Joseph Masling

Empirical perspectives on object relations theory.

This text illustrates how object relations theory can be operationalised, tested empirically and updated on the basis of studies in psychology. It offers summaries of research in object relations theory, including specific recommendations for application to psychotherapy.

Psychoanalytic perspectives on psychopathology

This work sets out to provide the groundwork for clear assessment of the robust heuristic impact that psychoanalytic theory and models can have on a wide array of issues in psychopathology. Topics include narcissism and personality disorders; effects of childhood abuse; depression and bulimia.

Autonomic arousal, interpersonal climate, and orality.

Electrodermal responses in male subjects who gave at least four oral-dependent Rorschach responses (n = 15) or no more than two such responses (n = 19) were assessed both before and after the subjects had either a warm, friendly interaction or a cold, unfriendly interaction with a confederate. There were no group differences on initial baseline measurements. Following a 10-minute warm or cold interaction, there was significant three-way interaction (Period X Condition X Orality) in tonic conductance, p less than .003. Analysis of the three-way interaction produced one simple effect: Highly oral subjects responded differentially to warm or cold treatment by the confederate, p less than .018. Three groups--nonorals in either condition and orals in the condition--increased in physiological arousal over time. Only the highly oral subjects interacting with the warm confederate showed no such increase in arousal, presumably because the presence of a warm, interested other inhibits physiological activation.

The psychodynamics of gender and gender role.

Few aspects of psychoanalytic theory are as misunderstood as psychoanalytic models of gender and gender role. The theory has evolved considerably since Freuds time, and contemporary object-relations and self-psychology perspectives contrast sharply with earlier work in this area. Chapters in this text review cutting-edge empirical research on psychoanalytic theories of child development, defence and coping, unconscious mental processing, normal personality functioning, and psychopathology. The essays seek to summarize a tremendous amount of research on this topic, and set the stage for a reinvigorated psychoanalytic understanding of gender and gender roles during the 21st century.

Psychoanalytic perspectives on developmental psychology

Precursors of Relatedness and Self-Definition in Mother-Infant Interaction Bridging the Gap Between Psychodynamic and Scientific Psychology - the Adelphi Early Memory Index Psychoanalytic Theory and Creativity - Cognition and Affect Revisited Attachment Research and Psychoanalytic Theory Psychoanalysis and the Study of Adult Lives Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory - Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives Reconsidering the Role of Hostility in Completed Suicide - a Lifecourse Perspective.

Empirical studies of the therapeutic hour

Empirical Basis of Supportive-Expressive Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Pronoun Co-Occurrence as a Measure of Shared Understanding Therapist Interventions and Patient Process in Brief Psychodynamic Therapy Single Case Design.

Speak, Memory, or Goodbye, Columbus

This article describes the vicissitudes in the career of a psychologist who entered graduate school almost immediately after the end of World War II at a time when the standards and definitions of appropriate training in clinical psychology were still being determined. Looking back at the developments in this career, a pattern of interests, unseen at the time, can now be detected. From investigating the influence of the subject-examiner relationship in the testing situation to the experimental study of psychoanalytic propositions, first using the Rorschach test and later by means of subliminal stimulation procedures, one central theme was the uncovering of disguises and hidden motives. A second major theme, much more explicit than the first, was the primacy of data over speculation.

How do I score thee? Let me count the ways. Or some different methods of categorizing Rorschach responses.

The controversy over the merit of Exners (1986) Comprehensive System (CS) has unfortunately led to a confusion of the CS with all methods of scoring responses to inkblots. Six other widely used Rorschach scoring methods and representative examples of the research they have generated are described. Objective tests of personality ask participants to acknowledge explicit motives, whereas projective tests sample implicit needs participants may not recognize. Projective methods provide unique means of studying personality dynamics. The CS, whatever its merits and limitations, is but 1 of a number of systems of categorizing Rorschach responses.

RELATIONS OF ORAL IMAGERY TO THOUGHT DISORDER IN SUBJECTS WITH FREQUENT NIGHTMARES

Oral imagery was examined in the Rorschach protocols of 60 female subjects, 30 who experienced at least one nightmare per week and 30 who had no more than one nightmare in the past year. Mean number of oral responses did not differ between the groups. In subjects with nightmares, Rorschach orality was significantly related to many personality measures, including state and trait anxiety, Beck Depression Inventory scores, five subscales of a schizotypy inventory, the Rorschach penetration score, and two measures of pathological thinking on the Rorschach. In the 30 subjects without nightmares, the number of significant correlations did not exceed that expected by chance. The results are discussed within the context of empirical and theoretical reports about the links between the oral personality and pathological behavior.

When Homer Nods: An Examination of Some Systematic Errors in Rorschach Scholarship

Considerable evidence has demonstrated that many scientists attempt to avoid disconfirmation of a favored theory. This tendency sometimes characterizes the scholarship of both those who favor the Rorschach (Exner, 2000) method and those who find it seriously flawed. Psychologists who use the Rorschach impressionistically are not deterred by the literature demonstrating that this procedure has thus far shown little established validity. Those who criticize the Rorschach dismiss the objectivity of the American Psychological Association (APA) Blue Ribbon Panel, which concluded that the test has proven validity, and by implication, they also dismiss the APA peer review process that approved the panel report. In addition, they ignore over 400 published studies showing the Rorschach has acceptable validity when responses are scored objectively.