No Anxiety

Psychology and Psychotherapy Articles

Psychology

THE OPERANT SOCIETY; A CRITIQUE

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By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses a subtle, but influential sub-ideology that became entrenched in American Society several decades ago and continues to influence virtually every aspect of American life, including child-rearing, education, economics, communication and personal development. It is encompassed in the operant conditioning paradigm, whereby “positive reinforcement” is wielded as a social panacea and a means of putting an incongruously happy face on growth, learning, creativity and social responsibility. The argument here is that in general terms such a method has been unsuccessful and that it is at odds with how minds, bodies, and nature itself operate.

THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES

We arguably live in a time when criticism, long the precursor to excellence, is viewed as an ineffective, perhaps even crass approach to dealing with children. To an extent this is understandable, particularly as the distinction between adult and child becomes less clear with each generation. In previous times adults told children what they were expected to do and guided them accordingly. The presumption of authority enabled parents, coaches, teachers and even the clergy to exert fluidly their influence on the child. Adults did not have to prove themselves to children through the excruciating mental gymnastics that go with building trust, establishing relationships or reaching the child. Not that those things weren’t important. They just weren’t required.

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PROFILE OF THE ANCIENTS: The Cave Paintings at Lascaux as Projective Test

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By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article sidesteps the usual rigor or scientific inquiry in order to engage in a novel, hopefully interesting endeavor. It applies a methodology more often used in the field of clinical psychology to address issues that might be of interest to both psychologists and paleoanthropologists, specifically by analyzing the ancient cave paintings at Lascaux as though they were responses on a projective test. This analysis is not intended to meet standards inherent in social sciences research. It is speculative, and offered as grist for the mill regarding the roots of human nature. Under the best of circumstances it might provide answers to tantalizing questions not yet answered. To wit: What were the ancient cave people really like in terms of temperament, cognitive range and personality? How did they conceptualize their world? Was their mindset at all similar to ours and how did they adapt psychologically to the dire circumstances of the most recent Ice Age? While the following discussion is conjectural methods typically used in the clinical assessment of projective test results are employed. In that context, this article aspires to, at the very least, a face validity regarding certain functional aspects of the Cro-Magnon personality.

The Projective Hypothesis…

While a number or psychological tests are defined as “projectives,” this analysis adheres to interpretive standards typified by the Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test and House-Tree-Person (or Human Figure) Drawings. Each of these tests has separate scoring standards as well as interpretive peculiarities. The Rorschach provides information that includes content, spatial location, sequence of responses, size of percept, use of determinants such as color, movement, shading and textural features (Rankin 1997).Kleiger 1997), (Rorschach 1942), Acklin 1996). The TAT relies more on factors such as “press” and character identification, as conveyed in the client’s narrative response to picture cards.(Holmstrom 1990). Meanwhile the House-Tree-Person utilizes size, symbolic features such as the posture, placement of hands, vigilance as purveyed through the eyes of the figures and structural detail as indications of social need gratification and ego functions. (Cantlay 1996).

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SERIAL KILLERS: A DISCUSSION OF ETIOLOGY AND PROCESS IN TERMS OF BEHAVIOR THEORY

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ABSTRACT

This article discusses the motives of serial killers from the perspective of behavior theory, implying that notwithstanding environmental, social and familial factors, the offender must ultimately act in terms of a negative feedback-correction paradigm. Diagnostic implications are discussed in that context

The motive of serial killers is a topic that has been discussed from various perspectives ever since 1888, when Jack the Ripper went on his rampage in London’s Whitechapel district. Unfortunately there is still no answer to the question of why certain people commit such deplorable acts. That is not surprising. Over time there have been a vast number and wide variety of violent felons but only a few have been characterized as serial killers. That makes the phenomenon so rare as to be an item of both disdain and fascination. As rational creatures only occasionally disposed to fits of anger, and with legal, social and cultural ways of resolving conflict it is extremely hard for clinicians, law enforcement personnel and lay persons to comprehend why a person would kill at random, and apparently out of sheer habit.

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EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY VS. IMMEDIATE EXPERIENCE. A DISCUSSION OF HUMAN MOTIVATION

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Abstract

The following article addresses human motivation from two perspectives. The first is based on  genetic/evolutionary predispositions to behave in ways that enhance adaptation. The second is uncertainty reduction (neuropsychological resolution) as pertains to  the role of immediate experience in prompting behavior beyond evolutionary influence. The argument is presented that behavioral heritability cannot singularly or even primarily account for human motivation and behavior.

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In essence, the theory of natural selection appears to rest on solid ground. The notion that organisms undergo periodic mutations and that such mutations must be either consonant or at least not counterproductive vis a vis the demands of specific environments is virtually a tautology. Indeed given that mutations do occur and would invariably have some impact on structure and function, one could ask legitimately how it could be any other way.

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ESSAY: Motivation, the Pleasure Response and the Evolution of the Survival Instinct

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Abstract

This article discusses the biological roots of the survival instinct and offers speculation on the origin of motivation and the perception of pleasure. The point is made that these phenomena can be viewed as adaptations to increased systemic biological/cellular complexity.

The Anthropomorphic Barrier

One of the problems inherent in describing natural phenomena is that we – the describers – are prone to viewing nature through the lens of human experience. We tend to define processes such as the survival instinct, motivation and pleasure in emotional and cognitive terms; for example, with phrases like the “will to live”, or “a fear of death,” despite the fact that all organisms, including those without the neurological software that ostensibly provide cognition and emotion also behave in ways driven by survival, pleasure and motivation.

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SEX, CHILDBIRTH AND THE HUMAN FAMILY

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Abstract

 In the course of human evolution a sequence of occurrences led to homo-indigenous traits and behaviors regarding sexuality, gender interactions, child rearing and the origin of a family ethic.  The evolutionary changes appear to have been congruent, in the sense that if one occurred and others had not the changes might well have been maladaptive. Whether these changes  occurred simultaneously or in some proximal sequence is unknown. Nor is it apparent which change occurred first, or what were the time frames in which they emerged.  Even more unclear is the issue of when these traits and habits were first incorporated into social mores and human values. It presents a puzzle with regard to human evolution and invites speculation. That provides a pivot point for the following discussion.

 CONGRUENCE

Before beginning the discussion, it might help to point out that “evolutionary congruence” is an arbitrary term used here for purposes of making a point. It is not a scientific term and it is not the same as “co-evolution” – the latter of which denotes an evolutionary trend whereby two separate creatures or biochemical entities evolve in ways that lead to a cooperative, adaptive interaction. (Futuyma & Slatkin, 1983), (Thompson, 1994). Congruence refers to the fact that in human evolution certain traits and behavioral/emotional dispositions had to occur either simultaneously or in close temporal proximity for them to jell into adaptive sexual, parental and social-familial dynamics.

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