Article ID: CBB655457346

The Uses of Trauma in Experiment: Traumatic Stress and the History of Experimental Neurosis, C. 1925–1975 (2019)

unapi

The article retraces the shifting conceptualizations of psychological trauma in experimental psychopathological research in the middle decades of the twentieth century in the United States. Among researchers studying so-called experimental neuroses in animal laboratories, trauma was an often-invoked category used to denote the clash of conflicting forces believed to lead to neurotic suffering. Experimental psychologists, however, soon grew skeptical of the traumatogenic model and ultimately came to reject neurosis as a disease entity. Both theoretical differences and practical circumstances, such as the technical challenge of stabilizing neurotic symptoms in rats, led to this demise. Yet, despite their reservations, experimental psychologists continued to employ traumatic stimuli to produce psychopathological syndromes. In the 1960s, a new understanding of trauma evolved, which emphasized the loss of control experienced by traumatized animal subjects. These shifting ideas about trauma, I argue, reflect both varying experimental cultures, epistemic norms as well as changing societal concerns.

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Article Shaul Katzir (2018) Introduction: Physics, Technology, and Technics during the Interwar Period. Science in Context (pp. 251-261). unapi

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Authors & Contributors
Generali, Dario
Weitzenkorn, Rachel
Evans, Jazmin Antwynette
Kimani S. K. Nehusi
Puglionesi, Alicia
Talcott, Samuel
Concepts
Experiments and experimentation
Science and society
Experimental psychology
Psychology
Psychic trauma
Philosophy
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
18th century
17th century
Early modern
Places
United States
Italy
Europe
France
Strasbourg (France)
Caribbean
Institutions
School of Milan
Tennessee Valley Authority
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