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Psychopharmacologic theories: a critical review
Author(s) -
Callaway Enoch,
Stone George C.
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt196012247
Subject(s) - psychology , class (philosophy) , cognitive psychology , psychological theory , psychotherapist , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence
Understanding of the actions of the new psychopharmaeologic drugs must depend upon the development of a theory whieh relates biochemieal or pharmacologic events to behavior. On the biochemical side the problem is formidable and is aggravated by the lack of adequate behavioral referents. Theories constructed by biochemists and pharmacologists may be psychologieally naive, while those proposed by behavioral scientists may greatly oversimplify their treatment of physiologic complexities. A particular difficulty is presented by the ambiguous and subjective psychological terms used in many theories. No single theory so far is consistent with all the empiric data. The majority of studies of the new psychotropic drugs utilize clinical ratings or descriptions on the behavioral side. These studies and those of experimental psychosis suggest some generalizations about drug effects. When specific and objective measures of behavior are used—measures like reaction times, psychophysiologic responses, and rate of conditioning—many contradictory findings emerge. The clarification of these contradictions will require a complex yet integrated theory of behavior. The new psychotropie drugs ean serve as an invaluable class of independent variables to aid in the development of such a theory.