The vogue for increased emphasis on the psyche in the training of the physician has struck the ancient and honorable University of Paris. The present manual was prepared by two distinguished psychiatrists to fill the need created by a French decree in 1960 requiring a course in psychology for the medical student.
The different methods used in psychology are described, limitations of each approach are pointed out, and the benefit of an approach combining introspection, observation, and testing is emphasized. The modern holistic attitude considering the organism as a unit resulting from a developmental process beginning with hereditary elements influenced later by the environment is stated. Perception and senses are described together with their pathological alterations. In discussing instincts, drives, conflicts, and motivation, the authors attempt to introduce operational definitions. They conceive of the integrating mechanism behind motivated behavior as being located in the diencephalon, mostly in the