept of awareness in each of 7 ordinary concepts of consciousness: joint or mutual knowledge, internal knowledge or conviction, awareness, direct awareness, personal unity, normal waking state, and double consciousness. In each case, the crucial involvement of a certain concept of awareness is brought out and references are included of authors who have used similar scientific concepts that implicate the same concept of awareness. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Defining "impaired psychologist."

Contends that D. Laliotis and J. Grayson (see record 1985-31888-001) have failed to provide a definition of the term impaired that would translate into rational policies that serve the best interests of the public and the psychological community. It is suggested that impairment and incompetence must be differentiated to distinguish between psychologists who have provided inadequate professional service and those who are at risk for doing so. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"She," "He," Coexistence, and Bastardy.

Before proposing a solution for the sex bias problems inherent in the generic use of the pronoun he, Spencer (see record 1990-58427-001) reviews some efforts to solve the problem. The attempted solutions are evaluated as "not an improvement ... awkward... jarring ... disturbing" (p. 782), In one case, Spencer notes that coauthors of a book "slip up" twice. To avoid the difficulties and the accompanying unpleasant experiences, Spencer suggests the use of co: "The form is derived from an old Indo-European common form for both male and female English pronouns" (p. 783). While arguing for the "goodness of fit" (p. 783) of co. Spencer acknowledges that "there is currently one exception in our language to this meaning of co-coed, in which the form has been bastardized and debased from its source" (p. 783). A clinical psychologist is assuredly not an expert in psycholinguistics, but one could reasonably argue the following: The concept of bastardy with all of its connotative meaning, including debased, derives from patriarchal, patrilineal, male primary societies and history. In short, it is a sexist concept. Ours is a difficult language to use and avoid the expression of bias. Perhaps we ought to be gentler with those who are trying. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychotherapy" Versus "Treatment".

Presents a comment on "Psychological treatments" (see record 2004-21168-001) by D. H. Barlow. Barlow proposed that we distinguish between the terms "treatment" and "psychotherapy." The author believes that not only is the distinction unnecessary, but that its implications could have negative consequences for the field of clinical psychology. It is the proposed distinguishing feature that treatments are "specifically tailored to the pathological process that is causing the impairment and distress" that is most problematic. Clinical psychology does not need a distinction that further exacerbates the split between researchers and practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What Mahoney "knows."

Criticizes M. J. Mahoney (see record 1990-03226-001) for presenting facts about and arguments against behavior analysis (BAN) as though they were context free. This is ironic in light of his own wrongly placed criticism of BAN for being objectivist in epistemology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A "humanistic alternative" to "Political ethics."

Challenges E. Gologor's (1978) contention that research concerning positive characteristics of people might be disruptive, as it could be discovered that people possess considerable potential for evil. A paradigm is presented that allows an objective evaluation of the effects of deception-disclosure on a given psychological phenomenon or procedure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Locke's "Revision" of "Job satisfaction reconsidered."

Responds to comments by E. A. Locke (1978) on W. R. Nord's (see record 1978-30586-001) discussion of assumptions underlying job satisfaction research. Locke's comments are said to be a distortion of the original article; however, issues raised by Locke's comments are discussed, including the attention given to the extrinsic reward of pay. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-help books.

The author presents findings of his research, including examination of 232 paperback self-help books (SHBs), to support the significance of G. M. Rosen's (see record 1987-16844-001) concerns about SHBs. The appeal of SHBs is attributed to their low cost, general availability, relevance to everyday problems, positive orientation, and a lack of viable alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)