The GeoCat 1.3, a simple tool for the measurement of Freudian primary and secondary process thinking

ABSTRACT

Linda A.W. Brakel et al. have developed a formal, non-verbal index of primary and secondary process mentation independent of the psychoanalytic clinical method, the GeoCat, and Ariane Bazan has made improvements to the original instrument, resulting into the GeoCat 1.3. The GeoCat is a forced-choice measure contrasting two types of similarity between geometrical figures. One of the two target figures consists of the same components as the master figure but in a different configuration; because this target figure is similar to the master figure in an “attributional” way, it is called the “ATT” figure. By drawing on associative operations to attain perceptual identity, ATT choices are proposed to index primary process mentation. The other target figure is made up of different components, but these are arranged in the same configuration; as this target figure is similar to the master figure in a configurational or “relational” way, it is called the “REL” figure. Configurational similarity is only accessible through spatiotemporal orientation, and therefore REL is thought to index secondary process mentation. Accumulating research on the validity of the GeoCat 1.3 shows good psychometric qualities, including internal consistency, inter-list variability, and both construct and convergent validity, with preliminary data showing high correlations with projective instruments. Even if the GeoCat does not deliver the rich clinical materials produced by projective tools, its easy inclusion in diagnostic assessment produces important, sometimes surprising, indications. As a research tool, it has proven pivotal in a variety of studies, from fundamental metapsychology and psychopathology to psychotherapy research.

KEYWORDS:

• GeoCat
• primary process
• secondary process
• Freud
• psychoanalysis
• measurement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgements

A. Bazan thanks the International Psychoanalytic Association for financial help with the publication fee. The author also wants to thank Mr. Bob Berry for his unwavering support over the years. Ariane Bazan is also profoundly indebted to Howard Shevrin for his invaluable mentorship.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 This is not amazing: Kahneman spent the summer of 1960 as a student of David Rapaport at Austen Riggs, a psychoanalytic hospital, and Rapaport (1951; see also Gill, 1967) himself was a well-known Freud scholar, especially expert on Freud’s metapsychology, and elaborately studied the so-called Freudian primary and secondary processes.

2 They are also free for translation to other languages, but the translated version must also come without copyright (e.g., for the translator) and with the same references (this paper; Brakel et al., 2000).

3 The articulateness was measured by indices formally evaluating the participant’s speech in his responses upon the “Questionnaire of the Expert” in which the participant, taken as the expert, is consulted upon various societal and existential topics, e.g. How should we educate children? The underlying idea is that a psychotic delusion (but also a neurotic mythical story) is an answer to the basic existential questions of life (where do we come from?, what will be left of us after us?, how should we live? etc.). In the “Questionnaire of the Expert” we submit the participant to questions inspired by these existential themes; the idea, then, is not to measure the content but the formal structure of the speech in response to these questions.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no funds.