The lasting legacy of Sigmund Koch.

Introduces a collection of articles celebrating the work of Sigmund Koch. Although probably best known as the editor of the large, 6-volume study of psychology Psychology: A study of science, Koch also made critical and creative contributions in a variety of other areas. The articles presented in this journal focus on some of the most salient facets of Koch's work: (a) Koch as philosopher; (b) Koch as historian of psychology; (c) Koch as psychological theoretician; (d) Koch as humanist; and (e) Koch as disciplined connoisseur of the arts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sigmund Koch (1917–1996): Obituary.

Memorializes Sigmund Koch. Although dismissive of grand systems, on both principled and empirical grounds, Koch indicated ways in which psychologists can realize the kind of sensibility-based, context-dependent, finely textured insights that can result from authentic probing of human experience. His own inquiries into a perceptual theory of definition, the nature of objective value-properties, and the processes of creative activity in the arts illustrate the sort of qualitative, philosophically informed, and empirically grounded investigations that should be central to what he christened "the psychological studies." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The artist speaks: Sigmund Koch on aesthetics and creative work.

Sigmund Koch is widely recognized as a prime mover of the radical transformation of psychology from a discipline dominated by behaviorism and related views to a multivalenced set of inquiries into human mentality and functioning. It is less widely remarked that Koch saw aesthetic endeavors as standing at the center of human life and thus warranting psychologists' closest attention. Koch's interest in aesthetics and art making is evident in his writings from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s on different states of mind, the notion of value properties, and the theory of definition. Koch's study of creative work in the latter decades of his life with artists of high accomplishment was guided by a set of methodological signposts for the study of creative work, contains formulations relevant to contemporary psychoaesthetics, and generates significant questions for further inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A childhood letter of Sigmund Freud.

Analyzes a childhood letter written by Freud in an attempt to discover early evidence of lasting personality characteristics. It is deduced that the letter was written when Freud was between 11 and 12 yrs old. Aspects of the letter reveal Freud's neatness and exactness, general conservatism, egocentricity, and deep emotional attachments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "defense" of Sigmund Freud.

Argues that Freud abandoned his seduction theory, not (as J. Masson [1984] asserted) owing to his colleagues' hostility, but because he could not accept the strong possibility that he and his siblings had been seduced as children, possibly by their father. Freud developed the Oedipus complex as an acceptable defense against such a realization; however, the defense was not completely effective, and he persisted in many of his neurotic symptoms. Freud's belief that he suffered from hysteria was most pronounced during self-analysis, which corresponded to the period during which he abandoned the seduction thesis. Eventually Freud (1931) was able to state that seduction causes neurosis, and that sexual abuse of children is not uncommon, but the seduction theory never regained the status of primary causal agent for many of the neurotic disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relevance of Sigmund Freud for the 21st century.

This special issue of Psychoanalytic Psychology celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sigmund Freud on May 6, 1856. The 15 papers and one book review in different ways address the question of Freud's continued relevance. The contributors to this special issue approach the topic in multiple ways. Some authors stay close to the question, while other authors write on topics dear to them. All are, nonetheless, distinguished contributors to contemporary psychoanalysis and most need no introduction to the readership of this journal. Individual contributions to the special issue are summarized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactance as impression management: A critical review.

Recent attempts to reinterpret reactance theory in terms of impression management are considered in light of available empirical evidence. Contrary to an impression management view, reactance effects have been observed (a) where there was only a tenuous "glimpse" of a social agent, (b) where freedom threat or elimination occurred by chance or was not intentional, (c) where Ss' responses were not observable by either the influencing agent or a relevant observer, and (d) where Ss' responses could not be individually identified. Also inconsistent with the impression management formulation of reactance is evidence that neither an influencing agent nor a relevant observer must be present for freedom restoration by a third party to be effective. It is concluded that although self-presentation might account for some reactance effects, the theory as a whole cannot be subsumed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Sandor Ferenczi: Book review.

Review of book: Ernst Falzeder and Eva Brabant (Eds.; Peter T. Hoffer, Trans.) The Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Sandor Ferenczi. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2000, 473 pp. Reviewed by Paul Roazen. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Humanist ideology and nurse education. 2. Limitations of humanist educational theory in nurse education

This article questions the viability of humanist educational theory in nurse education and raises the issue of which interests are served by humanist ideology. The limitations of the humanist approach are traced. Self-directed learning is shown to be problematic in nurse education, leading to tensions between independent learning and required course content, and the appropriateness of student-centred learning to the professional education of nurses is queried. The need to produce safe practitioners compromises the humanist model. Lifelong learning, for example, becomes institutionalized, and its self-directed character transformed into a mandatory process of lifelong professional education. The humanist model has become the new orthodoxy in nurse education and operates as a form of social control. Through its individualism the approach supports a competency model, which in turn restricts the potential diversity of 'product'. This individualistic bias denies the social reality of nursing and fails to empower the nurse by emphasizing individual growth at the expense of social learning. The article concludes that humanist ideology serves the needs of a free-market philosophy. If nurse education is to be challenging it must break with individualism and seek to develop a different rationale, that of a collectivist ideology.     

A response to The relevance of Sigmund Freud for the 21st century.

The relevance of Freud's ideas for the 21st Century had been discussed (Reppen, 2006; see record 2006-05420-001). Although most of the contributors to that compendium believed that they were, I suggest that a 'yes' or 'no' answer is not possible with regard to the corpus of Freud's ideas as a whole; each idea has to be evaluated separately. Freud's theorizing is built on two different bases: a psychological and a biological one. Not only do these eventuate in two different kinds of formulations throughout this theory, but sometimes even with regard to the same construct at different times in his writing. As a consequence, the assessment of the relevance of Freud's ideas for the 21st Century must be made construct by construct. A sampling of Freud's ideas about motivation, psychopathology and treatment were examined as to their contemporary relevance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science.

Although commentators periodically declare that Freud is dead, his repeated burials lie on shaky grounds. Critics typically attack an archaic version of psychodynamic theory that most clinicians similarly consider obsolete. Central to contemporary psychodynamic theory is a series of propositions about (a) unconscious cognitive, affective, and motivational processes; (b) ambivalence and the tendency for affective and motivational dynamics to operate in parallel and produce compromise solutions; (c) the origins of many personality and social dispositions in childhood; (d) mental representations of the self, others, and relationships; and (e) developmental dynamics. An enormous body of research in cognitive, social, developmental, and personality psychology now supports many of these propositions. Freud's scientific legacy has implications for a wide range of domains in psychology, such as integration of affective and motivational constraints into connectionist models in cognitive science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud and Markus Hajek. A connection in life and death

When Sigmund Freud was taken ill in 1923 with a malignant tumor of his right upper jaw he was initially treated by the famous Viennese rhino-laryngologist, Professor Markus Hajek. One year later, Franz Kafka, who was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis which had spread to the larynx, was likewise placed under the care of this distinguished specialist. Neither of the encounters proved beneficial from the professional point of view and both well-known patients received remarkably poor attentions in keeping with the general autocratic attitude by clinical chiefs of the time in Vienna. Franz Kafka was terminally ill when he came to Hajek and no treatment was yet available for the disabling and painful laryngeal complication of his advanced tuberculosis. He died about a month after leaving Hajek's ward in Vienna. Sigmund Freud required repeated subsequent operations on his jaw and the insertion of a prothesis. Hajek had handed Freud over to Hans Pichler for further care and it was entirely due to the skill of this extremely competent and empathetic maxilliary surgeon that Freud lived for another 16 years, working to almost full capacity.     

A draft of Lethe: A neglected statement from the works of Sigmund Freud.

The myth of Oedipus plays an important role in psychoanalysis. Freud's relationship with his mother influenced his theoretical insights and the development of his approach to analysis. But a careful reading of Freud's letters to Wilhelm Fliess shows that it is highly probable that it was not Freud's mother, but his father who was the decisive factor in his life and works. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proportion of light to cycle as a determinant of critical flicker-fusion frequency.

On the basis of recent studies a meaningful relationship between CFF and the proportion of light to the total cycle (PL) is emerging. Graphs of the Log of time of one dark period to time of one light period "show that increase in time of light, luminance and/or area of test patch, results in a decrease in the time of dark necessary at fusion." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electromyograph biofeedback as a relaxation technique: A critical appraisal and reassessment.

A review of the frontalis EMG biofeedback (BF) literature demonstrates that EMG BF compares favorably with other relaxation procedures, although some reviewers have prematurely concluded that alternative relaxation treatments are preferable on a cost–benefit basis. Previous statements about the efficacy of BF have oversimplified the data, however, and have failed to recognize sufficiently that reliable effects are associated with different relaxation procedures and specific trait dimensions operating for certain groups of Ss. Definitive statements regarding the efficacy of EMG BF and other relaxation treatment modalities need to acknowledge the full complexity of the data and await further research on specific person–treatment interactions. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sigmund Freud and Minna Bernays: Primal curiosity, primal scenes, primal fantasies--And prevarication.

Attacks on Freud's theories on sexuality began when Freud launched his studies on hysteria in the last decade of the 19th century and are still ongoing. The latest cavil is embedded in a sensation exploded in the summer of 2006 by Franz Maciejewski of Heidelberg, Germany. It was publicized in front-page reportage by New York Times columnist Ralph Blumenthal (2006): "A Century-Old Swiss Hotel Log Hints at an Illicit Desire That Dr. Freud Didn't Repress," additionally editorialized as adequate "to impugn [Freud's] reputation" (p. A4). In this article, arguments ad hominem, bordering on Freud-bashing, concerning Freud as a person and his relationship with his sister-in-law Minna Bernays, are separated from arguments ad rem, regarding the merits of Freud's theory of the Oedipus complex. The evidence presented by Maciejewski is found to be flawed and to not rise above the level of conjecture. Similarly, his construction that the alleged sexual affair between Freud and his sister-in-law was tantamount to incest, and thus source of theory of the Oedipus complex, has no standing either. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Koch (2006).

Reports an error in "Personal constructs and psychodynamic psychotherapy: A case study" by Ehud Koch (Psychoanalytic Psychology, 2006[Sum], Vol 23[3], 554-578). An error was made in the reproduction of figures 5 and 6. The corrected versions are provided with the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-09622-007.) During a short term, psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy, a college student's salient constructs regarding her self and her object representations were elicited via the Role Construct Repertory Test. The course of this psychotherapy is traced and is examined with regard to the information provided by component analyses of these repertory grids. The aims of this article are to demonstrate the utility of an independent measure such as repertory grids for 1) additional understanding of the patient's modes of construing self and others; 2) establishing meaningful foci for a short-term treatment; 3) providing information for a more considered set of interpretive interventions regarding key conflicts; and 4) considering changes and outcome in light of the foci of the treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)