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Advances in behavior therapy
BOOK REVIEWS
396
certain former accounts, while keeping a rigorously impartial outlook or abstaining from any kind of polemics.” This is only partly true; the hero-worship is not accorded the people concerned, but their ideas; it never seems to dawn on the author that these ideas might be untrue and nothing but figments of the imagination. This leads me to the second major criticism vvhich relates to his obvious ignorance of modem psychology. There are a few curiously jumbled mentions of psychological studies relating to the concepts Eilenberger is concerned with, but these betray little but overwhelming ignorance of this barge field vvhich has provided so many empirical disproofs of the theories the history of Hhich Ellenberger is recounting. This book can therefore be recommended as a historically accurate account of the development of certain ideas, but must be said to be completely lacking in any evaluation of the present state of knowledge regarding these ideas. This seems a pity, but it would probably be too much to ask of any historian not trained in psychology to do more than Ellenberget has done. Certainly, for anyone interested in the development of these theories, and the interactions of the various protagonists, this is LindoLlbtedly the best available reference. II. J EYSENCK
S. LESSE (Ed.):
,411Edmtion of the Restdts of tire P.rbdtot/rerupies. Thomas: Springfield, 1968. 368 pp. ~12.00. THIS book comprises the papers presented at the 1965 and 1966 meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. The Editors’ claim that the contents represent “an undertaking that is uniquein the field of psychotherapy, indeed, in ail of medicine” is unfortunately inaccurate. The second half of the book has little or nothing to do with an evaluation of psychoti~erapy. The papers include items such as “Witchcraft in Liberia and its Psychiatric Implications”. Although this section of the book is not entirely without interest, it is a curious selection For a book of this title. The first section of the book is a disappointment and, with some exceptions, does little to assist in reaching conclusions about psychotherapy. The most useful papers are those by Imber er a/. on the status of the Phipps Clinic Study patients at the ten-year follow-up, Jurjevich’s experiment on spontaneous remission and Ferster’s account of reinforcement therapy with autistic children. The Phipps Study is a model of persistence but will give little comfort to proponents of psychotherapy. Jurjevich adds some more information on the nature of spontaneous remission. Other papers vary from the partially interesting to some verging on uselessness. Although the Contr~blItions mentioned are worth searching out, the book as a whole promises a great deal and delivers very little indeed. S. RACHM~~N
R. RUBIX and C. Ftra;\r~s [Ed.): pages. 513.50.
Arlwxes
it8 Behavior- l7rer~py. Academic Press, New York, 1968. 246
LT IS a measure of the progress made by behavioural therapy that the annual meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy now attract large audiences and distinguished contributors. it is nevertheless doubtful whether the quality of the papers presented at these meetings has yet reached the stage where they merit full publication. Although this collection contains some entertaining ideas, most of the papers describe work which is decidedly “exploratory”. Very few papers present completed studies and while the discussion of incubating ideas and techniques can be of great value to the participants at a meeting of this kind, the reader relies entirely on the printed communication. As a book, this collection is not successful. It seems to me to be an example of the modern ~nc~jnation to publish a record of all meetings, conferences, symposia and the like. Meetings and publications can serve entirely different functions and there is merit in bearing this distinction in mind whenever one gets the urge to “record it all”. The book is divided into six sections which deal with: novel uses of apparatus, ethical considerations, refinements of desensitization, innovations, training, novel uses of reinforcement therapy. The most original material is in this last section and the work of Kieinknecht on problem drivers and Stuart on marital treatment both break new ground. ,Most of the material on desensitization deals with single case histories and few of the technical (apparatus) papers are of moment. Until the quality of the contributions improves, the Editors would do wei1 to exercise their powers of selection with more vigour. Readers would learn to attach greater value to these publications and the contributors would have a better incentive to work for. S. RACH&iIAN
396
certain former accounts, while keeping a rigorously impartial outlook or abstaining from any kind of polemics.” This is only partly true; the hero-worship is not accorded the people concerned, but their ideas; it never seems to dawn on the author that these ideas might be untrue and nothing but figments of the imagination. This leads me to the second major criticism vvhich relates to his obvious ignorance of modem psychology. There are a few curiously jumbled mentions of psychological studies relating to the concepts Eilenberger is concerned with, but these betray little but overwhelming ignorance of this barge field vvhich has provided so many empirical disproofs of the theories the history of Hhich Ellenberger is recounting. This book can therefore be recommended as a historically accurate account of the development of certain ideas, but must be said to be completely lacking in any evaluation of the present state of knowledge regarding these ideas. This seems a pity, but it would probably be too much to ask of any historian not trained in psychology to do more than Ellenberget has done. Certainly, for anyone interested in the development of these theories, and the interactions of the various protagonists, this is LindoLlbtedly the best available reference. II. J EYSENCK
S. LESSE (Ed.):
,411Edmtion of the Restdts of tire P.rbdtot/rerupies. Thomas: Springfield, 1968. 368 pp. ~12.00. THIS book comprises the papers presented at the 1965 and 1966 meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. The Editors’ claim that the contents represent “an undertaking that is uniquein the field of psychotherapy, indeed, in ail of medicine” is unfortunately inaccurate. The second half of the book has little or nothing to do with an evaluation of psychoti~erapy. The papers include items such as “Witchcraft in Liberia and its Psychiatric Implications”. Although this section of the book is not entirely without interest, it is a curious selection For a book of this title. The first section of the book is a disappointment and, with some exceptions, does little to assist in reaching conclusions about psychotherapy. The most useful papers are those by Imber er a/. on the status of the Phipps Clinic Study patients at the ten-year follow-up, Jurjevich’s experiment on spontaneous remission and Ferster’s account of reinforcement therapy with autistic children. The Phipps Study is a model of persistence but will give little comfort to proponents of psychotherapy. Jurjevich adds some more information on the nature of spontaneous remission. Other papers vary from the partially interesting to some verging on uselessness. Although the Contr~blItions mentioned are worth searching out, the book as a whole promises a great deal and delivers very little indeed. S. RACHM~~N
R. RUBIX and C. Ftra;\r~s [Ed.): pages. 513.50.
Arlwxes
it8 Behavior- l7rer~py. Academic Press, New York, 1968. 246
LT IS a measure of the progress made by behavioural therapy that the annual meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy now attract large audiences and distinguished contributors. it is nevertheless doubtful whether the quality of the papers presented at these meetings has yet reached the stage where they merit full publication. Although this collection contains some entertaining ideas, most of the papers describe work which is decidedly “exploratory”. Very few papers present completed studies and while the discussion of incubating ideas and techniques can be of great value to the participants at a meeting of this kind, the reader relies entirely on the printed communication. As a book, this collection is not successful. It seems to me to be an example of the modern ~nc~jnation to publish a record of all meetings, conferences, symposia and the like. Meetings and publications can serve entirely different functions and there is merit in bearing this distinction in mind whenever one gets the urge to “record it all”. The book is divided into six sections which deal with: novel uses of apparatus, ethical considerations, refinements of desensitization, innovations, training, novel uses of reinforcement therapy. The most original material is in this last section and the work of Kieinknecht on problem drivers and Stuart on marital treatment both break new ground. ,Most of the material on desensitization deals with single case histories and few of the technical (apparatus) papers are of moment. Until the quality of the contributions improves, the Editors would do wei1 to exercise their powers of selection with more vigour. Readers would learn to attach greater value to these publications and the contributors would have a better incentive to work for. S. RACH&iIAN