Showing papers on "Conceptualization published in 1975"

A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change1.

Abstract: A protection motivation theory is proposed that postulates the three crucial components of a fear appeal to be (a) the magnitude of noxiousness of a depicted event; (b) the probability of that event's occurrence; and (c) the efficacy of a protective response. Each of these communication variables initiates corresponding cognitive appraisal processes that mediate attitude change. The proposed conceptualization is a special case of a more comprehensive theoretical schema: expectancy-value theories. Several suggestions are offered for reinterpreting existing data, designing new types of empirical research, and making future studies more comparable. Finally, the principal advantages of protection motivation theory over the rival formulations of Janis and Leventhal are discussed.

Some Problems and Misconceptions Related to the Construct of Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement

Abstract: Research involving perceived internal versus external control of reinforcement as a personality variable has been expanding at a rapid rate. It seems clear that for some investigators there are problems associated with understanding the conceptualization of this construct as well as understanding the nature and limitations of methods of measurement. This article attempts to discuss in detail (a) the place of this construct within the framework of social learning theory, (b) misconceptions and problems of a theoretical nature, and (c) misuses and limitations associated with measurement. Problems of generalityspecificity and unidimensionality-multidimensionality are discussed as well as the logic of predictions from test scores. Estimates of the number of published articles dealing with some aspect of internal versus external control of reinforcement (sometimes referred to as "locus of control") vary, but it is clear that there are well over 600 studies. The number of unpublished investigations, master's theses, and doctoral dissertations dealing with this topic are impossible to estimate. Most of these studies have been published in the last IS years, and there seems to be still an active, if not increasing, interest in the topic. The concept deals both with situational parameters and individual differences, although the bulk of the studies have been concerned with the latter. One can only speculate on the surprising popularity of this concept as a subject for psychological investigations. Interest in this concept surely must be related to some persistent social problems, which in turn are related to the tremendous growth in population, increasing complexity of society, and the subsequent feeling of powerlessness that seems to permeate all levels of society, at least in Western culture. The research referred to above has produced some important and some well-replicated findings. It has also produced a series of studies that appear to reflect a basic misunderstanding of the nature of the variables and measurement devices used to assess individual differences. It is Requests for reprints should be sent to Julian B. Rotter, Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06268.

Uncertainty: Measures, Research, and Sources of Variation

Abstract: A conceptualization of uncertainty as a psychological state is developed. Sources of variability in the perception of uncertainty considered are attributes of the environment, individual cognitive ...

Consumer Behavior and Product Performance: An Alternative Conceptualization:

Abstract: IN the consumer goods market, there are many product categories that are represented by numerous brands. To cope with this multiplicity of relatively similar brands in such common consumer product categories as toothpaste, beer, and canned vegetables, consumers must devise a means to simplify their purchase decisions. Several models and theories have been proposed to explain this consumer behavior. This article expands the concept described by the term evoked set by including and classifying all the brands that may be in the consumer's awareness set. This classification, based on the consumer's "psychology of simplification," is examined and the consequences of such behavior for product performance are discussed.' In this regard, the concepts of inert set and inept set are introduced, and the results of an exploratory study are presented to demonstrate the applicability of this conceptualization.

How relevant is an individual difference theory of personality

Abstract: Doubts are raised as to the extent of "applicability of the conceptualization that "personality" consists "of more or less stable internal factors that make one person's behavior consistent from one time to another, and different from the behavior other people would manifest in comparable situations". This is done by demonstrating the questionable validity of much of the extant empirical support for the "personality" concept. Respondents on interpersonal checklists, personality inventories and questionnaire interviews are shown to unwittingly sub stitute a theory of conceptual likenesses for a description of behavioral co-occurrences. Considerations about similarity are confounded with judgments about probability to such an extent that items alike in concept are inferred to be behaviorally characteristic of the same person even when, as is typically the case, conceptual relationships among items do not correspond to the actual behavioral relationships among items. Examined are extant "personality theories" having to do with children's social behavior, adult behavior in small groups, maternal socialization practices, and psychopathology. These "theories" are shown to be no more than statements about how respondents (and psychologists) classify things as alike in meaning.

Infant and Caretaking Environment Investigation and Conceptualization of Adaptive Behavior in a System of Increasing Complexity

Abstract: The assignment of bringing together one’s “research perspective, research philosophy, methods, and findings” in one autobiographical account presents some rather obvious and many more subtle difficulties. It is obvious that such a contribution cannot be in the usual format of a scientific paper. And it is difficult to generate a personal synthesis and at the same time to offer it as a research contribution. It has seemed feasible for me only to try to organize and communicate in some reasonably concrete way the course that my work and thought have taken over the last score of years. During that score of years my career in clinical child psychiatry has become largely a commitment to certain problems of early developmental research, in particular, a concern with the question of organization itself in personality development.

The Division of Labor: Conceptualization and Related Measures

Abstract: The division of labor refers to differences among members of a population in their sustenance activities and the related functional interdependence. It is proposed that the first dimension of the division of labor, sustenance differentiation, may be measured with data on occupational composition. Six alternative measures are presented and evaluated. Emphasis is placed on the attention each gives to the two aspects of sustenance differentiation: structural differentiation (number of classes) and distributive differentiation (distribution of individuals among the classes). The notion of a division of labor has had a strange history in the social sciences. In light of classical studies by Adam Smith (1776) and Emile Durkheim (1893), no economist or sociologist would question the importance of the phenomenon. But since these two classics did not engender a viable tradition of research and theory, there has been little progress in the conceptualization or measurement of the division of labor. (See the recent commentary by

Political Cleavage: A Conceptual and Theoretical Analysis

Abstract: Abraham Kaplan in his ‘paradox of conceptualization’ draws attention to the fundamental problem of concept-formation: ‘The proper concepts are needed to formulate good theory, but we need a good theory to arrive at the proper concepts’. On this view, concepts are neither right nor wrong but are more or less useful; their utility is determined by the twin and mutually dependent requirements of empirical precision and theoretical importance. ‘Empirical precision’ has to do with a concept's ability to ‘carve up’ the world of phenomena without unnecessary ambiguities; ‘theoretical importance’ has to do with the utility of a concept in the development of statements of wide explanatory and predictive power.

Gay Baths and the Social Organization of Impersonal Sex

Abstract: The conditions described by males as ideal for impersonal sex include protection; ample, accessible opportunities; a known, shared, and organized reality; bounding of the experience; congeniality; and a comfortable physical setting. This paper examines gay baths in relation to these conditions. It also develops—from the male participants' perspective—a general model of the successful territorial and interactional organization of impersonal sex. Finally, the findings are related to the conceptualization of social organization, the market mentality, and the study of deviance.

Interorganizational Dependence: A Review of the Concept and a Re-examination of the Findings of the Aston Group

Abstract: Sergio E. Mindlin and Howard Aldrich In this paper the development of interorganizational dependence is reviewed. The conceptualization and operationalization of dependence in the research of the Aston Group is criticized on conceptual and methodological grounds. We suggest that future research incorporate the idea of interorganizational networks of interdependence and distinguish explicitly between intraand interorganizational dependence.1

Variations in Elite Perceptions of American States as Referents for Public Policy Making

Abstract: * Constructive criticisms of earlier drafts of this paper were provided by Professors Jack Walker and Richard I. Hofferbert, University of Michigan, and by Professor Stephen Zwerling, University of Connecticut. We are grateful for their comments. In addition, we are indebted to Professors William F. Lott and Stephen M. Miller, Department of Economics, University of Connecticut, for their assistance in calculating Gini ratios. The research was supported in part by the Graduate Council, Louisiana State University, and the University of Connecticut Research Foundation. The computer analysis in this study was performed on the University of Connecticut's IBM 360-65, which is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Grant Number GJ-9. ' The first published account of the interrelationships between political party competition, socioeconomic characteristics, and state public policy outputs was Richard E. Dawson and James A. Robinson, "InterParty Competition, Economic Variables, and Welfare Policies in the American States," Journal of Politics, 25 (May, 1963), 265-289. Other studies which emphasize the role of economic variables in determining state spending include Richard I. Hofferbert, "The Relation Between Public Policy and Some Structural and Environmental Variables in the American States," American Political Science Review, 60 (March, 1966), 73-82; and Thomas R. Dye, Politics, Economics, and the Public: Policy Outcomes in the American States (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1966). Publications placing greater emphasis on the impact of political variables on state spending include Ira Sharkansky, "Economic Development, Regionalism and State Political Systems," Midwest Journal of Political Science, 12 (February, 1968), 41-61; Ira Sharkansky, Spending in the American States (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1968); and Andrew T. Cowart, "Anti-Poverty Expenditures in the American States: A Comparative Analysis," Midwest Journal of Political Science, 13 (May, 1969), 219-236. For a review of these and many other related works, see John H. Fenton and Donald W. Chamberlayne, "The Literature Dealing With the Relationships Between Political Processes, Socioeconomic Conditions and Public Policies in the American States: A Bibliographical Essay," Polity, 1 (Spring, 1969), 388-404; and James W. Dyson and Douglas St. Angelo, "Persistent Methodological and Theoretical Problems in Analysis of Policy Outputs," paper presented at the results of this research generally cast doubt on the importance of political factors in the determination of state policy; social and economic indicators accounted for most of the attributable variance in the levels of public expenditures in the states. This "seemingly outrageous description of state politics"2 led to more elaborate conceptualization and increasingly sophisticated data analysis. Even with improved methodologies, however, much of the variance in state spending remains unexplained.3 Missing from the state spending studies is the contribution m ide by elected and appointed officials to the formation of public policy in those states. One effort to provide an elite and organizational behavior context for the study of state

Cognitive Maps of Retail Locations: An Investigation of Some Basic Issues

Abstract: Basic issues in the conceptualization and measurement of cognitive maps are discussed and explored with the aid of an empirical study. Results indicate several advantages for using cognitive measures to describe the physical separation of retail locations.

On Conceptualizing Salience in Religious Commitment

Abstract: Two alternative approaches to the conceptualization and analysis of salience in religious commitment are examined: specification and linear, additive models. Using data from a North Carolina sample of Episcopalians, little evidence is found in support of a specification effect. Considerably more support is obtained, however, for a linear, additive formulation in which salience is conceptualized as intervening between localistic world view and orthodoxy, as independent variables, and four consequential dimension measures. Salience is shown to have a "counter effect" to that of orthodoxy in the cases of church activism, political conservatism, antiblack prejudice, and racism. Issues pertinent to further research on religious salience are raised.

Hysteria, hypnosis, psychopathology. History and perspectives.

Abstract: A historical outline is given of the search for an explanation of the still elusive nature of hysteria and hypnosis, their mutual relationship, and that which they bear to psychopathology. Charcot regarded hypnosis as an artificially induced hysterical neurosis, and it was he who first introduced Freud to these two states. Freud was the first to see in hypnosis an experimental instrument for understanding psychopathological mechanisms. His subsequent conceptualization of psychoanalysis derived from these two phenomena at this decisive period. In 1895 Freud attempted to achieve a psychophysiological synthesis of the mental apparatus in his "Project for a Scientific Psychology," but then decided not to publish it. Whether or not recent advance in neurophysiology are sufficiently important bo bring about this synthesis remains an open question. In recent years some psychoanalysts have become interested in hypnosis, which one of them described as a focus for psychophysiological and psychoanalytic investigations. Any theory of the psychical apparatus which does not account for such an obvious psychical phenomenon must necessarily be incomplete. Since Charcot, hysteria presents hardly any new openings for experimental work. It is suggested that the solution of psyche-soma interaction might be sought in the study of hypnosis. It is postulated that hypnosis is a "fourth organismic state," not as yet objectifiable (in contradistinction to the waking state, sleep, and dreaming): a kind of natural or inborn mechanism which acts as one of the regulators of man's relationships with the environment. The author discusses briefly the aims and methodology of future interdisciplinary research on hypnosis, and the study of the transition from one state of consciousness to another, and their potential application to a wide range of subjects, namely, wherever man's relations with the environment are involved.

Six factors of behavioral cognition: understanding other people*

Abstract: In her recent presidential address to the American Association for Higher Education, K. Patricia Cross (1974) pointed out that present models of education overemphasize the narrow band of human abilities that enable people to perform academic tasks. She suggested a three-dimensional model that prepares people to work with data, work with things, and work with people. In Cross' view the task of education is to develop the student's ability to the point of excellence in one area and to "prepare him or her to live in today's world by developing at least minimum competence in the other two areas" (p. 4). If these suggestions are to be implemented by educators, they require means of conceptualizing and measuring the abilities involved in each of these three areas so that appropriate curricula may be developed. More than fifty years ago, E. L. Thorndike (1920) suggested that human intelligence is composed of three aspects: abstract, mechanical, and social intelligence (paralleling the work skills outlined by Cross). Although both abstract and mechanical intelligence have been successfully measured, early attempts to develop independent measures of social intelligence had not been successful. Both R. L. Thorndike (1936) and Woodrow (1939) found that tests designed to measure social intelligence were loaded on factors defined by verbal-ability tests. The present study is one contribution to the conceptualization and measurement of some of the abilities involved in the task of working with people. In our view, Thorndike's "social intelligence" and Cross's "work with people" are too general to be of practical value over and above naming the domain of interest. Observing people interacting with other people suggests that there are a number of different ways of being socially intelligent. As Argyle (1972) has noted, "Clearly most people are better at some social tasks than others .... There are, for example, people who are better at handling audiences, or committees, than at dealing with individualsor vice versa" (p. 77). Some people are astute in understanding or cognizing what others think and feel, but for reasons of timidity or poor social training do not behave well in social situations. Others, while not particularly perceptive of others' feelings and thoughts, are socially poised and well-informed. Some individuals, such as successful statesmen, can produce many different solutions to a social problem. One of the few theories of human intelligence that includes social intelligence abilities is Guilford's (1967) Structure of Intellect (SI) model. The Structure of Intellect postulates 120 different factors of intellectual ability organized along three dimensions:

Glock's Model of Religious Commitment: Assessing Some Different Approaches and Results

Abstract: Ten components of religious commitment were derived by superimposing a liberalconservative distinction on Glock's five dimensions. Data concerning the ten components were obtained from Baptist and Methodist church members. The relationships among the components permit a reassessment of some conflicting assumptions and findings in the two major types of research which have flowed from Glock's model. Some suggestions for further research also are offered. The purpose of this paper is to assess some apparent conflicts in two types of research which have flowed from Glock's (1962) five dimensional conceptualization of religious commitment.' The apparent conflicts center on the different approaches researchers have taken to the dimension themselves and on the different findings which have been reported concerning the relationships among the dimensions. The analysis of these issues will include data from Baptist and Methodist church members concerning the relationships among ten components of religious commitment (two within each of Glock's five dimensions). The findings suggest ways of resolving some of the different findings that now exist in the liter-

An application of job vacancy chain model to a civil service internal labor market

Abstract: This paper has three primary foci—a conceptualization of occupational mobility having system boundary properties and interrelated moves, tests of the job vacancy chain model to determine its predictive power for a civil service internal labor market, and additional use of the theory of absorbing Markov chains to gain further insight into the dynamics of job vacancies. The modes by which job vacancy chains entered the system by stratum are also examined for a twenty‐one year period. The job system analyzed is the police internal labor market of the Michigan State Police. The data are continuous for a forty‐three year period (1927–1970). Since, a reasonable degree of stationarity was not reached until 1949, the model was tested from 1949–1970. The model is viewed as having considerable predictive power. Moreover, when viewed as a system model rather than a formal organizational model, it can be used for internal labor markets and more general systems which link internal labor markets. It appears much less l...

Situation/transition groups: a conceptualization and review.

Abstract: Small discussion-education groups moderated by a trained leader have been used in a variety of settings for the mutual assistance of individuals who share some stressful life situation. This paper reviews the literature on a broad range of such groups, and finds they have common characteristics, modes of function, and problems of leadership. The situation group is seen as being an important primary preventive approach for both mental and physical health problems.

Problems in the Economist's Conceptualization of Technological Innovation

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine how economics has conceptualized the process of technological innovation. The issues involved are, clearly, very substantial, since there is widespread (although by no means universal) agreement that this process is the primary cause of long-term economic development. Yet, with a few exceptions, it is only in the past twenty years or so that economists have attempted to relate the subject in a systematic way to their analysis of long-term development. Some significant progress has been made. However, I will argue that our cognitive framework causes us to misconceive the process and, as a result, to ignore or to understate drastically the importance of many forms of technological change. I will argue, in particular, that our reasoning on these matters has been seriously flawed by a strong prejudice against recognizing the full economic importance of many forms of valuable knowledge which are intrinsic to activities of a technological nature. Where this prejudice came from is a matter of interesting speculation. Indeed, its subtle intrusion into our thinking might form a fascinating chapter in the history of economic thought. I suspect it has been related to the status anxieties of the economist and his determination to associate his activities with the high prestige of the scientist rather than the much more modest prestige of the engineer. For my immediate purposes, however, its origins are not nearly so urgent or important as its existence and its consequences in shaping our thinking on matters technological. The prejudice with which I am concerned may be simply stated.

Synthesis and Relevance in Comparative Public Administration

Abstract: The main objectives of this study are: (1) to delineate the early commitments and orientations of the comparative studies of public administration; (2) to examine some of the conceptual and methodological problems and issues encountered by current comparative research; and (3) to suggest possible directions which have not been adequately utilized in the theoretical development of the comparative approach. A central thesis of this effort is that a higher degree of synthesis and relevance of comparative analysis may be attained through conceptualization of critical administrative problems at the "middle range" level and involving institutions rather than entire national administrative systems.

Development of a Professional Identity for the Child Care Worker

Abstract: The movement toward professionalization of the child care field confronts serious and complex problems of conceptualization and practical organization of roles, programs, and personnel This article describes and analyzes these issues in the context of current practice and the emerging professionalization of the field

Mexico: the Limits of State Autonomy:

Abstract: The predominant role of the state in advanced capitalist societies as well as so-called third world countries has been evident in recent contemporary Marxist literature (Miliband, 1969; Murray, 1971; O'Connor, 1973; Warren, 1972; Quijano, 1972; Ianni, 1974; Pompermayer and Smith, 1973; also the journal Kapitalistate, and the Winter 1974 issue of Politics and Society). There is considerable disagreement among these studies with respect to such questions as the social basis of the state, the distinction between class power and state power, the mechanisms of class-state interaction, and the relative autonomy of the state (particularly in post-colonial societies) and its consequent role in shaping the social formation which emerges. Rather than discussing these differences, which have been analyzed and debated elsewhere (for example, Miliband, 1969; Poulantzas, 1969, and Miliband, 1973; Wolfe,1974; Sardei-Biermann et. al., 1973; Alavi, 1972 and Girling, 1973), the following article proposes to draw upon them in an attempt to construct a generalized model of the state in advanced capitalist and dependent societies. This model will in turn serve as a basis for examining the interpretations of the state which emerged from the Mexican revolution of 1910-1917 and particularly the conceptualization of the autonomous state which appeared to guide the program of the Cardenas government (1934-1940). An examination of the state in Mexico must take into account the apparent paradox of the Mexican revolution and of Mexico's subsequent development. As stated by Roger Hanson: in no major Latin American country has the government done more for the new industrial, commercial, and agricultural elite, nor less for the lowest 25 percent of society -despite Mexico's being the only Latin American country to undergo a profound social revolution during the first half of this century (1971: 87-88). An important element of this revolution was a conceptualization of the state as an autonomous entity which would utilize its power on behalf of the downtrodden groups and classes of Mexico a conceptualization which was to some extent realized in the administration of Lazaro Cardenas during the 1930s. It is a tentative proposition of this study that the contradictions inherent in this conceptualization of the state, and in its attempted realization within the context of a dependent, incipiently capitalist system, explain at least in part the divergence of the present system from that contemplated in the ideology of the revolution and the program of the Cardenas administration.

Commentaries on Belk, “Situational Variables and Consumer Behavior”

Abstract: By his clear statement of some issues met in attempts to bring the environment into psychological theory and research in connection with consumer behavior, Dr. Belk has made a valuable contribution. My comments will be limited to two issues that appear to me to be fundamental: namely, the temporal and spacial extent of the environment and its dynamic properties. It is true as the author says that the surroundings of a person range from the narrowest situation ("a point in time and space"), through behavior settings ("time and space dimensions [stretched] to broader and more continuous units"), to the total circumjacent environment. The question arises, therefore: for what behaviors are these variously constricted surrounds relevant? Consumer behavior, on the basis of the examples given (e.g., shopping for clothes, seeing a motion picture), almost always involves molar actions which extend over time and occur within spacially extended regions with fluctuating properties. An adequate conceptualization of the environment of consumer behavior must, therefore, have the attributes of temporal and spacial extent; and it must have other properties that can vary across time and space. This is true in all applied sciences. The course of a golf ball cannot be predicted from the "situation" (direction and strength of forces) that exists at the moment of impact with the club; the winds, slopes, turf, etc., must be included. This presents great difficulties, but it cannot be ignored. Dr. Belk's situation is defined as a point in time and space and it is important for many psychological problems: for discrete, momentary acts (marking a questionnaire item, for example) and for behavior occurring under controlled, constant conditions in laboratories and clinics. I am sure there are lawful relations between behavior and the variables of such situations, but I fail to see their relevance for molar actions. The five types of "situational characteristics" proposed include none which clearly indicates that environments are dynamic and purposeful with respect to persons. This is a frequent lack in psychological theories of the environment; in them the environment is usually either neutral with respect to the intentions of its inhabitants or chaotic, imposing driving and resisting forces on them in a random way. However, anyone who has driven on a highway, attended a fourth grade class, or shopped in a supermarket knows that these surroundings coerce people to behave in accordance with their, the surroundings', ongoing programs. This, it seems to me, should have a prominent place among the characteristics of situations.

Personality and Family Dynamics in the Political Socialization Process

Abstract: This paper presents an alternative conceptualization of the impact of the family on political socialization. The impact, it is suggested, takes place at a more basic level of psychic organization than attitudes or opinions, namely, basic beliefs. These beliefs originate in the interaction between human needs and attempts to satisfy them in the early family environment. Two basic beliefs, personal control and interpersonal trust, are empirically examined in relation to political orientations. Additionally, the impact of a number of dimensions of family life on the acquisition of these beliefs is explored. These data suggest the potential relevance of personality development to the political socialization process.

Some Problems in Alfred Schutz's Phenomenological Methodology

Abstract: Alfred Schutz created a systematic methodology for the social sciences by integrating sociological concepts derived from Max Weber with the philosophical foundation provided by Edmund Husserl's phenomenology. However, much of the rigor of Schutz's analysis of social life is vitiated by his failure to come to grips with the philosophical problem of “other minds.” Analysis and critique of Schutz's “general thesis of the alter ego” reveal the sterility of either pragmatic or dogmatic use of philosophic concepts in social science conceptualization, and the failure of his methodological system demonstrates the serious epistemological consequences of doing social scientific work without rigorous and radical philosophical foundation.

Teaching effectiveness : its meaning, assessment, and improvement

Abstract: The problem of evaluating teacher effectiveness: Feldman, S. Teacher evaluation: a teacher unionist's view. Gage, N. L. Can science contribute to the art of teaching? Ryans, D. G. Teacher behavior can be evaluated. Flanders, N. A. and Morine, G. The assessment of proper control and suitable learning environment.--Achievement related teaching behaviors: Rosenshine, B. Enthusiastic teaching: a research review. Harootunian, B. Research on teaching effectiveness. Walsh, G. V. One in five made us think. MadanMohan. Specifying behavioral components of some higher-order concepts of teaching.--Teacher preparation: Medley, D. M. The research context and the goals of teacher education. Fuller, F. F. Concerns of teachers: a developmental conceptualization. Hull, R. E. Effective induction of teachers: a point of view. Hunt, D. E. A conceptual level matching model for coordinating learner characteristics with educational approaches. Hamachek, D. Characteristics of good teachers and implications for teacher educators.--Evaluation of instructional effectiveness: Rosenshine, B. Evaluation of classroom instruction. Bicknell, J. E. The instructional effectiveness quotient. Popham, W. J. Performance tests of teaching proficiency: rationale, development, and validation.

Symposium on The Ego and the Id after fifty years. The structural hypothesis--theoretical considerations.

Abstract: Freud reformulated his model of the psychic apparatus because certain clinical observations did not fit into the earlier framework of his theory. In the new theory, he emphasized the role each element plays in psychic conflict. Because Freud philosophically was committed to a materialistic, nonteleological, biologically based theory, he carried over into the new formulations some of the metapsychological assumptions of the earlier theory. It is suggested that this transposition is responsible for some of the confusion concerning the application of the structural theory. It is proposed that if a more strict usage of the concept of metapsychology with more precise conceptualization is employed, some of the problems connected with the application of the structural theory may be overcome.