The Problem Of Confirmation In Clinical Psychoanalysis
- 1 April 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
- Vol. 28 (2) , 397-417
- https://doi.org/10.1177/000306518002800207
Abstract
The fact that a statement has scientific credibility only to the extent that it is confirmed makes it desirable to examine clinical confirmation of clinical hypotheses of the type that, when presented to patients in psychoanalysis or psychotherapy, commonly are referred to as interpretations. An attempt is made to show that clinical confirmation in significant ways resembles confirmation in natural science. Certain peculiarities of psychoanalytic prediction and postdiction are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- Unconscious versus Potential AffectsThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1974
- Psychic Determinism and the Possibility of PredictionsThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1963
- Psychoanalysis, Scientific Method, and PhilosophyJournal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1962
- Explanation and Prediction in Evolutionary TheoryScience, 1959
- Child Observation and Prediction of DevelopmentThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1958
- Comments on the Scientific Aspects of PsychoanalysisThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1958
- PSYCHO-ANALYTIC TECHNOLOGYThe British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 1956
- Notes on the Development and on Some Current Problems of Psychoanalytic Child PsychologyThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1950