A probability model for errors of classification. I. General considerations

This paper seeks to meet the need for a general treatment of the problem of error in classification. Within an m-attribute classificatory system, an object's typical subclass is that subclass to which it is most often allocated under repeated experimentally independent applications of the classificatory criteria. In these terms, an error of classification is an atypical subclass allocation. This leads to definition of probabilitiesO of occasional subclass membership, probabilitiesT of typical subclass membership, and probabilitiesE of error or, more generally, occasional subclass membership conditional upon typical subclass membership. In the relationshipf: (O, T, E) the relative incidence of independentO, T, andE values is such that generally one can specifyO values givenT andE, but one cannot generally specifyT andE values givenO. Under the restrictions of homogeneity ofE values for all members of a given typical subclass, mutual stochastic independence of errors of classification, and suitable conditions of replication, one can find particular systemsO =f(T, E) which are solvable forT andE givenO. A minimum of three replications of occasional classification is necessary for a solution of systems for marginal attributes, and a minimum of two replications is needed with any cross-classification. Although for such systems one can always specifyT andE values givenO values, the solution is unique for dichotomous systems only.With grateful acknowledgement to the Rockefeller Foundation; and to the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, for N. I. M. H. Grant M-3950.     

Developmental psychology and psychoanalysis: I. The context for a revolution in psychoanalysis

After describing the manner in which the integration of psychoanalysis and developmental psychology became a central problem for ego psychology, the author examines the conditions that make it possible for new research and theory in developmental psychology to contribute to a revolution in contemporary psychoanalytic theory. They include: (1) the emergence of a state of "crisis" in American psychoanalysis centering on questions of the nature of early development and how it can be known; (2) the explosive growth of developmental research on early childhood dealing with issues at the heart of that crisis; and (3) the presence of a new generation of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically oriented researchers capable of bringing that research to bear on those issues.     

Behavior treatment: General considerations

The principal goal of behavior treatment for retarded clients is that of modifying behavior as it occurs in a given environment in such a maner that it becomes more appropriate to that environment. The therapeutic or change agents can involve a variety of persons other than the counselor, teacher, and client—this may include parents, peers, work supervisors and others who can provide supportive influences. Education and rehabilitation programs should be tailored to the occupational and social environment of the retarded client and designed to teach those behavior patterns that are relevant to that environment. Additionally, the work tasks for which retarded clients are trained should be highly structured and routine. Excessive demand for adaptability or decision making is a major cause of training failure for retarded clients. Reprinted from Gardner, William I.Behavior Modification in Mental Retardation: The Education and Rehabilitation of the Mentally Retarded Adolescent and Adult. Aldine.     

Assessment of suitability for low-fee control psychoanalysis: some theoretical and technical considerations

In the assessment of suitability for low-fee control analysis, various factors may interfere with successful referral, evaluation, and disposition. Variables within the referring analyst, patient, candidate, and supervisor are examined in their interaction with the circumstances of the assessment enterprise. Issues of competence, self-esteem, and oedipal rivalry, as well as guilt feelings, concerns about rejection, and other conflicts may be mobilized and may prevent a successful outcome. Clinical data from three assessments are presented and discussed. The concept of an assessment process, analogous to the psychoanalytic process, is proposed. In this process, manifestations of the patient's intrapsychic life and indicators of potential transferences emerge in the context of the analysis of the patient's reactions to the assessment. Potential sources of interference with the assessment process are identified, and measures to avoid them are suggested.     

On subjectivity and objectivity in psychoanalysis.

Epistemological subjectivism has found its way into psychoanalysis along several theoretical and clinical paths. It has developed out of the clinical interest in transference and countertransference and, in particular, from the broadly generalized definition of countertransference now popular. The clinically necessary attention to analyst-analysand interaction has been turned into interactionism or intersubjectivism and a denial of epistemological subject-object differentiation. These perspectives transform a clinical focus on the here and now of the analytic relation into the determination of the past by the present and a teleological reversal of causality. Once this reversal is made, narrative in the analytic situation becomes the co-creation of the analysand's past by the present analyst-analysand relation. Psychoanalysis, on this view, can at best substitute a coherent, novelistic account for the life history of a person. Some of the problems of subjectivism are examined here with a view to restoring to psychoanalysis the epistemology of science and common sense.     

Personality research and psychophysiology: General considerations

A general discussion of psychophysiological methods in relationship to personality research is presented for the investigator without an extensive knowledge of psychophysiology. The paper is organized in four sections: (a) advantages inherent in the use of psychophysiological measures (e.g., continuous measurement, sensitivity to sublimal responses); (b) psychophysiological constructs that are particularly well suited to personality research (e.g., different kinds of physiological arousal, normal/pathological distinctions, perceptual states); (c) how to choose a set of psychophysiological measures and special considerations involved with their use (e.g., obstrusiveness, context and timing of measurement, costs, and capabilities); and (d) whether or not to “psychophysiologize” personality research. Within each section, illustrative applications of psychophysiology to personality research are described.     

The role of support in psychoanalysis.

A two-factor theory of clinical psychoanalysis is proposed. In accordance with the predominant position of the structural-adaptational ("classical") approach in psychoanalytic theory, the power of interpretation and insight in clinical psychoanalysis has received ample attention in psychoanalytic literature. There seems, however, to be a growing awareness among analysts that not all the facts of an analytic treatment can be accounted for by this approach alone. A second factor is increasingly recognized: the power of adequate support provided by the analyst and resulting in a specific experience by the analysand. In the application of the developmental ("postclassical") approach of psychoanalytic theory, the importance of this support-experience factor in the treatment of ordinary neurosis by means of ordinary psychoanalysis is emphasized. The relative neglect of this aspect of clinical psychoanalysis may be indicative of the present-day dilemma of how to translate advances in theoretical knowledge of mental development into the therapeutic praxis of psychoanalysis. There may, however, be another important reason. Support and experience are phenomena often occurring on the nonverbal level. In contrast to interpretation and insight, they are usually not voiced, let alone distinctly and loudly expressed. They are the silent power of psychoanalysis.     

Further considerations of theory,technique, and affect in child psychoanalysis: Two prelatency cases

The analyses of two young boys, 4½ and 5 years old, are presented. One child was severely inhibited and nearly mute; the other was disorganized, frenetic, and violent. In the context of these treatments, the author raises several questions related to clinical theory and technique, including the use of early interpretation of affect with such children; the possible benefit of verbalizing primary affects in this early interpretive work; and the roles of verbalization and affect in work with caregivers and adult patients.