SCREEN MEMORIES: A NEGLECTED FREUDIAN DISCOVERY?

In 1899, Freud introduced the concept of screen memories. His insights were revolutionary: screen memories do not emerge into consciousness at the time of recall, he argued; they are formed at that time and, moreover, historical accuracy is not their prime concern. In this article, the author reviews two of Freud's screen memories, as well as two screen memories from a completed analysis of one of his own patients. He argues that, if screen memories are formed, a concept such as screen work must be invoked as the agent of their formation. While screen memories may theoretically be formed at any stage of life, adolescence may be a prime time for their formation.     

SELECTION INTERVIEWING IN THE LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY: AN UPDATE OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Over the past decade, the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association has been researching and implementing the use of structured selection interviews in the agent selection process. The practical problems encountered during this period are reviewed, and studies of the most recent interview guide are presented. These studies are based on interview evaluations made by 270 managers in interview training sessions, as well as field managers'evaluations of 163 applicants in actual agent selection situations. The results indicate that it is possible for managers to agree on their evaluation ratings of an applicant, that there is a stable factorial structure for the ratings, and that the ratings are related to the selection decision although not all items carry the same weight. The implications of these results for the use of structured selection interviews and for further research are discussed.     

Special Issues of the Journal: Topics of Interest over the Years

Throughout its history, the Personnel and Guidance Journal and its successor, the Journal of Counseling and Development, have published a number of special issues. A listing of these special issues is offered as a bibliographic aid. The topics of the special issues are analyzed by category as evidence of trends in the history of scholarly interests in our field.     

Dimensions of counselor functioning

In 1957 the editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology rejected an article on group counseling because, by definition, “Counseling is a process in which two persons….” Since then the functions of a counselor have broadened to include working with groups in many ways. Some will maintain that we have expanded far beyond our domain into that of the organizational psychologist. The authors of this article assume that the counselor's functions should include a wide range of interventions and have organized them within a “Cube.” This model provided the structure for this Special Issue. The three dimensions of the Cube are: (a) the target of the intervention, (b) the purpose of the intervention, and(c) the method of intervention. We think this model has great heuristic potential as a tool for both research and practice.     

Training professionals for evaluative research

Most counselors will agree that the profession is in trouble. Many will recognize that the reason we are in trouble is that we have not taken program accountability seriously. This is partially because graduate training for research extinguishes the desire to “find out” rather than nurturing our curiosity. Oetting and Hawkes focus on evaluation as opposed to research, showing that the skills and processes are not the same and that therefore the training should not be the same. Evaluation skills are necessary in all cells of the Cube; in fact, unless they are operative, counseling may quickly become nondimensional.