You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Dr. O'Kelly is a comparative and experimental psychologist who was suddenly introduced to the field of clinical psychology through wartime assignments. 'As any person would do when placed in a novel situation, the comparative psychologist utilized the old and habitual ways of looking at problems: thus I attempted to fit my observations of disordered behavior into a general biological framework.' Consequently, Dr. O'Kelly defines psychopathology as 'the branch of biology that studies defective behavior, that is, maladjusted behavior'. This definition indicates an adherence to a school of psychology that goes back to Pavlov and his studies of the conditioned reflex which constitute the underlying assumptions for somatic cures, such as various types of shock treatment and neurosurgery. For the greater part, this school seems to stand in uncompromising contrast to psychoanalysis.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with basic concepts. Part two takes up the problem of disordered behavior, such as anxiety, psychosomatic considerations, neuroses and psychoses. The nosology of part two is followed by a probing into the causes of disordered behavior in part three. Heredity, body constitution, body structure, physiology, pathology, and organic causes are investigated and examined for possible clues and contributory factors. Prominent space is given to Sheldon's constitutional factors in personality, but no mention is made of Szondi's attempt to study the role of latent recessive genes through the test which bears his name. Likewise omitted are studies carried out in Sweden on the neurological changes in mental disease.
In spite of his biological and physiological orientation, Dr.