Oedipal dynamics in panic disorder

Both research and clinical work have revealed factors that can lead to the onset and persistence of panic disorder. Preoedipal conflicts intensify the danger of oedipal longings for panic patients. Competition with the same-sex parent is linked with angry preoedipal fantasies and associated fears of disruption in attachments. Fantasies or actual successes can thus trigger panic episodes. Regression to a helpless, dependent state such as panic defends against the danger of aggressive, competitive fantasies and actual achievements. However, the regressive state can also be experienced as dangerous, and can be linked with frightening homosexual fantasies. A reactive aggressive oedipal stance can sometimes result, triggering escalating turmoil. The panic episode serves a series of compromise formations in dealing with these conflicted wishes.     

‘Coordinative definition’ and Reichenbach''s semantic framework: A reassessment

My greatest debt is to Prof. Hilary Putnam, without whose inspiration and encouragement this paper would not have been written. Thanks are also due to Prof. Michael Friedman for detailed and helpful comments on an earlier version, and to two anonymous referees. This paper is based in part on research conducted while supported under a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.     

'Fear of success' imagery as a reaction to sex-role inappropriate behavior

Cue effects on TAT imagery, often considered evidence of fear of success, were examined. The cue generally used to assess this motive (Horner, 1968) was modified to depict success in an occupation traditionally considered appropriate for females (ballet). This new cue and Horner's original "medical student"cue produced very different results in fear of success imagery, the modified cue eliciting significantly less of this imagery from females and more from males. A substantial portion of what has been interpreted as "fear of success" imagery appears to involve anxiety about engaging in achievement activities that have traditionally been considered inappropriate to one's sex-role. The implications of this finding for female achievement conflict are discussed.     

Conservation, choice, and the concurrent fixed-ratio schedule

Five rats got all of their water in daily 60-minute sessions. Two levers and a water spout were freely available throughout baseline sessions. Contingency sessions offered a choice between two alternative fixed-ratio components, in the form of a choice between the two levers. Each component required a specified number of lever presses for access to the spout, and then a specified number of licks for another choice between components. Given the observed relative frequency, the absolute frequency of selecting each component was predicted accurately by assuming that the subject conserved between baseline and contingency the total amount of a dimension attributable to lever pressing and licking. Several quantitative models for predicting relative frequency were examined. The best of these assumed that the subject would show a nonexclusive preference for the component requiring fewer lever presses.     

Effects of using self-recording and self-observation in reducing disruptive behavior

In an attempt to reduce the levels of disruptive behavior, six participants in a school for students with behavior disorders were shown edited videotapes depicting themselves appropriately engaged in classroom activities. The participants were first exposed to a training condition in which both appropriate and inappropriate behaviors of a peer were either observed or observed and recorded. In the intervention condition, the participants either self-observed and self-recorded their behaviors from videotape or simply observed themselves on videotape. The results showed idiosyncratic effects across both conditions. Measures of treatment integrity and treatment acceptability were also conducted. The results of this study are compared with similar research investigating self-observation interventions.