Tom Bourbon [941220.0835]
[From Dick Robertson] (941219.2059CST)
. . .
RE [Lars Christian Smith 941213 16:00 CET]
Lars:
I was intrigued by the reference to "the behavior of defending a
self-concept against invalidation". What is the reference? Can the
paper be downloaded?
Dick:
If you were referring to my papers with David Goldstein, sorry they can't
be downloaded, because I wrote them on Apple 2+ cp/m word star. We did
report them at the Haimowoods conferences -- The Self as a Control System
in 1986 and Testing the Self as a Control System in 1987, as Greg Williams
lists in Closed Loop v4, no.3. Might that mean that he has copies of the
papers in the archives?
Dick, a quick glance at Greg Williams's brand new, splendiferous, "Catalog of
CSG Archive Material," printed in the latest and last issue of _Closed
Loop_, reveals that Greg does indeed have those two papers. (See there,
Greg? We need you. Don't wait until 2020 to do the next list.)
I have copies somewhere myself and promised to send them to someone who
asked (Sorry, at the moment I don't have your name in front of me) but
since I retired from Northeastern Il U I haven't yet sorted out all of my
own archives. MEANTIME, however, there is a pretty complete summary of
"testing the self as a control system" in my paper in Closed Loop v4 n.1,
which I think you can still get from Greg. Hope I'm right on that last, if
not please correct me Greg.
And, there is an *excellent* discussion of that paper in one of my favorite
books of all time, by one of my favorite authors of all time:
Philip J. Runkel, _Casting nets and testing specimens: Two grand methods of
psychology_. 1990. New York: Praeger Publishers.
Phil discusses your paper on pages 138-142. He uses it as an excellent
example of the method of "testing specimens." Phil places your study in
vivid contrast with a traditional experiment on self-concept that he
described and dissected earlier in his book (pages 34-42):
D Frey & D Stahlberg (1986). Selection of information after receiving more
or less reliable self-threatening information. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 12(4), 434-441.
Phil used their study as a classic example of the ways traditional
behavioral scientists abuse the method of "casting nets." (And he did it
with their permission.)
Lars, from your descriptions of your own background and interests, I believe
Phil's book would be an excellent source for you to read, and not only for
his discussions of research on self-concept.
Later,
Tom