Essays in realism: analysis and discussion

Part 1 of the book, THE NATURE AND CONTEXT OF REALISM, consists of three chapters. In Chapter 1 (the previous chapter), Realism and the State of Theory in Psychology, we discuss the problems and challenges of the state of theory in psychology, and then set out the elements of the realist approach that informs the essays in this collection, briefly considering the development of realism, and its general import for psychology. In Chapter 2 (the current chapter), Essays in Realism: Analysis and Discussion, we provide an introduction to each of the essays, commenting on their relevance and their role within the collection. In Chapter 3, Anderson's Development of (Situational) Realism and its Bearing on Psychology Today, Fiona Hibberd presents a more detailed discussion of the history and development of this realism

Designing informative warning signals: Effects of indicator type, modality, and task demand on recognition speed and accuracy

An experiment investigated the assumption that natural indicators which exploit existing learned associations between a signal and an event make more effective warnings than previously unlearned symbolic indicators. Signal modality (visual, auditory) and task demand (low, high) were also manipulated. Warning effectiveness was indexed by accuracy and reaction time (RT) recorded during training and dual task test phases. Thirty-six participants were trained to recognize 4 natural and 4 symbolic indicators, either visual or auditory, paired with critical incidents from an aviation context. As hypothesized, accuracy was greater and RT was faster in response to natural indicators during the training phase. This pattern of responding was upheld in test phase conditions with respect to accuracy but observed in RT only in test phase conditions involving high demand and the auditory modality. Using the experiment as a specific example, we argue for the importance of considering the cognitive contribution of the user (viz., prior learned associations) in the warning design process. Drawing on semiotics and cognitive psychology, we highlight the indexical nature of so-called auditory icons or natural indicators and argue that the cogniser is an indispensable element in the tripartite nature of signification

Realism and the state of theory in psychology

Psychology is flourishing. It is a hugely popular subject for study. In application it finds its way into all corners of modern life. In empirical research there seems hardly a topic that the many thousands of research psychologists in departments around the world do not investigate. And the development of varied and sophisticated techniques, from statistical modelling and multivariate analyses, to computer-aided content analysis, to nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, is extending its reach into areas inaccessible just a few decades ago. The sheer volume of research output is enormous, with some 200,000 references added annually to the American Psychological Association's data base

Science, meaning and the scientist-practitioner model of treatment

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Commentary on "Freudian dream theory, dream bizarreness, and the disguise-censor controversy"

I applaud Boag for his attempt to redirect the dream debate to its unresolved conceptual issues. In the fifty years or so since Wittgenstein attributed the "confusion and barrenness" of psychology to its containing "experimental methods and conceptual confusion" (1953, p. 234), little has changed. Lip service is paid, yet conceptual analysis is regarded with suspicion and contempt, a useless and obstructive relic of psychology's philosophical roots. The result is that confusions persist - and the dream debate, clearly, has its fair share

Light and shade in communicative musicality : a commentary on Stephen Malloch's 'Why do we like to dance and sing?'

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Introduction

The idea for this book came initially as a response to a challenge issued by Hank Starn, the editor of the leading theoretical journal in psychology, Theory & Psychology. In a special edition of that journal (2001) devoted to social constructionism and its critics, Starn echoed calls for a "psychology of practical significance", and remarked that, amongst the various candidates, realism did not appear to be a strong competitor. Starn complained that "the lack of a large, explicitly realist body of work in psychology" meant that "once one argues for a psychology that is explicitly realist (as opposed to constructionist, phenomenalist, instrumentalist, etc.), we are suddenly left with very little to go on" (p. 295)

Symbolism, the primary process, and dreams : Freud's contribution

This chapter surveys new developments in the theory of symbolism, primary process thinking, and dreams, and then revisits some of Freud’s own material to suggest how his contribution has been variously neglected or misconstrued. Freud’s broader treatment of symbolism, and his theory of drive as a motivation–cognition–affect matrix, suitably clarified, offer a rich and coherent context for understanding symbolization and symbolic activity across primary and secondary processes and along a pathological-normal continuum—from psychosis, dream, defence, and phantasy to healthy ego functioning, creativity, and waking rational thought. This material helps to bridge the supposed gap between Freud’s metapsychology and his clinical theory

The scientific status of psychoanalysis revisited

Almost everyone agrees that the question of the scientific status of psychoanalysis has been "done to death". It seems to me that this is indeed so in at least three interrelated senses: the open house, the doomsday cult, and the Cleopatra

Why psychology has negelected symbolism and what a realist approach can offer

Symbolism and symbolic activity, as part of the wider field of meaning, dominate human behaviour and mental life. Yet mainstream psychology has neglected them. In the first part of this paper I consider the reasons for this neglect, showing how the conclusions in the extensive extra-psychological literature on symbolism were shared and reinforced during the development of scientific psychology. Although recent new movements in psychology, pushing towards expansion and integration, have provided a climate favourable for the return of meaning and symbolism, there remains the major hurdle of finding a coherent metatheoretical framework. All frameworks proposed, including the supposed realism of mainstream psychology, are tainted by Cartesianism and antirealism. In the second part of the paper I explore the potential of a thoroughgoing realist approach, as characterised by practical consistency with respect to the logic of discourse, a relational view of mind, adherence to the distinction between relations and the terms related, ontological egalitarianism, and a broader conception of scientific method as critical inquiry. This realist framework entails the legitimacy of relational phenomena such as symbolism for scientific investigation. It also leads to the identification of a number of logical constraints and psychological requirements which any theory of symbolism must meet. These requirements are violated or neglected in traditional approaches to symbolism across various disciplines. In contrast, a version of psychoanalytic theory can be offered which not only adheres to the aspects of a thoroughgoing realism, but also provides the basis for a theory of symbolism in which the logical constraints are respected and the psychological requirements met. In this way, realism promotes the rehabilitation of symbolism within mainstream psychology