- Email: [email protected]
Altered states of consciousness: A book of readings
BOOK REVIEWS CHARLES T. TART
(Ed.):
Altered States
sf Consciousness:
A Book of Readings.
1.57 John Wiley.
575 pp.
Price 88s. THIS collection of papers is a timely one. A rapidly increasing literature is developing on the subject of altered states of consciousness and accompanying physiological concomitants. Dream and sleep research have yielded many fascinating new facts of great biological importance, though their relevance to psychology is still tangential. Several forms of meditation are also accompanied by psychophysiological and behavioural changes which are only just beginning to be mapped out. Feedback control of EEG rhythms, EMG and other physiological functions leads to interesting subjective and overt changes which may ultimately be useful for the relief of behavioural pathologies. Clinical psychiatrists and psychologists will therefore welcome this volume as a handy introduction to a literature which has been hard to obtain until now. A valuable survey of the many kinds of altered states of consciousness is given by Ludwig. Other papers discuss the hypnagogic state and dream consciousness. An intriguing report by Kilton Stewart appears under the unpromising title “Dream theory in Malaya”-anybody interested in the newer techniques of flooding and of self-control would be rash to ignore its observations, anecdotal as they are. Several contributions discuss phenomena concerning meditation and hypnosis. A quarter of the book is devoted to articles on psychedelic drugs, while the final 3 reports describe EEG changes during Zen and Yogi meditation, and the effects on consciousness of the operant control of EEG alpha rhythm. Inevitably the standard of different papers varies widely. Many are rather speculative and far-fetched, while others give intriguing titbits which whet the appetite for research into a hitherto neglected area. The relationship of several sections of the book to one another is obscure, and the !anguage is often turgid and impenetrable. Nevertheless, it is refreshing to see a resurgence of interest in consciousness and its The therapeutic payoff may still be years ahead, but therapists physiological and behavioural correlates. who employ psychological techniques will be the richer for becoming acquainted with this field. ISAACMARKS
Journal oJ’Behaviour
Therapy and Experimental
Psychiatry.
Edited by J. WOLPE and L. J.
REYNA,
Vol. 1,
No. 1. March, 1970. Pergamon Press. Behaviour Therapy.
Behaviour Research
Edited by C. M. FRANKSand J. P. BRADY,Vol. 1, No. 1. March, 1970. Academic Press.
and Therapy has waved a somewhat solitary flag on behalf of behaviour modification techniques since its inception in 1963. This year behaviour therapy is beginning to look more like an international mass movement, with the arrival of two new journals edited from the U.S.A., one of them (fittingly enough) by Professor Wolpe. The first issue of the Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry contains some articles that could easily have appeared in the pages of B.R.A.T.; but others which could not. These include case studies and interview transcripts clearly included for demonstration rather than research purposes, and the editors explicitly emphasise the place of practical clinical information in future issues. While quality rather than quantity remains lacking from most behaviour therapy publications, the need for additional specialised journals is questionable, unless something useful, different and previously unavailable is supplied, The journal is distinguished by a concern with the teaching and practice of behaviour therapy, evidenced by a section on therapists in training and a list of relevant books. Clearly many psychiatrists and clinical psychologists relatively new to behaviour therapy will find this a uniquely valuable feature. Its value to others can only be judged as the quality of research attracted to the journal becomes established. The other new journal, Behaviour Therapy, is edited by Cyril Franks, and replaces the discontinued Newsletter of the American Association for Advancement of Behaviorrr Therapy. Apart from continuing to fulfil this function, the journal is intended to provide a forum for discussing the application of behavioural principles to modification in the broader social context, as well as the traditional clinical setting. This leads to two consequences evident in the first issue; an emphasis on operant procedures, and a tendency for papers to depart from the type of controlled experimental studies familiar to readers of this journal. Thus, out of theeightmajorarticles,fiveareessentiallydescriptionsorreviewsof operantprogrammes, together with examples of their uses in a variety of situations; only one reports an experimental comparison of treatments, and the remainder consist of theoretical discussions. (These include an absorbing, if nonproductive, argument between Yates and Meyer on whether behaviour therapy should be mainly concerned with generalisable findings and treatments, or with the experimental investigation and treatment of the
(Ed.):
Altered States
sf Consciousness:
A Book of Readings.
1.57 John Wiley.
575 pp.
Price 88s. THIS collection of papers is a timely one. A rapidly increasing literature is developing on the subject of altered states of consciousness and accompanying physiological concomitants. Dream and sleep research have yielded many fascinating new facts of great biological importance, though their relevance to psychology is still tangential. Several forms of meditation are also accompanied by psychophysiological and behavioural changes which are only just beginning to be mapped out. Feedback control of EEG rhythms, EMG and other physiological functions leads to interesting subjective and overt changes which may ultimately be useful for the relief of behavioural pathologies. Clinical psychiatrists and psychologists will therefore welcome this volume as a handy introduction to a literature which has been hard to obtain until now. A valuable survey of the many kinds of altered states of consciousness is given by Ludwig. Other papers discuss the hypnagogic state and dream consciousness. An intriguing report by Kilton Stewart appears under the unpromising title “Dream theory in Malaya”-anybody interested in the newer techniques of flooding and of self-control would be rash to ignore its observations, anecdotal as they are. Several contributions discuss phenomena concerning meditation and hypnosis. A quarter of the book is devoted to articles on psychedelic drugs, while the final 3 reports describe EEG changes during Zen and Yogi meditation, and the effects on consciousness of the operant control of EEG alpha rhythm. Inevitably the standard of different papers varies widely. Many are rather speculative and far-fetched, while others give intriguing titbits which whet the appetite for research into a hitherto neglected area. The relationship of several sections of the book to one another is obscure, and the !anguage is often turgid and impenetrable. Nevertheless, it is refreshing to see a resurgence of interest in consciousness and its The therapeutic payoff may still be years ahead, but therapists physiological and behavioural correlates. who employ psychological techniques will be the richer for becoming acquainted with this field. ISAACMARKS
Journal oJ’Behaviour
Therapy and Experimental
Psychiatry.
Edited by J. WOLPE and L. J.
REYNA,
Vol. 1,
No. 1. March, 1970. Pergamon Press. Behaviour Therapy.
Behaviour Research
Edited by C. M. FRANKSand J. P. BRADY,Vol. 1, No. 1. March, 1970. Academic Press.
and Therapy has waved a somewhat solitary flag on behalf of behaviour modification techniques since its inception in 1963. This year behaviour therapy is beginning to look more like an international mass movement, with the arrival of two new journals edited from the U.S.A., one of them (fittingly enough) by Professor Wolpe. The first issue of the Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry contains some articles that could easily have appeared in the pages of B.R.A.T.; but others which could not. These include case studies and interview transcripts clearly included for demonstration rather than research purposes, and the editors explicitly emphasise the place of practical clinical information in future issues. While quality rather than quantity remains lacking from most behaviour therapy publications, the need for additional specialised journals is questionable, unless something useful, different and previously unavailable is supplied, The journal is distinguished by a concern with the teaching and practice of behaviour therapy, evidenced by a section on therapists in training and a list of relevant books. Clearly many psychiatrists and clinical psychologists relatively new to behaviour therapy will find this a uniquely valuable feature. Its value to others can only be judged as the quality of research attracted to the journal becomes established. The other new journal, Behaviour Therapy, is edited by Cyril Franks, and replaces the discontinued Newsletter of the American Association for Advancement of Behaviorrr Therapy. Apart from continuing to fulfil this function, the journal is intended to provide a forum for discussing the application of behavioural principles to modification in the broader social context, as well as the traditional clinical setting. This leads to two consequences evident in the first issue; an emphasis on operant procedures, and a tendency for papers to depart from the type of controlled experimental studies familiar to readers of this journal. Thus, out of theeightmajorarticles,fiveareessentiallydescriptionsorreviewsof operantprogrammes, together with examples of their uses in a variety of situations; only one reports an experimental comparison of treatments, and the remainder consist of theoretical discussions. (These include an absorbing, if nonproductive, argument between Yates and Meyer on whether behaviour therapy should be mainly concerned with generalisable findings and treatments, or with the experimental investigation and treatment of the