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My aim in this paper is to present an overview of the cognitive-arrest theory of denial and defense. Although there have been notable contributions to the psychoanalytic theory of defense since Anna Freud's (1936) classic work, there have been no systematic efforts to integrate these contributions into a comprehensive theory.
Freud's clinical theories of defense, dream formation, and symptom formation were derived partly from his clinical observations and partly from other fields such as neurology and psychology. Although much of Freud's theory of defense has stood the test of time, some elements of his theory that were derived from sources outside of psychoanalysis are mistaken. Errors in his theory of defense stem from the metapsychological assumptions that were derived from extraanalytic concepts of cognition, memory, and perception.
This paper attempts to integrate psychoanalytic insights into unconscious motivation with contemporary constructivist theories of cognition and perception as advanced by developmental and cognitive psychologists (Mandler, 1984). The cognitive-arrest theory provides a more up-to-date and coherent explanation for the effects of defense on cognitive, perceptual, and memory functions than does classical psychoanalytic theory.
The first part of this paper discusses the basic concepts and terms used in psychoanalysis in connection with the topics of denial and defense. An overview of the cognitive-arrest theory of defense (Dorpat, 1983a, 1983b, 1985) follows. A major hypothesis is that denial brings about an arrest of cognition regarding something disturbing to the individual, and this paper addresses questions concerned with the how, what, and why of that cognitive arrest. The implications of the cognitive arrest theory for understanding long-range consequences of pathological defensive reactions are