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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

On the logic of psychoanalytic theory.

Psychoanalytic theory shows some specific features and problems. It exists in a number of variations, according to different schools as well as cultural and subcultural conditions, with different understandings even of core concepts. Instead of producing definite knowledge, results remain uncertain. They vary in use and imply a permanent reworking of ideas and conceptions. This is the effect of the kind of theory psychoanalysis has to use. Since psychodynamics are a special kind of heterogeneous, changing, always different, emergent--in a word, autopoietic--reality, psychoanalysis cannot use the methods of a denotative theory (algorithmic reduction leading to strictly defined and formulated calculations) but has to use connotative theories. Connotative theories use open concepts which provide an active and flexible access to autopoietic reality. They are able to cope with the difference between singularities as well as with the distance between general logic and empirical reality. Problems tied to this possibility are structural fuzziness, a dependence on forms of use, multiple paradigms and difficulties in legitimation and balance of theories. This causes problems of institutionalisation. These problems are not a sign of immaturity but the normal way in which connotative theories appear and develop. They can therefore not be eliminated but only be treated in a better way.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

[New approaches to revision of the psychoanalytic theory of development. II. The J. D. Lichtenberg concept and principles of a new psychoanalytic theory of development].

Both D.N. Stern and J.D. Lichtenberg have outlined new models of a psychoanalytic theory of development taking into account the results of empirical infant research. The theory of Lichtenberg is described, whereas part I centered about the model of Stern. Both theories are discussed and central principles of development are specified: activity, social adaption, the influence of genetic factors, the importance of affect and a transactional model of development.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

The impact of theory on psychological testing: how psychoanalytic theory makes diagnostic testing more enjoyable and rewarding.

Systematically applying psychoanalytic theory to psychological testing cultivates a practical, useful, and enjoyable experience of test administration, test scoring, and test interpretation. Furthermore, by grounding psychological testing in psychoanalytic theory, testing becomes rewarding because there is a lively clinical interplay between testing and psychotherapy. These potential sources of enjoyment and skill for the psychological examiner are explored, and several clinical examples are given for illustrative purposes. The need to appreciate the impact of a given theoretical frame of reference is highlighted.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

Female homosexuality: classical psychoanalytic theory reconsidered.

The psychoanalytic theory of female homosexuality occupies an unusual position in modern psychoanalytic thought because it continues to be influenced by models of the mind that have largely been discarded in other areas of psychoanalytic psychology. Psychoanalytic ideas regarding female homosexuality are considered here from an historical perspective. It is suggested that modern psychoanalytic theory about sexual orientation in women must include recent contributions on the psychological development of women, the psychoanalytic psychology of male homosexuality, and relevant extraanalytic observations.

Female↗
PubMed1979

A critique of research in psychoanalytic theory.

The relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the experimental method is examined, with particular reference to the empirical studies on the oral and anal phases of development. The deficiencies in the design and conceptualization of many studies are discussed, as well as confusions in the writing of psychoanalytic theory. A central issue in bringing the experimental method to psychoanalytic theory is the question: What is being tested? A list of all projective and objective tests used to assess orality and anality is provided.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

The products of the imagination: psychoanalytic theory and postmodern literary criticism.

This article considers some of the affinities between postmodern literary theory and the psychoanalytic theories concerned with intersubjective phenomena. Postmodern literary theory is described briefly, and it is argued that one of its major concerns is the nature of, and the political and cultural influences on, subjectivity and identity. Despite that, postmodernism generally, and literary postmodernism in particular, can be said to lack a theory of the psychological and interpersonal dimensions of the experience of self. This article contends that the more relational schools of psychoanalytic theory can provide an example of the construction of selfhood that is of importance to contemporary and postmodern literary criticism. The academy has, to a considerable extent identified 'psychoanalysis' with the work of Jacques Lacan, but since the 1980s the work of such theorists as Jane Flax and Jessica Benjamin, building on the work of Nancy Chodorow, have increasingly opened up the possibilities of relational and object relations theory for literary studies. The relational psychoanalytic theories operate in the same epistemological universe as postmodern literary criticism, congruent with the postmodern idea of 'truth' as constructed and relational, and selfhood as shifting, contingent, and always-in-process. Particular attention is paid to the work of Wilfred Bion, whose understanding of self provides an account both of the failure of meaning, and of the development of mind. Some examples of a relational approach to literary analysis are provided.

Humans↗
PubMed1994

Psychoanalytic theories of infant differentiation of self and other.

Traditional psychoanalytic theories of infancy were challenged a number of years ago by Peterfreund (1978) and Milton Klein (1980), but published debate on this issue has only recently begun to appear. The main purpose of this paper is to respond to Zuriff's (1992) argument that new data from recent observational research on infants fails to refute earlier theories of infancy. The following quote from Zuriff is a good introduction to the topic: "For many years, a frequent and consistent criticism of psychoanalytic theory is that it is not testable (Nagel, 1959; Popper, 1962). That is, no matter what the evidence, psychoanalytic theories can always be maintained because they are too vague, incomplete, and indeterminate to be falsified. Yet, in the area of contemporary psychoanalytic theory of infancy, we seem to have a counterexample to this criticism. Supporters of the new theories claim that the experimental evidence refutes older psychoanalytic notions of infancy, such as normal autism and symbiosis, and establishes a different model, that of the 'competent infant.'" (p. 19).

Ego↗
PubMed1992

Theoretical inference and the new psychoanalytic theories of infancy.

Psychoanalytic developmental theory has been profoundly influenced by recent observational research on infants. Although it is commonly held that these new data refute earlier theories of infancy, an examination of the evidence indicates otherwise. Much of the disagreement between the two is based on differences over the definition of such concepts as "self" and "self/other differentiation" and over strategies of theoretical inference. Inferences about the subjective experience of infants are best viewed as theoretical postulates rather than empirical statements or metaphors.

Ego↗
PubMed1980

Paranoia and beating fantasy: an inquiry into the psychoanalytic theory of paranoia.

Psychoanalytic contributions to the theory of paranoia are reviewed. As a primary problem underlying paranoia, this paper emphasizes the importance of beating fantasy associated with a fragile personality structure rather than the theory of repressed homosexuality. Castration anxiety and homosexual conflict may precipitate paranoia, but all levels of psychosexual development and their corresponding danger situations contribute to the transformed fantasy of persecution and punishment; early infantile narcissism, aggression, and sadomasochism are especially important. Severe preoedipal disturbance has contributed to deficient ego development and oedipal resolution. The failure to negotiate separation-individuation is associated with narcissistic arrest and impaired object relations and testing of reality. Ego integration, identity and sexual identity are unstable. Attempts at undoing, repair, or revenge of traumata and narcissistic injury and the maintenance of ego stability and (narcissistic) object relationship are more fundamental than homosexual object choice or the negative Oedipus complex in the understanding of paranoid psychopathology.

Fantasy↗
PubMed1995

[Athens and Mycenea. On the integration of classical and recent psychoanalytic theory].

The relation between zeitgeist and psychoanalytic theory formation can be illustrated with reference to the transition from neurosis to psychosis. The author regards Freud as an oedipal thinker in two respects, first as the psychologist who "discovered" the father complex, and secondly as a scholar in the positivist tradition of the nineteenth century with its claims to be able to distinguish clearly between subject and object, hallucination and perception. The pre-oedipal, narcissistic disturbances described and discussed since the beginning of the First World War allow the conclusion that this period saw the onset of a zeitgeist increasingly prepared to countenance archaic dimensions of the psyche and an intermingling of subject and object. In the author's view, the difficulty of reconciling classical and post-classical psychoanalytic theory lies in the fact that this involves completely re-thinking our ideas on the bourgeois individual and challenging the concepts we have of such things as objectivity, normality, autonomy and individuation.

Freudian Theory↗
PubMed2005

Validation of psychoanalytic theories: towards a conceptualization of references.

The authors discuss criteria for the validation of psychoanalytic theories and develop a heuristic and normative model of the references needed for this. Their core question in this paper is: can psychoanalytic theories be validated exclusively from within psychoanalytic theory (internal validation), or are references to sources of knowledge other than psychoanalysis also necessary (external validation)? They discuss aspects of the classic truth criteria correspondence and coherence, both from the point of view of contemporary psychoanalysis and of contemporary philosophy of science. The authors present arguments for both external and internal validation. Internal validation has to deal with the problems of subjectivity of observations and circularity of reasoning, external validation with the problem of relevance. They recommend a critical attitude towards psychoanalytic theories, which, by carefully scrutinizing weak points and invalidating observations in the theories, reduces the risk of wishful thinking. The authors conclude by sketching a heuristic model of validation. This model combines correspondence and coherence with internal and external validation into a four-leaf model for references for the process of validating psychoanalytic theories.

Humans↗