While the study of psychology has offered little in the way of explaining the creative process, Koestler examines the idea that we are at our most creative when rational thought is suspended--for example, in dreams and trancelike states. All who read The Act of Creation will find it a compelling and illuminating book.

The Act of Creation

In his Preface the author' says that he started out to review all the more important theories upon the topics ordinarily discussed under human motivation but soon found himself more and more limited to the presentation of his own point of view. This very well characterizes the book. It is a very personal product. It is an outline with some defense of the author's own thinking about instincts and appetites and sentiments and how they function in human behavior. And as the author draws so heavily upon James and McDougall, especially the latter, the book may well be looked upon as a sort of sequel to their efforts. There is a thought-provoking distinction presented between instinct and appetite. An instinct is said to be aroused always by something in the external situation; and, correspondingly, an appetite is said to be aroused by sensations from within the body itself. This places, of course, a heavy emphasis upon the cognitive factor in all instinctive behaviors; and the author prefers to use the cognitive factor, especially the knowledge of that end-experience which will satisfy, as a means of differentiating one instinct from another. In this there is a recognized difference from McDougall who placed more emphasis for differentiation upon the emotional accompaniment. The list of instincts arrived at by this procedure is much like that of McDougall, although the author is forced by his criteria to present the possibility of food-seeking and sex and sleep operating both in the manner of an appetite and also as an instinct. The Shand-McDougall concept of sentiment is taken over and used in the explanation of moral motivation. There is the development within each personality of a sentiment for some moral principle. But this sentiment is not a very powerful motivating factor. It is reinforced by social pressures and by religion, which is treated as an effort of finite man to live in harmony with the infinite reality. Those whose psychological thinking is largely in terms of McDougall will doubtless find this volume a very satisfying expansion; but those who are at all inclined to support their psychological thinking by reference to experimental studies will not be so well pleased. The James-Lange theory, for example, is discussed without mention of the many experimental studies which it has provoked. Theoretical sources appear in general to be preferred to experimental investigations.

Human MotivationThe Mind in Action: A Study of Motives and Values. A. Campbell Garnett

How the mind works

This article presents a review of the book “Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems,” by W.R. Scott.

Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems

THAT our world stands in flames and that no one can say with any hope of finality what in fact is happening to us are facts which are present in everyone's mind. Most of the attempts to explain the situation from recent economic and sociological causes are patently insufficient, and Dr. Fromm is wise enough to present his excellent survey with a clear eye on its necessary limitations. His analysis of the individualistic character-structure of modern man, shown in relief against the contained collectivity of the Middle Ages, is an excellent example of the value of the historical method to psychological understanding. The fundamental premises of the Gothic mind were self-evident and unquestioned. Men marched in step with their time. Their fate was laid down and contained in their community. From the Reformation onward this containing envelope was ruptured and the individual began to emerge into a world which no longer shielded him from the deep-rooted sense of his own impotence and powerlessness over and against dangers and forces he could not control. Instead of being integrated and enclosed he felt exposed and alone, and this was projected into the idea of a hostile deity whose arbitrary nature demanded indefinite and intense placatory effort. The Calvinistic conception of God and the world were the inevitable result of this ejection of medieval man from his contained paradise. The Fear of Freedom By Dr. Erich Fromm. (International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction.) Pp. xi+257. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 1942.) 15s. net.

The Fear of Freedom

The current article is concerned with the presentation of a novel method for studying social representations. Social representations are a key concept within social science but, as with many other social phenomena, notoriously difficult to grasp and study in a systematic way. The survey method presented though a formal one is not dependent on pre-specified and pre-graded answers as most questionnaires do. Instead it creatively utilizes the elicitation and elaboration of free associations on a given topic in order to shed light on the semantic field and cognitive organization of a given social representation. As a necessary complement to such a methodological exposition the article also presents some of the theoretical background that informs the method as well as the tradition of studying social representations in general. In the course of the article a research design for the method is presented accompanied by a complete script of the survey instrument. This is followed by a discussion of the merits of the method as well as some suggestions of analytical approaches that can be applied to the results. The article concludes with a short discussion of potential areas of application beyond the field of social representations.

A method for studying social representations

This article presents a new theory about the origin of REM sleep. REM is an integral part of the human sleep cycle and the neurological substrate most consistently associated with dreams and dream ...

The origin of REM sleep : A hypothesis

This article will explore the microfoundations of group consciousness. In order to do that it re-examines two well-established theoretical traditions within Western social science, the social cohesion paradigm within social psychology and the various mind-body theories within anthropology and sociology, hoping that this re-examination will have intellectual bearing on the issue of group consciousness and group action. As a result of this analysis it is suggested that the different ways a group enacts its ideology can help shed new light on many features of group life. A relatively new theory is therefore presented which can account for this relationship and also helps to organize and integrate many of the earlier findings that pertain to the issue of group consciousness and group action. This theoretical framework, originally developed by Harvey Whitehouse, postulates that divergent modes of encoding have differential social effects. More specifically, there are two distinct modes of encoding, two distinc...

Exploring the Microfoundations of Group Consciousness

Theory of mind is an important mental faculty. However, despite almost half a century of research, we only have a limited understanding of its evolutionary past. The present article proposes a novel hypothesis on the origin of this unique human capacity. According to this hypothesis theory of mind descended from two, closely related, defensive reactions, namely tonic immobility and immobilization stress. Both reactions are conserved in many vertebrate species and are highly prevalent in immature individuals. They are produced by a combination of manual handling and restraint (common in many nursing activities) and implicated in the management of stressful encounters. Most importantly, they have been shown to facilitate eye-contact, gaze-following, and intentional attributions. These traits, and several others detailed in the text, make them prime candidates in the search for the origin of theory of mind. The article presents conceptual arguments and empirical facts in support of this hypothesis.

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Theory of Mind: Towards an Evolutionary Theory

The present article is concerned with some aspects of lecithin metabolism and function as they pertain to mental health. Given that lecithin is a popular emulsifier in the food industry, as well as an active substance in many supplement formulations, its effects on mental health deserve special attention from a public health perspective. In this regard it is worrisome that a number of scientific studies, both old and new, have implicated the overconsumption of choline (a main ingredient of lecithin) in the causation of depression. The article discusses some of these concerns and proposes simple remedies.

https://www.worldnutritionjournal.org/index.php/wn/article/download/626/547

Ioannis Tsoukalas

Papers

A method for studying social representations

The origin of REM sleep : A hypothesis

Exploring the Microfoundations of Group Consciousness

Theory of Mind: Towards an Evolutionary Theory

Too much of a good thing? Lecithin and mental health