Principles of Dynamic Psychiatry

315 but they, with the new are well presented. Dr. George Carrington's essay on "Medicine" is especially to be recommended, and the final essay by Nor-man Foerster "The Future of the Humanities in State Universities" deserves a much larger audience than it seems likely to reach. 322 pp. $4. Masserman has undertaken the difficult task of presenting fundamentals of modern dynamic psychiatry in 175 pages, enlarged by an appendix of 57 pages, a well-selected and comprehensive ibibliography, and a simple glossary of psychiatric terms. Part I outlines the task of psychiatry, defined as "The Science of Human Behavior," and presents a critical review of the organic, psychological, and psychoanalytic theories of behavior. This is followed by chapters on dynamics of adaptation in general and "neurotigenic and psychotic dynamisms." Part II opens with a review of taxonfomic psychiatry, behaviorism, psychoanalytic theory, and Meyerian psychobiology. The bulk of Part II, 75 pages, develops Masserman's own "Biodynamic Theory of Behavior." According to Masserman, behavior is governed 'by four principles and a number of corollaries. The first principle states that '%hehavior is basically actuated by the physiologic needs of the organism and is directed toward the satisfaction of those needs." Second principle: "Behavior is contingent upon and adaptive to the organism's interpretation of its milieu as based on its capacities and previous experiences." The third principle states that behavior 'becomes fragmented under stress and tends toward substitute satisfactions. The fourth principle deals with conflict. When two or more