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A Formal Science for Psychoanalysis
Author(s) -
Langs Robert,
Badalamenti Anthony
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.1994.tb00705.x
Subject(s) - psychology , measure (data warehouse) , epistemology , field (mathematics) , function (biology) , entropy (arrow of time) , cognitive science , predictive power , theoretical physics , physics , computer science , philosophy , quantum mechanics , mathematics , pure mathematics , database , evolutionary biology , biology
SUMMARY Three modes of science are defined for psychoanalysis ‐ domain, statisticalprobabilistic and formal. The last form is on a par with physics and seeks deep laws of nature through the use of quantified time series data to which mathematical models are applied. The paper summarises a research programme designed to bring formal science to the field. The models used are drawn from physics and include the power spectral density function (a measure of cyclical power), force and work, entropy or informational complexity (determined in two distinctive ways), and temperature (a measure of communicative activity). The evidence for a communicative force field is presented. The results are used to define three apparently universal laws of nature pertaining to human communication, each adhered to in distinctive fashion (individuality constrained by lawfulness). The limitations and implications of these initial results are discussed.