Perceptgenetic defenses against anxiety and a threatened sense of self as seen in terms of the Spiral Aftereffect Technique.

Abstract

In a group of 48 female university students we studied the relation between measures obtained with two perceptgenetic techniques, the Spiral Aftereffect Technique (SAT) and a modified version of the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). With few exceptions, the findings of a previous study in which male conscripts were tested were confirmed. DMT indices of repression and projected introagression were shown to be related to a successive decrease (minus trend) in aftereffect duration in the SAT, whereas DMT indices of introagression, depressive inhibition and anxiety were found to be related to a successive increase (plus trend). Disavowal, i.e. denial through various forms of reversal of aspects in the DMT motifs, was more prevalent in subjects having a short final aftereffect duration (LL., LL and L classifications) or a long duration (H) than an intermediate one (M). For instance, H subjects more frequently reported the young DMT hero figure to be an elderly person; L subjects were more often incorrect in reporting its sex. The findings were interpreted within a developmental frame of reference combining Freudian, Kleinian and Kohutian psychoanalytic conceptualizations.