The Experimental Study of Freudian Theories (Psychology Revivals)

Hans J. Eysenck,Glenn D. Wilson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135020255
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Experimental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Originally published in 1973 the editors of this book collected together those studies which had been considered at the time to yield the best evidence in support of Freudian theory, and found on close examination that they failed to provide any such proof. Each paper is printed in full and is followed by a critical discussion which raises questions of statistical treatment, sufficiency of controls and alternative interpretations. The particular usefulness of this format is that it allows readers to form their own opinions while providing helpful suggestions and guidelines on how to approach experimental studies with a critical mind.

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PART ONE

Psychosexual development

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1

Leon J. Yarrow (1954) ¹

The relationship between nutritive sucking experiences in infancy and non-nutritive sucking in childhood

The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 84, 149–62

THE PROBLEM

Thumbsucking is of interest both from clinical and theoretical points of view; from the clinical standpoint because of the problems it creates in parent-child relationships, and from a theoretical point of view because of its implications for the psychoanalytic theory of orality.

It is generally accepted that most infants engage in some sucking of the thumbs or fingers during the first few months of life, either in the process of exploring the world through the mouth or as a reaction to hunger or other deprivation. The point, in terms of age or frequency, at which this exploratory or substitutive sucking becomes an anxiety-evoking stimulus to the parent varies greatly, dependent upon the cultural milieu of the parents, as well as upon their conscious and unconscious attitudes toward orality. It is well known to pediatricians, psychiatrists and psychologists that thumb- or fingersucking after one or two years of age arouses strong anxieties in many parents, and leads to counter-anxieties and guilt feelings in the children engaging in this activity.

There have been a few investigations (Davis et al., 1948; Kunst, 1948; Levy, 1928, 1934; Roberts, 1944; Sears & Wise, 1950) which have attempted to study some of the factors in the etiology of prolonged thumbsucking, but much of the vast literature on the subject has been speculative. Moreover, statements in the literature by ‘experts’ (pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists and orthodontists) on the causes and methods of treatment have often been contradictory. One common maxim has been that weaning should not be started too early lest the child turn to thumbsucking as a substitute. This implication-that there is a relationship between duration of feeding on the breast or bottle and the occurrence of thumbsucking – is one of the hypotheses tested in this investigation.

Orality and its manifestations and vicissitudes form a significant part of the content of psychoanalytic theory. The child's experiences during the oral stage of development, the balance of gratifications and frustrations during this period, and the ease or difficulty with which he progresses from this to the subsequent developmental stages are considered crucial for his personality development.

The present study deals with only one aspect of orality – the physical act of sucking. ‘Orality’ in its broad sense in psychoanalytic theory has more varied and subtle manifestations than those involved in the act of sucking. The psychological aspects of oral deprivation and gratification based on affectional relationships (Abraham, 1927a; Ribble, 1939; Spitz, 1946) are not considered in this report.

This study would also seem to have implications for the specific hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of fixation and regression, basic concepts in psychoanalytic theory. Fixation on, or regression to, a mode or zone characteristic of a given developmental stage is presumed to be dependent upon one or a combination of the following stimulus conditions – extreme frustration or excessive gratification during the appropriate stage. Recent literature (Hartman, 1950) has emphasized ‘phase specificity’, that is, that the organism is most vulnerable to a given type of frustration or over-gratification at the appropriate developmental stage. Thus, during the period of greatest oral sensitivity, oral deprivation or oral over-gratification would be most likely to create the conditions for fixation or later regression. Thumbsucking beyond early infancy might be considered an expression of at least a partial fixation at the oral stage of development.

The present study is concerned with the relationship between deprivation and gratification in the early feeding situation and nonnutritive sucking habits in childhood. This study deals with single variable relationships, and does not attempt to test the broad psychoanalytic theory of orality. However, the isolation of some simple relationships can perhaps suggest a clearer formulation of more complex, multi-variable relationships.

SUBJECTS

The subjects were 66 children, 28 boys and 38 girls, chosen from the population of children participating in a longitudinal research project conducted by the Child Research Council.¹ The children were born between 1935 and 1948. Study of these children began at birth, and is still in progress. Only those children whose records contained adequate information on the relevant variables were included in the study. These variables were age of weaning, reaction to weaning, presence or absence of thumbsucking, and duration and severity of thumbsucking.

PROCEDURE

The data included in this study were obtained by interviews with the mother by a psychologist or pediatrician. To reduce retrospective errors, only information on behaviour and events which occurred within six months of the time of the interview was included in the study.

The interviews with the mothers covered a variety of aspects of development-physical, motor, language, social, personality, etc. In studying any aspect of behaviour or development, all of these variables are to some extent relevant. For the purposes of this study only those data were included which were directly relevant to the limited hypotheses formulated for the study. The following information was selected from the records available on the children:

1. The child's atdtude during feeding.

2. The vigour of sucking on breast or bottle. (Based on mothers' reports. No direct observations were available).

3. General appetite.

4. Feeding disturbances.

5. Age of weaning from breast or bottle or complementary feeding.

6. Reaction to weaning from breast or bottle.

7. Usual feeding time on breast or bottle during first six months.

8. Age when thumbsucking was first reported.

9. Age of cessation of thumb or fingersucking.

10. Vigour of thumb or fingersucking.

11. Conditions under which thumb or fingersucking usually occurred.

12. Parents' attitudes toward thumb or fingersucking.

13. Parents' methods of handling thumb or fingersucking.

For purposes of statistical analysis of the data, the qualitative information on feeding and oral behaviour obtained from interviews with the mothers was rated. The following ratings were made:

1. Reaction to weaning. Reactions to weaning were rated on a three-point scale: 1 = no observed reaction; 2 = moderate reaction; 3 = strong reaction.

Examples of moderate reaction: ‘No reaction (to weaning) but was fussy about taking milk for a few days.’ ‘No effect, although at first the baby did not get enough mil...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Half Title Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part one: Psychosexual development
• Part two: Oedipus and Castration Complexes
• Part three: Repression
• Part four: Humour and Symbolism
• Part five: Psychosomatics
• Part six Neurosis, Psychosis and Psychotherapy
• Author Index
• General Index