Abstract
RECENT developments in projective technique offer a new approach to the mind, the exploration of which is just beginning. The underlying concept of projection (attributing our own 'qualities' to others) owes its origin to Freud. It was postulated to explain the origin of delusions of persecution and ideas of reference in paranoia. Freud thus identified a distinctive mental process of which we had only been vaguely aware. Many proverbs embody the belief that projection enters into daily intercourse. Folk-knowledge recognizes that in judging others we judge ourselves, that in condemning or condoning the actions of others we betray our own private inclinations. In the narrower sense in which Freud understood it, however, projection is a mechanism of defence employed, as an alternative to repression, with the aim of ridding the mind of an intolerable burden of aggression or guilt. Some recent experiments have thrown further light on these alternative extra- or intra-punitive processes.
Controlled Projection (1944)
A Standard Experimental Procedure. Arranged by John C. Raven. Pp. 54. (London: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd., 1945.) 12s. 6d. net.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
COHEN, J. Controlled Projection (1944). Nature 156, 701–702 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156701a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156701a0
