The effect on his visual afterimages of a subject's defensive system in interaction with the afterimage theory presented to him

Abstract.— Two groups of psychiatric subjects listened to instructions telling them that projected visual afterimages (Ah) are apt to reflect one's inner personal life, either openly (group UE) or only after suitable controls have been applied (group CE). Thereafter all subjects produced AIs of a schematic red face during 16 trials. The anxiety and defensive systems of the subjects were mapped by means of the Meta-Contrast Technique. As expected, the UE instructions produced more open anxiety in the A1 situation than did the CE instruction. It also tended to facilitate repressive-projective defenses, resulting in primitive or evasive A1 reactions, while the CE instructions in combination with compulsive-inhibitory defenses often led to reactions of an all-or-none type, i.e. either an unimpaired AI or no AI at all.