ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the inventories of the client’s experiences with the emphasis placed upon his more overt activities. The study of interests becomes the study of the whole range and variety of one’s psychological processes, and not merely the study of a special class of activities. In analysing spontaneous activities the psychologist should keep in mind that apparent freedom and versatility are signs that the functioning constructs are organized within a permeable system, and that therefore the field of fact covered by those activities is extensively elaborated by the person observed. Spontaneous activities, like most other types of activities, tend to fall in cycles: diurnal, hebdomadal, monthly, seasonal, and life. It is important, in studying recurrent spontaneous activities, to take time samples which tap the person’s experiences systematically. The degree of intimacy involved—for example, in a sex relationship—the kinds of activity shared, the manner of reaching agreements in joint activities, and the manner of terminating the companionship should be detailed.
