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Human neuropsychology
524
BOOK REVIEWS
R. POPE and J. SINGER(Eds): The Srream of Consciousness. Plenum Press, New York (1978). The title of this collection of essays could hardly be more inviting, with its promise of providing a colourful bridge between the arts and the sciences. The contributing editors set out their aim as follows. “The contributions in this volume represent efforts to study the stream of consciousness with a deep appreciation and respect for its rich diversity, its continuous, often quirky movement, its immediacy in the lives of us all, and ultimately its mystery.” There will be many people who feel that attempts to investigate this subject in a scientific manner are to be deplored, and who consequently hope that the attempt will fail. On the evidence presented in this interesting collection, progress will be slow and frequently disappointing. Nor will the evidence accumulated so far succeed in dispelling one’s fear that the very process of studying the phenomenon may distort beyond repair the phenom~on it sets out to understand. The philosophical contributions are not particularty enlightening, but Singer’s review of the research on day-dreaming, much of it his own work, is an extremely helpfu1 and clear introduction to an important subject. Klinger describes current methods for studying the ffow of thought and summarizes the available information on the dimensions of the stream of consciousness. This chapter contains some interesting data, but so far the results are not as exciting as one might have hoped. Klinger makes a useful and substantiated distinction between directed and undirected thoughts, and traces some of the similarities and differences between them. Contrary to a remark made by Pope (in his chapter on gender, solitude and posture), Klinger concludes that most thoughts are related to the immediate situation and are specific and realistic. Basing his conclusion on different data, Pope states that the flow of consciousness is predominantly oriented towards long-term memory and fantasy concerning the future, with only a third of the time spent on ‘the here and now’. Among Klinger’s other findings, the following are worth noticing. Under laboratory conditions, the median thought segment lasts about five seconds and most of these thoughts (in college student subjects) are specific, visual, realistic and related to the immediate situation. The chapter by Shalhce on information processing contains a number of stimulating ideas but would have benefited from editing. Most of the other con~ibutions contain at least some novel or entertaining ideas but overalf they suffer from excessive speculation. As the subject is so rich in interest. the editors have done well in placing the subject on the stage. Given the research that it will help to provoke, one hopes that in, say, fi0e years time this collection will be replaced by a fuller account of the phenomenon-preferably written by a single author rather than as in the present case, a collection of essays that vary too widely in quality and scope. S. RACHMAN
H. W&XEN and M. L. ALBERT(Eds): Numan
~europs~le~o~og~.
John Wiley, New York (1978). 509 pp. f16.20.
This is a major text written by two of the foremost theorists and practitioners in the field of neuropsychology. Until this book appeared there were very, few general neuropsychology texts available, and those that existed were likely to be rather biased towards one particular viewpoint, or excessively clinical, or, in the case of the excellent short introduction by Walsh, mainly introductory in nature. The book by Hecaen and Albert has none of these features or faults; it aims to encompass the whole field of current neuropsychological research and practice, by taking as its overall concept the disturbance of human communication related to brain damage. Its scope is wide, and its coverage detailed and meticulous. While adopting the currently accepted broadly localisationist and lateralisationist view of high cortical functions. the authors are clearly aware of the integrative action of the two hemispheres, and of the role of subcortical structures in the mediation of cognitive function. In addition, they recognise the importance of arousal, orienting response, and emotional and end~inological factors in human higher cortical performance. The specific areas covered include disorders of Ianguage. of gesture, of auditory, visuai and tactile perceptjon, and memory, together with a fascinating chapter on frontai lobe pathology. At first sight, it might be thought that a book devoted to neuropsychology would not be of burning interest to many of the readers of the journal, but two features suggest that this is not the case. Firstly the authors consider that one of the primary roles of a neuropsychological examination is to enable a construction of a rational rehabilitation scheme for that individual patient based on a detailed understanding of the underlying nature of the deficits in question. Secondly the book contains an excellent, stimulating and up to date account of cerebral plasticity and recovery of function after brain damage. While this chapter is slightly marred by the omission of important work by Paul Bach-y-Rita, it contains much information of real value to anyone attempting to devise rehabilitation schemes for brain damaged patients. This book is naturally required reading for neuropsychologists and neurologists. Psychiatrists having an organic bias will find much of it useful, as will occupational and physical therapists working in head injury rehabilitation.
BOOK REVIEWS
R. POPE and J. SINGER(Eds): The Srream of Consciousness. Plenum Press, New York (1978). The title of this collection of essays could hardly be more inviting, with its promise of providing a colourful bridge between the arts and the sciences. The contributing editors set out their aim as follows. “The contributions in this volume represent efforts to study the stream of consciousness with a deep appreciation and respect for its rich diversity, its continuous, often quirky movement, its immediacy in the lives of us all, and ultimately its mystery.” There will be many people who feel that attempts to investigate this subject in a scientific manner are to be deplored, and who consequently hope that the attempt will fail. On the evidence presented in this interesting collection, progress will be slow and frequently disappointing. Nor will the evidence accumulated so far succeed in dispelling one’s fear that the very process of studying the phenomenon may distort beyond repair the phenom~on it sets out to understand. The philosophical contributions are not particularty enlightening, but Singer’s review of the research on day-dreaming, much of it his own work, is an extremely helpfu1 and clear introduction to an important subject. Klinger describes current methods for studying the ffow of thought and summarizes the available information on the dimensions of the stream of consciousness. This chapter contains some interesting data, but so far the results are not as exciting as one might have hoped. Klinger makes a useful and substantiated distinction between directed and undirected thoughts, and traces some of the similarities and differences between them. Contrary to a remark made by Pope (in his chapter on gender, solitude and posture), Klinger concludes that most thoughts are related to the immediate situation and are specific and realistic. Basing his conclusion on different data, Pope states that the flow of consciousness is predominantly oriented towards long-term memory and fantasy concerning the future, with only a third of the time spent on ‘the here and now’. Among Klinger’s other findings, the following are worth noticing. Under laboratory conditions, the median thought segment lasts about five seconds and most of these thoughts (in college student subjects) are specific, visual, realistic and related to the immediate situation. The chapter by Shalhce on information processing contains a number of stimulating ideas but would have benefited from editing. Most of the other con~ibutions contain at least some novel or entertaining ideas but overalf they suffer from excessive speculation. As the subject is so rich in interest. the editors have done well in placing the subject on the stage. Given the research that it will help to provoke, one hopes that in, say, fi0e years time this collection will be replaced by a fuller account of the phenomenon-preferably written by a single author rather than as in the present case, a collection of essays that vary too widely in quality and scope. S. RACHMAN
H. W&XEN and M. L. ALBERT(Eds): Numan
~europs~le~o~og~.
John Wiley, New York (1978). 509 pp. f16.20.
This is a major text written by two of the foremost theorists and practitioners in the field of neuropsychology. Until this book appeared there were very, few general neuropsychology texts available, and those that existed were likely to be rather biased towards one particular viewpoint, or excessively clinical, or, in the case of the excellent short introduction by Walsh, mainly introductory in nature. The book by Hecaen and Albert has none of these features or faults; it aims to encompass the whole field of current neuropsychological research and practice, by taking as its overall concept the disturbance of human communication related to brain damage. Its scope is wide, and its coverage detailed and meticulous. While adopting the currently accepted broadly localisationist and lateralisationist view of high cortical functions. the authors are clearly aware of the integrative action of the two hemispheres, and of the role of subcortical structures in the mediation of cognitive function. In addition, they recognise the importance of arousal, orienting response, and emotional and end~inological factors in human higher cortical performance. The specific areas covered include disorders of Ianguage. of gesture, of auditory, visuai and tactile perceptjon, and memory, together with a fascinating chapter on frontai lobe pathology. At first sight, it might be thought that a book devoted to neuropsychology would not be of burning interest to many of the readers of the journal, but two features suggest that this is not the case. Firstly the authors consider that one of the primary roles of a neuropsychological examination is to enable a construction of a rational rehabilitation scheme for that individual patient based on a detailed understanding of the underlying nature of the deficits in question. Secondly the book contains an excellent, stimulating and up to date account of cerebral plasticity and recovery of function after brain damage. While this chapter is slightly marred by the omission of important work by Paul Bach-y-Rita, it contains much information of real value to anyone attempting to devise rehabilitation schemes for brain damaged patients. This book is naturally required reading for neuropsychologists and neurologists. Psychiatrists having an organic bias will find much of it useful, as will occupational and physical therapists working in head injury rehabilitation.