Theoretical orientation in psychology and the traditions of Freud, Jung, and Adler.

I hypothesized that the theoretical views of psychoanalysts, Jungian analysts, and Adlerian counselors would differ in ways corresponding to recognized differences in the views of Freud, Jung, and Adler. Copies of the Theoretical Orientation Survey were sent to members of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the International Association for Analytical Psychology, and the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology. Mailing was continued until 30 completed forms were obtained from each of these societies. Of the three groups, the Jungians proved to be the most subjectivistic and the Freudians the most objectivistic, though all three groups were more subjectivistic on the average than psychologists in general. The three groups differed more markedly on the dimension of endogenism versus exogenism; the Jungians were most endogenist and the Adlerians were most exogenist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Norman T. Adler.

Announces Norman T. Adler as a recipient of the 1974 Early Career Award, and presents his biography and list of scientific publications. For his analytical studies of interactions between sensory stimuli, endocrine secretions, and reproductive function. By varying the mating performance of male rats and examining effects of differing amounts of resulting stimulation upon fertilization, gestation, and preparation for lactation in the female he has enlarged our comprehension of the vital role of behaviorally derived stimuli in reproduction of the species. Controlled spacing of coital stimulation combined with precise measurement of hormones in the blood has enabled him to construct an original and testable model of the sequence of endocrine and neural events which underlie the natural sequence of mating, conception, and pregnancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud on the Acropolis.

The relevance of Freud for the present and the future is often questioned because of the assertion that "our patients have changed," that is, that Freud's theorizing is too rooted in the past, and theoretical or technical innovation is necessitated by the contemporary problems our patients bring to us now. An appreciative reading of an underappreciated late Freud paper, "A Disturbance of Memory on the Acropolis," suggests that Freud's theory is more flexible and broadly applicable than Freud's critics have described. Bridging the gap between an analysis of cultural and individual ills is always problematic, but as the "Acropolis" paper shows, Freud's theory can accommodate a wide variety of cultural and historical conditions because of the emphasis on compromise between competing generational claims, no matter what the specific content of the claims themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud and disability.

Reviewed several books about Freud's work and Psychological Abstracts to provide an analysis of Freud's writings and theories as related to persons with physical disabilities and identify references to disability by Freud and pertinent supportive literature. Although Freud wrote very little about disability per se, many of his ideas can be applied directly to understanding attitudes toward disability and adjustment to disability processes. The relevance of concepts such as castration anxiety, fear of loss of love, ego strength, secondary gain, and the death instinct are specifically discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud and sociobiology.

Discusses comments made by M. Eber (see record 1984-00023-001) and E. I. Pollak (see record 1984-00042-001) on a synthesis of Freudian psychoanalysis and sociobiology by the present authors (Leak and Christopher; see record 1982-29262-001). Eber writes from the psychoanalytic perspective and criticizes the stress on the biological/scientific aspect of Freud's work. Pollak takes a more sociobiological approach and criticizes the present authors' article for stressing those aspects of sociobiological theory that place greater emphasis on biological determinism as opposed to behavioral plasticity. The present authors reply that (1) the original Freudian conception of psychoanalysis is the version that offers valuable insights for mainstream scientific psychology, and (2) many of Freud's notions are quite similar to contemporary sociobiological concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Letters by Freud on experimental psychodynamics.

Offers the author's recall of a personal exchange with Freud when Rosenzweig was a young psychologist, a memory prompted by the article by L. T. Benjamin, Jr. and D. N. Dixon (see record 83-32709) which discussed Freud's characteristics as a correspondent in general. In letters on 2 separate occasions, the author remembers that Freud made a similar negative response to any attempts to explore psychoanalytic theory by laboratory methods. This exchange clearly underscored Freud's distrust of, if not opposition to, experimental approaches to the validation of his clinically derived concepts. These letters are reproduced elsewhere with commentary (S. Rosenzweig, 1985). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarian attitudes and dreams.

"This study attempted to verify the findings of a previous investigation that highly authoritarian and nonauthoritarian individuals differ in their ability to tolerate emotional ambivalence towards parents and other powerful authorities." The findings lend support to the theory of the authoritarian personality as formulated by previous investigators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Helmut E. Adler (1920–2001).

Presents an obituary for Helmut E. Adler, a warm and gentle scholar who packed several full-time careers into his life as a psychologist. In addition to being a superb undergraduate teacher, he conducted research in comparative psychology and wrote on the history of psychology. Details on his life, career, accomplishments, and contributions to the history of psychology are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chinese Freud? A fable.

The author creates a fable involving the translation of Shakespeare's Hamlet into Chinese in order to understand and reveal more fully some of the current difficulties in approaching Freud's work and thought. The article also points out the ironic nature of many of the criticisms of Freud and the almost uncritical support of other psychoanalytic figures who themselves fell prey to errors Freud has been accused of making. The author argues for the recreation of a living dialogue with Freud's work to serve as a wellspring and guide for an enlightened and coherent perseverance of psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching Freud: A lesson.

This article addresses the objectives of teaching undergraduates about psychoanalysis and offers some evidence for how those objectives are addressed in contemporary textbooks and achieved in the students. Arguing that there is a poor match between goals, strategies, and achievement, we make some specific suggestions about how to proceed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A bit more light on Ferenczi and Freud.

Further explores issues stressed by L. Aron and J. Frankel (see record 1994-41100-001) in commenting on J. K. Tabin's (see record 1994-05584-001) article on Freud's motivation for rethinking his seduction theory. The author presents material that confirms Freud's priority in citing the relationship between splitting of the ego and childhood sexual trauma; that describes signs of Ferenczi's considerable emotional difficulty during the last period of his life; and that shows that Freud's referring to Ferenczi as paranoid was a reaction to Ferenczi's hostility to him, significantly predating their public theoretical differences. An important aspect of the last matter is Ferenczi's explanation of his hostility: Freud never helped him with the negative transference that underlay his idealization of Freud. Freud defended himself by saying that negative transference was not understood when he treated Ferenczi. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Adler et al. (2005).

Reports an error in "The Impact of Deployment Length and Experience on the Well-Being of Male and Female Soldiers" by Amy B. Adler, Ann H. Huffman, Paul D. Bliese, and Carl Andrew Castro (Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2005, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 121-137). As stated in the original article, all service members re-deploying from the Bosnia Area of Operations were required by Department of Defense policy (tasker P 231639Z FEB 96) to complete the psychological screening survey. The screening data were collected as part of routine clinical care under the Privacy Act Regulation, and secondary analysis of these data was conducted under a protocol approved by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Human Use Review Committee. It should be noted, however, that subjects were not asked to consent to the secondary analyses of the screening data for research purposes. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2005-03471-004.) This study examined the effects of stressor duration (deployment length) and stressor novelty (no prior deployment experience) on the psychological health of male and female military personnel returning from a peacekeeping deployment. The sample consisted of men (n = 2,114) and women (n = 1,225) surveyed for symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress. The results confirmed the hypotheses. Longer deployments and 1st-time deployments were associated with an increase in distress scores. However, the relationship between deployment length and increased distress was found only for male soldiers. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering the impact of exposure to long-term occupational stressors and confirm, in part, previous research that has demonstrated a different stress response pattern for men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structured brief therapy with a focus on dreams or loss for clients with troubling dreams and recent loss.

The authors tested whether a focus on dreams added something specific to the therapy process beyond the structure of a 3-stage approach. Fourteen distressed clients with troubling dreams and recent loss of a loved one participated in brief structured therapy focused on dreams or loss. After therapy, clients in both conditions reported being satisfied with therapy, having lowered impact of the loss, gaining new insights about themselves, and having made changes. In addition, clients in the dream condition rated the process of therapy higher, became involved in the therapeutic process more quickly, gained more understanding of their dreams, liked the structure of therapy more, and kept fewer secrets from their therapists than clients in the loss condition. In contrast, clients in the loss condition gained more insight about the effects of the past and their loss and liked therapist guidance more than clients in the dream condition. (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)     

Freud in America: some observations.

Psychoanalysis is a "highly articulated theoretical system, one so extensive in scope that it threatens to overwhelm us with insights." Psychoanalysis has been modified in this country. A major antithesis is "between Freud's view, which emphasizes the limitations imposed on man by his nature, and the American vision, an optimistic one, which is captured by the idea of infinite possibility." "Freud seems quite satisfied if the patient achieves a relative internal harmony—that is, he seeks to uproot the neurosis. The American aim is much less moderate; indeed we may even call it inspirational; again and again we hear such terms as 'self-actualization,' 'self-realization,' 'spontaneity,' and 'creativity.' " (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of hypnotically induced dreams on creative problem solving.

A wealth of anecdotal evidence supports the age-old notion that the nocturnal dream is a source for creative inspiration. Unfortunately, scientific research on so-called creative dreaming has not been forthcoming. Using hypnosis in an effort to bring the phenomenon under experimental control, the present investigation induced dreams in 24 undergraduates representing a number of occupational and educational backgrounds. Each S was at an impasse in the course of working on an academic, vocational, avocational, or personal problem or project at the time of participation in the experiment. As hypothesized, when compared with a rational-cognitive treatment group that emphasized a linguistic and logical approach to creative problem solving, a significantly greater number of Ss who were administered the hypnotic dream treatment were able to overcome their creative blocks within 1 wk of treatment. Treatment success was assessed in accordance with criteria derived from an operational definition of creativity developed in the introduction. The hypothesis is considered to have received conditional support, pending the outcome of suggested research. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The writing and interpretation of dreams.

Freud's (1900/1953a) magnum opus, "The Interpretation of Dreams," largely based on the self-analysis of his own dreams, incorporated a wide variety of source material. Concerned about exposure and discretion, he nevertheless published his dreams with many personal associations and revelations. Despite the self-analytic, research, and educational value of his written dreams, Freud paradoxically devalued written dreams in clinical psychoanalysis. Written dreams can be preserved, collected, compared, and reexamined. Writing dreams protects against forgetting the dream with its unconscious representations. Written dreams of patients are not simply resistance or enactments, but analytic communications with transference–countertransference significance. A clinical vignette exemplifies use of the written dream in attempted ego mastery of unconscious trauma and conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud, biology, and sociobiology.

Concurs with T. Parisi's (see record 1987-21061-001) suggestion that human psychodynamics cannot be profitably reduced to physiological events, but argues that Parisi's understanding of Freud and his conclusions regarding evolutionary sociobiology are seriously flawed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud and the intentionality of affect.

Freud implicitly adopted F. Brentano's (1874 [1973]) thesis that the essence of the mental is intentionality (i.e., mental representation), while rejecting Brentano's Cartesian assumption that intentionality must be conscious. But, how can a feeling like free-floating anxiety, which does not seem to represent or be about anything, be fitted into Freud's representational framework? Several possible answers are examined, including: (1) affects are ideas, (2) affects are always attached to ideas, (3) consciousness is perception of internal mental states, and (4) affects are perceptions of internal bodily processes. Only the "bodily perception" account is systematically developed by Freud, is consistent with Freud's other doctrines, and is intrinsically plausible even in the context of contemporary debate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)