American Psychologist

Silverman, Lloyd H.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.621pmid: N/A

Discusses 2 independent ongoing research programs investigating the relationship between psychopathology and unconscious libidinal and aggressive wishes. In the 1st program conducted by the author laboratory experiments using a "subliminal psychodynamic activation"with 39 groups of from 26-8 clinical Ss supported the hypothesis that presentation (tachistoscopic) of wish-related stimuli (vs presentation of neutral stimuli) affected the level of manifest psychopathology. Additional support came from 16 experiments (using a similar design) with over 400 persons with primary process ego pathology, depression, homosexuality, or stuttering: subliminal exposure of stimuli led to intensification of pathology on a variety of psychological tests. Another series of studies with over 200 Ss led to decreased primary process ego pathology in schizophrenics by reducing conflict through activating a fantasy of symbiotic gratification. The 2nd major research program was developed by J. Reyher (1958 and 1967) and his associates and used hypnotic suggestion with "normal" college students to confirm that activation of aggressive and subliminal mental contents can stimulate pathology. Overall results illustrate theory validation by converging operations and pose a substantive challenge to critics of psychoanalytic theory. (2 p ref)

Argyris, Chris

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.638pmid: N/A

Applies a theory of action perspective (based on single- and double-loop learning) to adult learning problems, including becoming a more effective leader. Instructors and students (Study 1 and 2) and entrepreneurs and company presidents (Study 3) were investigated to determine how adults learn and how to help them in leadership positions by using a model of double-loop learning. Overall results suggest that (a) adults may not be able to discover/invent/produce the learning that is necessary to behave more effectively; (b) they may be unaware of this possibility; and (c) if they try to get help from well-intentioned others, it will tend to make things worse. Results are applied to the adult educational perspectives of F. E. Fiedler and M. M. Chemers (1974) and V. H. Vroom and P. W. Yetton (1973). (18 ref)

Kruglanski, Arie W.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.655pmid: N/A

Responds to the H. Gadlin and G. Ingle proposition that fundamental anomalies are inherent in the experimental paradigm and an alternate paradigm is therefore needed. The "paradigmatic" objections to the psychology experiment are scrutinized, and the following conclusions drawn: (a) Contrary to implication, the paradigm need not include mechanistic suppositions about people. The experiment is a methodological tool and, as such, is free of assumptions about the substance of an inquiry. (b) In the foregoing sense, the experiment is, indeed, independent of the content of psychological phenomena; however, the logical separation between method and content is common to all the empirical sciences. Thus, it may not be considered a unique "anomaly" of the psychology experiment. (c) The injunctions regarding the precedence of phenomena over method and reflexivity are thoroughly consistent with the experimental paradigm; hence, they may not identify an alternative thereto. (24 ref)

Tuma, June M.; Cerny, Jerome A.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.664pmid: N/A

Conducted a survey to provide data on past and future estimates of supply and demand in the internship marketplace and on current and anticipated financial support for clinical psychology graduate students and interns. A questionnaire sent to training directors of the 149 listed clinical psychology graduate programs and 242 listed predoctoral clinical internship facilities, yielded returns of 67% and 81% respectively. Results show a greater increase in demand than in supply of internship positions for the past 5 yrs, with a 14% nonplacement rate predicted within 3 yrs. Financial support data predict shifting of sources of funding from current levels such that a nonsupport rate of 12% for graduate students and 9% for interns is expected.

Tryon, Warren W.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.670pmid: N/A

Reports 2 errors in the original article by W. W. Tryon (American Psychologist, 1976, Vol 7 509–518). On page 512 the left-hand measure, line 11 "first row" should read "first column." On page 514, instead of "Signaled Contingent Reward Conditioning," the 2nd heading should read "Signaled Noncontingent Reward Conditioning." (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in PA, Vol 57:4654.) Discusses the issue of formal analysis of operations in psychology. A total of 120 conditioning paradigms are derived from P. J. Woods's "Taxonomy of Instrumental Conditioning," of which 64 are predicted to produce behavior disorder and 32 are predicted to produce no behavior disorder. The remaining 24 are either redundant or "degenerate" paradigms. Eight paradigms producing behavior disorder are selected for review because they represent simple symmetrical formal relationships and have been more widely investigated. Among the phenomena covered are "superstitious" behavior, learned helplessness, experimental neurosis, anaclitic depression as a result of maternal separation, and physiological disturbances such as ulceration . . . (24 ref)

Forest, James

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.671pmid: N/A

Comments on L. J. Peacock's (1975) discussion of the problem of originality in science, the existence of ancestral data, and the continuity-of-thought comment contained in his comment on the ancestry of the surrogate mother. Peacock's description poses problems and is not the only view on science's meaning and structure.

Levin, Joel R.; Kratochwill, Thomas R.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.673pmid: N/A

Comments on D. Koulack and H. J. Keselman's ranking of psychology journals by American Psychological Association members and argues that there is a familiarity bias in addition to perceived journal quality. The same is true of K. C. Mace and H. D. Warner's (1973) survey of department chairpersons.

Porter, Alan L.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.674pmid: N/A

Compared 2 psychology-focused citation measures compiled by E. Garfield (1975) with rankings by American Psychological Association (APA) members (D. Koulack and H. J. Keselman; . The APA members included 28 of 30 highly cited psychology journals but omitted 20 of the top 50 journals.

Buss, Allan R.; McDermott, John R.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.675pmid: N/A

Compared the K. C. Mace and H. D. Warner (1973) list of chairpersons' ratings of psychological journal reputation and an objective measure of journal eminence. No close correspondence was found between ratings and citation counts for journals. For chairpersons, professional reputation of a journal is evaluated by criteria other than its visibility in the literature.

Evans, Ian M.

doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.31.9.678pmid: N/A

Comments on R. F. Thompson's search for the engram and discusses a feature of Thompson's nictitating membrane (NM) that was apparently neglected. Thompson's Figure 3 reveals neuronal activity in the hippocampus corresponding to the conditioned NM.