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)     

The social construction of truth.

Examines the American Psychological Association (APA) Memories of Childhood Abuse report, which contains the opposing view points of 2 subgroups of the working group that produced the report, the clinicians and the researchers. The author views the Final Report of the working group as an exercise in alternative methods of truth making. In the development of his analysis, the author explains his choice of the term "truth-making" rather than "truth finding." The process of constructing truths and the possibility of resolving contrary claims to truth is discussed. The author's remarks are intended as a scaffold for an understanding of why the clinicians and the researchers could find little common ground. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wise after the fact.

Comments on the article Proverbs as psychological theories...or is it the other way around by Tim Rogers (see record 1991-03999-001). Since Rogers cites the author's own investigation of proverbs (1988)--later expanded into a book-length treatment of popular beliefs (1990)--the author shares his bemuscinent over his continued admiration for oftrepeated beliefs that are demonstrably false and, in some instances (e.g., "Spare the rod and spoil the child"), dangerous. Because he cannot defend the truth value of proverbs, Rogers decides instead to challenge truth as the relevant criterion for judging them. Similarly, even though proverbs A and B may well contradict one another (e.g., Absence makes the heart grow fonder vs. Out of sight, out of mind), he denies that this is troubling since, after all, A will apply in one situation and B in another. Anyone who is not satisfied with this defense is said to be a partisan of "a natural science model of psychology" (p. 200), "logical empiricism," or something he calls "eliminative materialism." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The application of postmodern thought to the clinical practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy

The purpose of this article has been to acquaint psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists with some of the most current ideas in philosophy and psychology, which have crucial implications for our professional organizations and our clinical work. The basic stance of this postmodern thinking constitutes a challenge to what is called foundationalism, which dominated scientific and philosophical thought until recently. In place of foundationalism, even in the production of scientific or philosophical works, we could hope for an ongoing dialogue between a king or queen who states the basic theoretical orientation, the loyal opposition that looks for inconsistencies and kinks in it, the jester who deconstructs the whole thing and introduces parenthetical digressions, and finally, a secret society of organization that functions to hold the adherents of the theory together and provide them with a unifying ego ideal. Postmodern thought is described and there is some discussion of its "four horsemen," Derrida, Rorty, Foucault, and Lyotard, who in general question the possibility of whether any form of interpretation can be thought of as related to reality or the truth. My own point of view is that an intermediate position is necessary rather than a binary opposition between nihilism and foundationalism or more specifically, postmodernism and traditional psychoanalysis. That is to say, within certain horizons and with an understanding of the cultural and historical referents that always affect and delimit both the patient and the therapist, it is still possible to reach conceptions about what is going on both in the psychoanalytic process and the psyche of the patient that have at least a tentative "truth." Careful attention to the patient's material following an interpretation can provide clues about the validity of our conception at the time. But the horizons and historicity that delimit all "truth" reduce the authority and the stature of the analyst, make the analyst less of an arbiter of what is "reality," and focus greater attention on the therapist-patient dyad, which is consistent with the modern trend in psychoanalytic treatment anyway. The notion of social constructions as constituting the psychoanalytic process was discussed and it was suggested that this notion suffers from the lack of sufficient attention to the historical determinants of how a given individual reacts in a given situation. A patient will react differently to different therapists, depending on the transference or projective identifications that the patient brings to the treatment, regardless of the interpersonal interaction. This is in opposition to the idea that transference is primarily an effect of the therapist-patient dyad, and preserves a major aspect of traditional Freudian theory. The dangers of postmodern thought disintegrating into nihilism are described, and the limitations of so-called postmodern thought are discussed, including the intrinsic paradoxical nature of any postmodern proposition. At the same time, postmodern thought is useful in calling attention to the "space of the Other" in human affairs, to the tendency to form binary oppositions in which the second element in each binary pair is part of the Other and is depreciated, and to remind us that there are always further interpretations of the narrative that emerges from the psychoanalytic situation. The feminization of psychotherapy and its relationship to feminism are important current issues. Postmodern thought is valuable in responding to the common complaint of feminists about Nietzsche's attitude toward women; postmodernist approaches emphasize the ambiguous and the allegorical aspects of Nietzsche's thought, to the extreme orf Derrida's contention that Nietzsche is not really interpretable at all. At the same time feminists legitimately object to postmodernist erosion of the grounds for political action. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)     

The invention of uncertainty in American psychology: Intellectual conflict and rhetorical resolution, 1890–1930.

A sharp and personal polemical style characterized psychology as a new human science in American universities at the turn of the 20th century. When the experimental pursuit of truth about the mind produced quarreling rather than clarity, psychologists experienced a crisis of confidence. One solution was rhetorical: the use of a disclaimer that all current knowledge was rudimentary and a call for further research to end contention. The wording established a public tone of modesty and fostered collegiality. Scientific disagreements and underlying personal tensions remained, but conventional phrases promising future resolution of disputes contributed to a language of good manners and thereby facilitated debate. Nonetheless, the verbal formula of deferred hopes also made uncertainty seem normative. Confessions of tentativeness helped lay a historical foundation for routine investigation in psychology, but emphasis on incompleteness as an explanation of discord also made experimentation seem perpetual and truth elusive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Truth at the bedside in a historical overview

To tell the truth and withhold information were old topics in the history of medicine, whereas the term 'informed consent' appeared first in 1957. The historical development manifests different standpoints and central dimensions in the perspective of medicine as well as of theology, philosophy, arts, jurisprudence and psychology and with regard to diagnosis, etiology, prognosis and therapy. Physicians and patients are parts of their society and culture and are therefore depending on the dominant types of communication and concepts of health, disease and death.     

A critical history of CPA's various code of ethics for psychologists (1939–1986).

States that codes of ethics are historical products of the professionalization process; the form and content of codes of ethics develop within the specific historical context of the professionalization process of the occupational group for which they are written. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Canadian Psychological Association's (CPA) decisions regarding adoption of a code of ethics were centered on 2 major professionalization needs; namely, to secure a market niche for "psychologists" as this was defined by CPA, and to sustain this image as the basis for continuing funding for related psychological research. Different historical factors resulted in the decision by CPA, in the 1970s, to produce a made-in-Canada code of ethics. These were (a) the need of CPA to produce a document of professional self-regulation that recognized problems faced by psychological practitioners employed within various organizational structures, and (b) organizational problems of the CPA related to disciplinary unity and achievement of a national leadership role. The results of this critical historical analysis confirm the importance of codes of professional ethics as strategies of professionalization as hypothesized by J. Louw in 1990. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Value orientations: An ethical dilemma.

"The psychologist as a scientist limits himself to what is; his choice of field of inquiry in his quest for truth involves values which are purely personal. But as a practitioner, the psychologist must be concerned with what should be… . The point of view of this article is that the involvement of the psychologist's own values in the applied field creates an ethical dilemma… . As we present the controversy over values, we will assemble them into four main orientations: naturalism, culturalism, humanism, and theism." Each of these orientations is discussed. A "start in untieing the ethical knot" has been made "by suggesting that value orientations be removed from under the proverbial bushel and, once out in the open, be dealt with as objectively as possible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anomaly judgments of subject-predicate relations in Alzheimer's disease

Claims that patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) have semantic memory difficulty have received equivocal support. A common assumption has been that defining or core information determines the truth value of word meaning on measures requiring semantic memory such as category membership judgments or confrontation naming, but this assumption may not be valid. In the present study, we assessed the comprehension of subject-predicate sentences independent of their truth value by asking AD patients to judge the coherence of statements such as "The tulip is tall" or "*The tulip is jealous." We found that AD patients are significantly more impaired than controls at judging the coherence of these simple subject-predicate sentences. Moreover, AD patients were more successful at judging the coherence of statements that contain attributes with a narrow scope of reference compared to attributes with a broad scope of reference. These findings support the hypothesis that AD patients have a semantic memory impairment and suggest a specific deficit processing the network of semantic relations underlying word meaning in semantic memory.     

Hermeneutics and relativism: Wittgenstein, Gadamer, Habermas.

Presents 3 hermeneutic answers to the problem of relativism. The 1st answer is drawn from L. Wittgenstein's (1958) anthropological hermeneutics. Wittgenstein went beyond relativism by making explicit universal anthropological categories that are specified differently in different cultures. The 2nd answer lies in H.-G. Gadamer's (1967) historical hermeneutics. By introducing the concepts of tradition and fusion of horizons, Gadamer evades both absolutism and relativism. The 3rd answer is developed by J. Habermas (1981) in his critical hermeneutics. By situating communicative action in the life-world, and stressing the possibility of discussion and critique, Habermas can ascertain that there is no absolute truth without having to surrender to relativism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An individual and quantitative measure of stereotypes.

Proposes a quantitative and individual measure of stereotyping, based on defining stereotypes as probabilistic predictions that distinguish the stereotyped group from others. Data indicate that the proposed measure, though related to the familiar Katz and Braly (D. Katz and K. W. Braly, 1933) checklist, is a substantially new measure of stereotyping rather than simply a quantitative version of the checklist. It is argued that the theoretical and empirical value of the proposed measure is justification for abandoning the Katz and Braly measure. Theoretically, the new measure relates stereotype research to attribution theory as part of a Bayesian approach to the psychology of prediction. Empirically, the new measure opens interesting questions about stereotypes, especially about stereotype validity and the "kernel of truth" hypothesis. A study using the new measure revealed that diverse groups of Ss (N?=?75) had some similar stereotypes of Black Americans, that these stereotypes were relatively accurate, and that contrary to the "kernel of truth" hypothesis, these stereotypes were seldom exaggerated. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity and Meaning: Comment.

Comments on an article by Robert L. Ebel (see record 1962-05654-001). This article discusses basic problems in psychological testing and measurement, and as such the author touches upon basic problems of scientific psychology as well. According to the commentator the problems the author raises are very well taken. For a while it seems that he will come up with what points to a solution but some reflection shows that although he approached the "truth," he failed to reach it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automatic tumor segmentation using knowledge-based techniques

A system that automatically segments and labels glioblastoma-multiforme tumors in magnetic resonance images (MRI's) of the human brain is presented. The MRI's consist of T1-weighted, proton density, and T2-weighted feature images and are processed by a system which integrates knowledge-based (KB) techniques with multispectral analysis. Initial segmentation is performed by an unsupervised clustering algorithm. The segmented image, along with cluster centers for each class are provided to a rule-based expert system which extracts the intracranial region. Multispectral histogram analysis separates suspected tumor from the rest of the intracranial region, with region analysis used in performing the final tumor labeling. This system has been trained on three volume data sets and tested on thirteen unseen volume data sets acquired from a single MRI system. The KB tumor segmentation was compared with supervised, radiologist-labeled "ground truth" tumor volumes and supervised k-nearest neighbors tumor segmentations. The results of this system generally correspond well to ground truth, both on a per slice basis and more importantly in tracking total tumor volume during treatment over time.     

Why is psychoanalysis so controversial? Notes from left field!

Psychoanalysis is defined as a method and as an ontology of mental life. Its controversies are discussed both in terms of those within the discipline and in terms of the attacks on its scientificity by the proponents of "normal science" (analytico-referential or logical-empiricist). It is argued that the discoveries achieved by the free-associative method call into question the metaphysical assumptions on which all "normal science" is constructed. By showing that human consciousness is composed contradictorily of two dimensionalities of meaningfulness (semiosis and desire), psychoanalytic method challenges the axioms of a centered or unified rational subject that can aspire to formulate univocal "truths" about the self and its world. Our discipline thereby insists on a new notion of truth and of the knowing subject's relation to its own being. It is suggested that psychoanalysis is thus a "revolutionary science," in ways that have yet to be fully comprehended, and its method implies a critique of the underlying precepts of all mainstream psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cerebral hemispheres and neural network simulations: Design considerations.

The conclusions concerning hemispheric specializations based on neural network simulations, which were previously reported by Kosslyn, Chabris, Marsolek, and Koenig (see record 1992-37420-001), are shown not to be valid. Differences in network performance on tasks said to be "categorical" and "coordinate spatial" in nature were due to imbalances in the input stimuli and cannot, in principle, be related to differences in performance on such tasks in human subjects. The use of truth tables and correlation coefficients in the design of neural networks is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scientific paradigms and social values: Wanted—a scientific revolution.

The value orientation of the naturalistic conception of science (Paradigm I)—facts and truth appear in abstract, general, and universal forms—is compared with that of the historical conception (Paradigm II)—facts and truth appear in concrete, situated, and particularistic forms. Paradigm I arose in a particular cultural context and value matrix: Puritan Protestantism, individualism, male dominance, selective equality, private property, and capitalism. By embodying and extending these values, Paradigm I science not only found a supportive context for its own growth but helped make the very advances in knowledge that served the emerging society. For social psychology to reflect and actively affirm a wider range of human values and offer a fundamentally more complete perspective on human social behavior, it must undergo a paradigm shift, wherein Paradigm II gains equal-status partnership and legitimacy with Paradigm I science. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Screening Selves: Sciences of memory and identity on film, 1930-1960.

Chemicals that could be used scientifically to force an individual to tell the truth-dubbed truth sera-were first described in the early 1920s. Ever since, the notion of "truth drugs" has remained tenaciously within popular culture. One of the most important reasons for the survival of the notion of a pharmaceutical technology of authenticity was the role of the barbiturates sodium amytal and sodium pentothal in psychiatric research and treatment during the 1930s through the 1950s. This article traces that history, giving special emphasis to the role of motion pictures. The article argues that researchers were seeking to develop a technology of authenticity (rather than of the truth per se). It examines how they used motion pictures to help them develop and disseminate this technology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Common dances, uncommon therapies: Response to Ryder.

Comments on the article by Robert Ryder (see record 1989-01372-001). In an article titled "The Common Dance," Ryder offers two fundamental truths about the nature of all human relationships. He also provides an epistemological position that limits the validity (i.e., universality) of these claims. It is the intention of this response to comment both on the reality/truth (i.e., ontological) claims themselves and on the epistemological (i.e., limits of knowledge) framework in which they are propounded. Ryder evidently adopts the "antirealist" or "subjective" epistemology fashionable in many disciplines, including the family systems movement. Having adopted this epistemology, Ryder goes on to assert his two truths about human relationships-truths which, he cautiously argues, are to be taken only as relative to his stand, that is, relative to his definition of the term relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of When theories touch: A historical and theoretical integration of psychoanalytic thought.

Reviews the book, When theories touch: A historical and theoretical integration of psychoanalytic thought by Steven J. Ellman (2010). For anyone interested in studying the evolutionary history of psychoanalytic thinking, Steven Ellman’s When theories touch offers the most complete, most intelligently selected and organized, most instructive text available. Ellman understands very well that psychoanalysts writing about theory are all too often either sectarians or pluralists. Sectarians, by devoting themselves too exclusively to a single angle of view, remain overly limited and mistake the part for the whole. Pluralists, on the other hand, avoid the necessary scientific work of adjudicating among competing truth claims and resolving category errors by positioning various theories in relation to one another. Ellman steers a course nicely between Scylla and Charybdis. By focusing on the points at which theories touch, Ellman, in effect, invites us to hover over the blind men and take a look at the elephant as a whole. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)