Computersimulation of a Model of Neurotic Defence Processes

Abstract

The great variety of information which stems from observations in the psychoanalytic situation renders formalization of psychoanalytic findings extremely difficult indeed. One first has to be satisfied with clinical concepts which, for the most part, are still descriptive in character and which make possible a certain level of communication among those who have been trained to understand them. Clinical concepts of this type are, for example, resistance, transference, instinctual desire, anxiety, etc. These first attempts at formalization have given rise to a group of concepts which come under the heading of “metapsychology”. Examples of such concepts are: ego structure, superego structure, mechanisms of defence, introjects, ideals, drive, neutralization, etc. It is hardly likely that anyone would call into question the temporary nature of metapsychological concepts, and it is equally clear that a comprehensive model of the psychic processes has not been created with the concepts that have been worked out to date. Serious resistance to a deepening of metapsychological thought stems from the reductive nature of the concepts. It is rightly pointed out that the great abundance and immense variability of psychic processes cannot be given formal expression, a fact which is true even if we limit our scope to neurotic life histories. Another objection is bound up with the apprehension that theory might become ossified, leading to a loss of the intensive connection between metapsychology and therapeutic technique. With the latter criticism one can be in partial agreement when one considers how long it has taken for recent theoretical psychology to discover its technical implications (Hartmann, 1951; Loewenstein, 1954; Kris, 1951; Blank, 1966). All such reproaches — others will be mentioned later — misjudge the aims and technique of formalization in scientific research.