ABSTRACT
Dr. Hartmann’s comprehensive paper makes amply clear that psychoanalytic theory is intended to be a theory of human behavior in the same sense of “theory” that, for example, the molecular theory of gases is a set of assumptions which systematizes, explains, and predicts certain observable phenomena of gases. The psychoanalytic interview is the distinctive procedure used by analysts for arriving at psychoanalytic hypotheses, for obtaining evidence for or against such hypotheses, and for effecting therapies. Psychoanalytic interpretations frequently assert that the present difficulties of a patient have their source in an unfulfilled wish of early childhood, which persists in self-identical manner and produces discord in the unconscious stratum of mentality. The study finds that the percentage of improvements was as high as the ratio of improvements sometimes claimed for psychoanalytic therapy. It would certainly be rash to claim that the findings of his study are conclusive on the point at issue.
