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Principles of treatments of psychosomatic disorders
236
Book reviews
approachmg when the ethics of ammal experlmentatlon m psychology must be reviewed But the sophisticated level of most of the contnbutlow can but stimulate us to approach the problems of psychiatry with a renewed zeal, and to Professor Eysenck we psychlatrlsts owe a very great deal Once agam a book to be studled and pondered on and a stlmulatmg experience to read DENIS LEIGH Prmclples of Treatments of Psychosomatlc
Disorders: Edlted by PHILIP HOPKINSand HEINZ WOLFF
Pergamon Press, Oxford (1965) pp 118 35 s THIS book represents the belatedly published proceedings
of a conference held by the Society for Psychosomatic Research m London m November 1962 The editors have done an excellent Job, especially in pruning the discussion sections to reasonable proportions Both the physical and psychologlcal aspects of the management of psychosomatic disorders are discussed m considerable detail One of the highlights of the book IS the brllhantly entertammg chapter by Dr C R B Joyce on placebo reactions, he reports interesting experimental work on varlatlons m physiological response to drugs according to whether the subject is m isolation or m a group situation The section by Dr Stephen Black on the use of hypnosis also makes stlmulatmg reading, he claims that hypnosis 1s comfortable for the patient and arduous for the therap& while psychoanalysis tends to have opposite characteristics There 1s a good chapter by Dr H H Wolff on the role of psychotherapy m psychosomatlc illnesses, yet it IS difficult to agree with his stern mjunction that “the ideal aim for the psychotherapist would be to redirect the patient’s attention to hm personal problems, to make him seewhat theyareand make him reahse that his mablhty to face and tolerate these conflicts IS responsible for his illness ” Both psychiatrist and physlclan will find much of practical interest m this book The price IS, madentally, rather high A BALFOURSCLARE Problems of Sleep and Dream m Clnldren’ Edlted by ERNESTHARMS(Volume 2) International Series of Monographs on Child Psychiatry pp 147 42 s Pergamon Press, Oxford (1964) THIS volume consists of an assortment of articles by different authors, mostly from the U S A but
some from Europe, on various aspects of children’s Bleep and dreams, the no&al and the abnormal, It ISarguable If it 1s rightlv called a monograph The first article bv L B Ames of the Gesell Institute. New gaven, IS an m&s&e study of the s&epmg behavlour of a g&p of children up to their sixteenth year, which provides much useful information on normal sleep and dream hablts, and something on common sleep dlstrubances m children Further chapters briefly review various aspects of the physlology of sleep, mcludmg observations byRoffwarg,Dement and Fisher at the National Institute of Mental Health, of eye movements m sleep Intra-psychic factors related to sleep and to dreams are then considered mainly from the psycho-analytic and analytlcal psychological points of view, m regard to symbolism, and finally some aspects of sleep disturbance in children are discussed Thus, some articles review research on these matters and others give the authors’ dtdactlc views, the result IS somewhat patchy as seems inevitable m a symposium However, there are throughout excellent lists of references and anyone wishing to study these matters will do well to consult this book W
K
DUNCKER Zur Psychologle des produktlven Denkens (A Contribution Productive Thmking). Berlm Springer (1963) pp 135
WARREN
to the Psychology
THIS classic contribution
of
to the psychology of thmkmg was first pubhshed m 1935, and has been out of print for many years Duncker investigated the problem of conceptual thmkmg by asking his experimental subjects to solve problems and verbahse all the steps which they made m their attempts to reach a solution From these experiments he formulated a theory of productive thmkmg based on Gestalt theory He naturally laid great stress on the restructuring of the mtellectual task and on insight Although more recent research on conceptual thmkmg, such as that by Austin and Goodnow, Saugstad and Osgood, has proceeded along somewhat different lines, Duncker’s work stdl remams a useful point for further research and should be read by psychologists and psychiatrists mterested m the problems of conceptual thinking In recent years, very little new work on the problems of normal and abnormal thmkmg has appeared m the German literature It 1s to be hoped that this repubhcatlon of this fundamental work will stimulate German psychiatrists to re-Investigate these problems FRANK FISH
Book reviews
approachmg when the ethics of ammal experlmentatlon m psychology must be reviewed But the sophisticated level of most of the contnbutlow can but stimulate us to approach the problems of psychiatry with a renewed zeal, and to Professor Eysenck we psychlatrlsts owe a very great deal Once agam a book to be studled and pondered on and a stlmulatmg experience to read DENIS LEIGH Prmclples of Treatments of Psychosomatlc
Disorders: Edlted by PHILIP HOPKINSand HEINZ WOLFF
Pergamon Press, Oxford (1965) pp 118 35 s THIS book represents the belatedly published proceedings
of a conference held by the Society for Psychosomatic Research m London m November 1962 The editors have done an excellent Job, especially in pruning the discussion sections to reasonable proportions Both the physical and psychologlcal aspects of the management of psychosomatic disorders are discussed m considerable detail One of the highlights of the book IS the brllhantly entertammg chapter by Dr C R B Joyce on placebo reactions, he reports interesting experimental work on varlatlons m physiological response to drugs according to whether the subject is m isolation or m a group situation The section by Dr Stephen Black on the use of hypnosis also makes stlmulatmg reading, he claims that hypnosis 1s comfortable for the patient and arduous for the therap& while psychoanalysis tends to have opposite characteristics There 1s a good chapter by Dr H H Wolff on the role of psychotherapy m psychosomatlc illnesses, yet it IS difficult to agree with his stern mjunction that “the ideal aim for the psychotherapist would be to redirect the patient’s attention to hm personal problems, to make him seewhat theyareand make him reahse that his mablhty to face and tolerate these conflicts IS responsible for his illness ” Both psychiatrist and physlclan will find much of practical interest m this book The price IS, madentally, rather high A BALFOURSCLARE Problems of Sleep and Dream m Clnldren’ Edlted by ERNESTHARMS(Volume 2) International Series of Monographs on Child Psychiatry pp 147 42 s Pergamon Press, Oxford (1964) THIS volume consists of an assortment of articles by different authors, mostly from the U S A but
some from Europe, on various aspects of children’s Bleep and dreams, the no&al and the abnormal, It ISarguable If it 1s rightlv called a monograph The first article bv L B Ames of the Gesell Institute. New gaven, IS an m&s&e study of the s&epmg behavlour of a g&p of children up to their sixteenth year, which provides much useful information on normal sleep and dream hablts, and something on common sleep dlstrubances m children Further chapters briefly review various aspects of the physlology of sleep, mcludmg observations byRoffwarg,Dement and Fisher at the National Institute of Mental Health, of eye movements m sleep Intra-psychic factors related to sleep and to dreams are then considered mainly from the psycho-analytic and analytlcal psychological points of view, m regard to symbolism, and finally some aspects of sleep disturbance in children are discussed Thus, some articles review research on these matters and others give the authors’ dtdactlc views, the result IS somewhat patchy as seems inevitable m a symposium However, there are throughout excellent lists of references and anyone wishing to study these matters will do well to consult this book W
K
DUNCKER Zur Psychologle des produktlven Denkens (A Contribution Productive Thmking). Berlm Springer (1963) pp 135
WARREN
to the Psychology
THIS classic contribution
of
to the psychology of thmkmg was first pubhshed m 1935, and has been out of print for many years Duncker investigated the problem of conceptual thmkmg by asking his experimental subjects to solve problems and verbahse all the steps which they made m their attempts to reach a solution From these experiments he formulated a theory of productive thmkmg based on Gestalt theory He naturally laid great stress on the restructuring of the mtellectual task and on insight Although more recent research on conceptual thmkmg, such as that by Austin and Goodnow, Saugstad and Osgood, has proceeded along somewhat different lines, Duncker’s work stdl remams a useful point for further research and should be read by psychologists and psychiatrists mterested m the problems of conceptual thinking In recent years, very little new work on the problems of normal and abnormal thmkmg has appeared m the German literature It 1s to be hoped that this repubhcatlon of this fundamental work will stimulate German psychiatrists to re-Investigate these problems FRANK FISH