(1960). Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 8:159-166 David Beres, who presented the first paper, pointed directly to the importance of the panel's subject matter, the psychology of imagination, by stating that "the products of imagination are the data of the psychoanalyst's work. The symbol, the fantasy, the thought, the dream, " he said, "are to the psychoanalyst what the tracing of the electrocardiograph is to the cardiologist or the microscopic specimen to the pathologist." Beres defined imagination as "the capacity to form a mental representation of an absent object" and delineated it from those similar mental functions which occur in higher animals who "… can apprehend and respond to configurations and spatial relationships … in a concrete … fashion … in relation to direct, immediate, sensory stimulation." He added the important fact that precursors of imagination, which resemble the direct responses observed in higher animals, occur also in man during early infancy and with organic brain dis [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
