Leonard Solomon

Reformed sinner and "lapsed saint" strategies in the Prisoner's Dilemma game 1

Recent experiments using the Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) have been equivocal with regard to how variations in the strategy of the other player affect the development of mutual cooperation (Bixenstine and Wilson, 1963; McClintock et al., 1963; Sermat, 1964; Solomon, 1960). Bixenstine and Wilson compared the effects of two &dquo;simulated&dquo; strategies in which there were systematic variations in the number and

Peer Relationships, Self-Esteem, and the Self

Self-esteem and peer relationships are such interconnected phenomena that the self-evaluation may be viewed, in large measure, as the inner experience of the esteem in which one is held by ones pe...

Cult Groups and the Narcissistic Personality: The Offer to Heal Defects in the Self

ABSTRACTThis study applies Kohuts self-psychology toward an understanding of the self-functions that membership in a religious cult group (Divine Light Mission) provides for the narcissistic personality. It is proposed that there exists a psychosocial fit between the appeal of the cult groups structure and process and the needs of the narcissistic personality. The cult group offers reparative and substitutive functions to the follower who seeks an idealized selfobject to stabilize a defective sense of self. The special relationship of the follower to the Guru bears a close resemblance to the “idealizing transference” which arises between certain narcissistic patients and their group therapist. The therapeutic use and misuse of the “idealizing transference” in group therapy is explored and suggestions are made for its appropriate clinical management.

Premorbid adjustment, paranoid-nonparanoid status, and chronicity in schizophrenic patients.

The independence of three descriptive dimensions, commonly used in the design of experimental research on schizophrenia, was investigated. The subjects were 258 male schizophrenic patients from three Boston area hospitals, two private and one public. Only paranoid status was found to be independent of the other two dimensions. Premorbid adjustment and chronicity of symptoms (defined by length of hospitalization) were significantly correlated, rt=.31. Data analysis and discussion focused specifically on the inconsistency between these data and those reported by Goldstein, Held, and Cromwell (1968) on the same problem. Differences in the populations sampled and in patient selection procedures were carefully examined but failed to resolve the inconsistency.

EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS OF NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE STUDENTS

Data collected in a questionnaire survey of more than 7000 undergraduates at 34 New England colleges and universities indicates that prevalence of common problems experienced by students was significantly associated with sex, health status, academic standing, drug use, and difficulties with weight control.

The use of feedback electroencephalography to assess levels of attention and motivated interests in paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics.

This study represents a preliminary evaluation of the method of feedback electroencephalography (BEG) to assess levels of attention as well as motivated interests in paranoid and non paranoid schizophrenics. The alpha-blocking component of the orienting response was the main dependent variable which served to define interest and motivation operationally. The presentation of the pictorial stimuli was regulated by the presence of alpha in the BEG (negative feedback). The stimuli were chosen on the basis of their relevance to the major psychodynamic explanations of paranoia. A review of the psychiatric literature reveals two important hypotheses concerning levels of attention in paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics. The traditional position of Freud maintains that the nonparanoid schizophrenic has withdrawn his libido (interest) from the environment. In addition, more recent psychoanalytic theorists claim that the paranoid schizophrenic employs his attention vigilantly to avoid vulnerability to threat. With respect to the specific motivational conflicts responsible for the paranoids illness, there are two distinct hypotheses. The Freudian position believes that repressed homosexuality constitutes the main conflict, whereas psychosocial theorists point to an unstable sense of autonomy and will as well as a resulting need for power and control as the important factors in the paranoids motivation. Because of its demonstrated usefulness in assessing the emotional significance of specific pictoral stimuli, the method of feedback EEG was employed to assess both the attention level as well as the specific motivations of the above diagnostic groups. The results of the study indicated that poor premorbid nonparanoids engage in less spontaneous attentiveness than good premorbid nonparanoid schizophrenics. This finding provided support for Freuds thesis that the regressed nonparanoid has withdrawn his interest from the environment. The data failed to confirm the vigilance hypothesis, as it was stated. However, when the means of the paranoid subgroups were compared, the poor premorbids tended to be more attentive than the good premorbids. This trend was consistent with the vigilance hypothesis and suggested that a more detailed study of attentional differences between these subgroups would be worthwhile. Finally, the experimental results failed to confirm either of the hypotheses which seek to explain the specific motivational conflict responsible for the paranoids illness.

Agreement Response Tendency and Behavioral Submission in Schizophrenia

48 schizophrenic patients participated in a two-person game-playing situation in order to test the hypothesis that the acquiescent response tendency (ART) is related to interpersonal submission. Factor-derived ART measures, purified of social desirability components, and more conventional response set scales were unrelated to the behavioral criteria of submission and role flexibility. Results were interpreted as supporting McGees position that ART is not predictive of independent behavioral criterion.

Effects of Proliferating Punitive Power Upon Cooperation and Competition in the Triad.

This study sought to examine the effects of increasing the number of bargainers armed with punitive power in a three-person bargaining game. 48 student nurses participated in the bargaining game under conditions in which: (1) all three players had punitive power; (2) two players had punitive power; (3) one player had punitive power; (4) none of the players had punitive power. The results indicated that increasing the number of players armed with punitive power led to increased competition as reflected in game choice and pre-trial communications.