Could 'objective, experimental' analysis of human motivation really improve psychotherapy?
Cattell is a founding father of modern, multivariate psychological method and his paper is a fine introduction to his views on motivation which have perhaps received less attention in Britain than they deserve. However, it was the unanimous opinion of three referees that it needed to be followed by a dissenting voice. In this counterargument I suggest that Cattell's presentation is: (1) ingenuously confident of the power of multivariate statistical methods; (2) naïve about the interactive nature of the clinical relationship.
Evans
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Department of Mental Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
D001364:Awareness; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011581:Psychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011589:Psychology, Experimental; D011594:Psychometrics; D011613:Psychotherapy; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology