Stephen A. Mitchell, Relational Psychoanalysis, and Empirical Data.

Stephen A. Mitchell's theoretical writings are examined, with particular emphasis on his differences with drive theory, the consequences of his recommendation for greater involvement by the analyst, his (naive) trust in psychoanalytic self-correction, and the problems that follow from his belief that empirical data have little to contribute to psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another look at why people are reluctant to exchange lottery tickets.

People are reluctant to exchange lottery tickets, a result that previous investigators have attributed to anticipated regret. The authors suggest that people's subjective likelihood judgments also make them disinclined to switch. Four studies examined likelihood judgments with respect to exchanged and retained lottery tickets and found that (a) exchanged tickets are judged more likely to win a lottery than are retained tickets and (b) exchanged tickets are judged more likely to win the more aversive it would be if the ticket did win. The authors provide evidence that this effect occurs because the act of imagining an exchanged ticket winning the lottery increases the belief that such an event is likely to occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another look at phonetic symbolism.

Various possible meanings of "phonetic symbolism" are discussed. Phonetic symbolism is distinguised from onomatopoeia. "Elemental" and "structural" phonetic symbolism are defined. Elemental phonetic symbolism is discussed in terms of 7 hierarchically arranged questions which define "subjective" phonetic symbolism (that detected by Os) and "objective" phonetic symbolism (over-representation of particular sounds in words of particular connotations in natural languages). Experimental and empirical evidence relevant to each question are discussed, and it is concluded that both subjective and objective elemental phonetic symbolism are real phenomena, but that the patterns of symbolism are unrelated in historically unrelated languages. The feedback theory of phonetic symbolism (Taylor) is considered in greater detail than heretofore. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A second look at psychotherapy integration.

Psychotherapy integration has been a formal approach since 1983 when the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) was first formed. Initial concerns included defining the E in SEPI and understanding the relationship among theory, technique, and experience. More recent concerns have included the categorization of approaches to psychotherapy integration, the role of the client, and the relationship of psychotherapy integration to evidence-based practice. The E represents a continuing commitment to exploration, but the categories of integration have become fuzzy. Evidence-based practice is a central concern, but evidence must be defined broadly and the role of the client and of the relationship must be emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another look at Meehl, Lakatos, and the scientific practices of psychologists.

This article examines current research methodology in psychology in the context of Serlin and Lapsley's response to Meehl's critiques of the scientific practices of psychologists. The argument is made that Serlin and Lapsley's appeal to Lakatos's philosophy of science to defend the rationality of null hypothesis tests and related practices misrepresents that philosophy. It is demonstrated that Lakatos in fact considered psychology an extremely poor science lacking true research programs, an opinion very much in line with Meehl's critique. The present essay speculates on the reasons for Lakatos's negative opinion and reexamines the role of null hypothesis tests in relation to the quality of theories in psychology. It is concluded that null hypothesis tests are destructive to theory building and directly related to Meehl's observation of slow progress in soft psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory.

The reviewer contends that this book deserves admiration for its masterly review of historical events in the development of psychoanalysis. It should be read by psychoanalysts not only for its enormous fund of skillfully assembled information about the formative years of Freud's thinking, but for its story of how new information was treated by some leaders of the psychoanalytic establishment. In the guise of protecting psychoanalysis, this information was dismissed as harmful. It is precisely such a well-meaning upholding of psychoanalytic doctrine that can throttle its growth. Although some of Masson's interpretations are made in the best Freudian style, Lewis remains unconvinced that, in what Masson calls a "failure of courage," Freud suppressed the truth. Nor did Freud's abandonment of the seduction theory lead to the present-day "sterility" of psychoanalysis, as Masson believes. Rather, the spurious need to defend psychoanalysis that Masson encountered during his investigations has also made many institutes sterile places. Masson thus confounds the limitations of some parts of the psychoanalytic establishment with the future of psychoanalysis itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconnecting psychoanalysis to mainstream psychology. Challenges and opportunities.

Although psychoanalysis was once central to mainstream psychology, in recent years psychodynamic models of personality and psychopathology have become increasingly marginalized. The factors that combined to "disconnect" psychoanalysis from contemporary psychological science and clinical practice are examined, and strategies that can help reconnect psychoanalysis to mainstream psychology are described. These are (a) the use of nomothetic research methods to test and refine psychoanalytic concepts and (b) the communication of psychoanalytic principles and findings to colleagues, students, and members of the public. Opportunities and challenges that arise during this reconnection process are discussed, and prospects for the rebirth of a truly heuristic, integrative psychoanalysis are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The foundations of psychoanalysis: A philosophical critique.

Reviews the book by A. Grünbaum, a work of importance in the current, apparently ever-widening, debates about the "scienticity" of psychoanalysis. Grünbaum makes it clear that the inquiry moves toward a verdict of unproven with respect to the scientific claims of psychoanalytic clinical theory, perhaps even the stronger verdict of unprovable in the terms in which it is traditionally cast. Yet Grünbaum is not hospitable to the promiscuous reconstructions that set psychoanalysis apart from the mainstream of scientific endeavor, whether on subjectivist or phenomenological or hermeneutical grounds. As Grünbaum sees it, Freud rightly claimed that psychoanalysis was to be judged as a science in its study of human processes. Grünbaum's respect for Freud is given body by examining how Freud at various stages of his development formulated the logic of his own position and the structure of objections which he was setting out explicitly to answer. The first third of the book deals with broader philosophical foundations, the remainder with the specific critique of psychoanalytic clinical theory. Grünbaum's critique taps the deeper issues of the comparison of the sciences of nature and those of man, of the relation of science and the humanities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The continuing presence of psychoanalysis: A reply to Robert F. Bornstein (2001).

R. F. Bornstein (2001) implies in "The Impending Death of Psychoanalysis" that he holds the only truth about psychoanalysis. However, his reasoning seems to be based on 2 inaccurate hypotheses or prejudices: (a) that there is a division between psychoanalysis and the rest of the world and science and psychology and (b) that the rest of the world is hostile to psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is imbedded in the same values as are evidenced in any humanistic-democratic society, and hostility expressed toward psychoanalysis comes from a variety of sources including disillusionment in the unconscious fantasy or wish that psychoanalysis can prevent the eventual death of the individual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Economics and psychology practice: What we need to know and why.

Economic contexts and trends relevant to the practice of psychology in mental health and health settings are presented to help practitioners plan better for the future. Professional skills alone are no longer sufficient to thrive and deliver quality services in the current economic climate. A greater focus on understanding the economic indicators for psychology is necessary too. This includes the cost-driven policies, health and behavioral health financing, demands for accountability, losses, and opportunities inherent in the major systemic health care changes occurring in the United States. Practical questions with economic implications about the direction of psychology practices are raised, and the role of psychology initiatives designed to advance practice, which take both professional and economic factors into account, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dismissing the past: Not unique to Gen-X. Comment on Strenger (2004).

This commentary critiques C. Strenger's (see record 2004-21113-001) "Nobrow: Identity Formation in a Fatherless Generation", an article suggesting that connection to the past has less psychic reality for Gen-Xers than for earlier sociological cohorts and offering a therapeutic approach for this group that claims greater sensitivity to current cultural upheaval. The clinical example is questioned as to its generalizability, and the technique presented is deemed neither innovative nor exemplary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Requiem or reveille: A response to Robert F. Bornstein (2001).

The most common error in debating psychoanalysis is confusion between method and theory. From the perspective of operationalism, the touchstone of science, any science should be defined by its method first and theories second. This is the thrust of the author's response to R. F. Bornstein's (2001) condemnation of psychoanalysis as nonscientific. Empirically, psychoanalysis is a method and a technique of observation--of the analysand and analyst's interactions, both verbal and nonverbal, in the psychoanalytic situation; of reciprocal free association; of the dynamics of dream psychology and unconscious intrapsychic and interpersonal processes; of transference--and this results in the special nature of psychoanalytic interpretation. A further source of confusion is the politics of the psychoanalytic movement and its component organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivations to identify with social groups: A look at their positive and negative consequences.

Social identity is considered a key social psychological variable to understanding intergroup behaviors. Given that social identity has been associated with both positive (e.g., well-being, helping behaviors) and negative consequences (e.g., ingroup bias, nationalism), it remains to be explained which dimensions of social identification yield these divergent consequences. To this aim, these studies apply self-determination theory to understanding the reasons why group members identify with their ingroup. We hypothesized that when group members identify with their ingroup for self-determined reasons, this should predict more positive consequences. In contrast, identifying with one's ingroup for non–self-determined reasons should predict more negative consequences. Three studies tested these hypotheses among members of different social groups, namely, University of Queensland students (n = 272), residents of Québec (n = 196), and members of an online community (n = 278). Controlling for degree of identification, these hypotheses were supported when predicting the positive consequences, and mostly supported for the negative consequences. Results are interpreted in light of social identity theory and self-determination theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reexamining the psychoanalytic corpse: From scientific psychology to philosophy.

Historically, psychoanalysis has been marginalized as being pseudoscientific, incoherent, incongruent, and unverifiable and, consequently, has been marginalized from mainstream scientific psychology. Recently, Robert F. Bornstein (2001) added to this criticism by predicting the demise of psychoanalysis unless it jumps on the academic-empirical bandwagon. Throughout this article, the author challenges Bornstein's central arguments and attempts to show how philosophically informed approaches to theory and method provide a viable and equally privileged alternative to substantiating psychoanalytic thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impending death of psychoanalysis: From destructive obfuscation to constructive dialogue.

The disconnection between psychoanalysis and mainstream psychology has reached the point that the long-term health of psychoanalytic theory is in serious jeopardy. "The Impending Death of Psychoanalysis" (Bornstein, 2001) was intended as a wake-up call to the author's psychoanalytic colleagues who choose not to use relevant research findings from within and outside the discipline in their theoretical and clinical work. However, some of those who responded to the article misperceived it as an attack on psychoanalysis. This article points out factual errors in the responses of these critics, corrects some of the distortions and misrepresentations that characterize their critiques, and places the debate within an appropriate historical context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prominent schools or other active specialties? A fresh look at some trends in psychology.

Past studies investigating trends in psychology have reported some conflicting and surprising results. This article critiques and reevaluates these reports, with a particular focus on those related to the cognitive revolution and the place of neuroscience in psychology. Based on a wide variety of indicators, the following trends are demonstrated: (a) Although cognitive psychology has grown in importance, it has not come to dominate psychology; (b) contrary to prior findings, attention to neuroscience in psychology has grown in a pattern similar to that of cognitive psychology; and (c) there are many signs that cognitive neuroscience is in the process of emergence. Trends are interpreted in light of the argument that psychology is a disunified discipline allowing for many different interests, schools, and approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new look at children’s understanding of mind and emotion: The case of prayer.

Multiple methods were used to examine children’s awareness of connections between emotion and prayer. Four-, 6-, and 8-year-olds and adults (N = 100) predicted whether people would pray when feeling different emotions, explained why characters in different situations decided to pray, and predicted whether characters’ emotions would change after praying. Four- and 6-year-olds exclusively judged that positive emotions motivate prayer, whereas 8-year-olds and adults most often predicted that negative emotions would cause people to pray and that praying could improve emotions. There was also a significant increase between 4 and 8 years in explaining prayer as motivated by need for assistance, for thanksgiving, and for conversation, as well as for explaining postprayer emotions in relation to God or prayer. Religious background predicted individual differences in reasoning only for 4-year-olds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Leo Rangell and I: Where do we differ?" Response to Dr. Wallerstein: Part I.

Responds to a commentary by R. Wallerstein (see record 2007-10890-011) on the present author's original article (see record 2006-05420-002) regarding the evolution of psychoanalytic theory. I do not believe that misunderstanding or misrepresentation has played a part in these differences. What I think has been at play for almost 20 years has been a difference in outlook on scientific and social issues, and in our interpretations of the historical course of events affecting psychoanalytic theory. These are reversing in recent years, which I welcome. No objective events have taken place to account for these changes, only subjective developments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond symbolizing: A response to Bornstein’s review.

Responds to the review by R. F. Bornstein (see record 2010-02522-001) on the current author's book, "Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: A multiple code theory" (see record 1997-08863-000). Although there is not much that Bornstein says with which Bucci can disagree, she responds specifically to a few of Bornstein's points and adds a few that he does not include. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It feels like yesterday: Self-esteem, valence of personal past experiences, and judgments of subjective distance.

Supporting predictions from temporal self-appraisal theory, participants in 3 studies reported feeling farther from former selves and experiences with unfavorable implications for their current self-view than from equally distant selves and experiences with flattering implications. This distancing bias occurred when assignment to negative and positive pasts was random, for both achievement and social outcomes and for single episodes as well as longer term experiences. Consistent with a motivational interpretation, the distancing bias was stronger among high than low self-esteem participants and occurred for personal but not for acquaintances' past events. Frequency of rehearsal and ease of recall of past episodes also predicted feelings of distance, but these variables did not account for the Self-Esteem × Valence interaction on subjective distancing of personal events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)