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Experiment on the effects of an observer's presence on the imago system during psychoanalytic free‐association
Author(s) -
Colby Kenneth Mark
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830050304
Subject(s) - imago , psychoanalytic theory , free association (psychology) , observer (physics) , psychology , feature (linguistics) , association (psychology) , control (management) , social psychology , psychoanalysis , computer science , psychotherapist , artificial intelligence , philosophy , physics , linguistics , botany , quantum mechanics , biology
The psychoanalytic situation, with its private relationship between analyst and patient, is difficult to study experimentally and describe in quantitative terms. The intricacies of the relationship, the responsibilities of the analyst to the patient, and other such uncontrolled variables all interfere with attempts to create precise conditions for experimental study. Described is an experiment to control for one feature of the analytic situation, the effect on the patient of the analyst's presence, in an effort to quantify our knowledge in this important area.