Details

Subject(s)

• Psychotherapy—Congresses [Browse]
• Tranquilizing drugs [Browse]

Editor

• Cole, Jonathan O. [Browse]
• Gerard, R. W. (Ralph Waldo), 1900- [Browse]

Series

• Publication (National Research Council (U.S.)) ; 583. [More in this series]
• National Research Council (U.S.). Publication 583

Summary note

"The organization of this volume has followed the various stages through which the preparation for the Conference on The Evaluation of Pharmacotherapy in Mental Illness and the actual conference went. A seventh paper, by Dr. Jack R. Ewalt, was presented at the dinner given on Friday, 21 September 1956. The general character resembles that of the introductory papers and it was therefore included with them. The first section of this volume, therefore, consists of the seven working papers, two of which were brought up to date just before the conference in September 1956, together with Dr. Gerard's summary. At the January planning meeting it was decided that five committees should be formed, composed for the most part of those participating in the planning meeting. These committees were to include the Committee on Preliminary Screening of Drugs, under the chairmanship of Dr. Louis Goodman, which was to review thoroughly our knowledge of the basic mechanisms of action of these psychoactive compounds, and more particularly the adequacy of available methods for the selection and the animal and early human screening of compounds of this general sort. The next three committees were organized as a group in order that the field of clinical drug evaluation, which was to be the primary emphasis of the conference, should receive the most thorough possible scrutiny. The general clinical area was divided into three sections. The first section, that dealing with the problems attached to the selection of patient groups for study and the problem of adequate scientific controls in clinical researches, was assigned to the Committee on Patient Selection and Controls under the chairmanship of Dr. John Clausen. The second clinical area encompassed the influence of the environment in which the drug studies were done and the problems attached to drug administration itself. This area was gradually expanded to include the more general aspects of test design in clinical drug evaluation and was assigned to the Committee on Test Conditions, under the chairmanship of Dr. Alfred Bay. The third clinical area was that of evaluation, and the third committee, the Committee on Evaluation, was to concern itself intensively with the problems of evaluation and the more detailed consideration of some of the available techniques for the measurement of change in psychiatric patients. Dr. Milton Greenblatt chaired the Committee on Evaluation and also served as "superchairman" and coordinator of the three clinical committees. The fifth committee was called the Committee on Planning and Coordination and was to serve both as an executive committee for the conference and to consider, in broader terms, the implications of the conference. Its major attention was to be devoted to the preparation of plans for the implementation of policy recommendations and research ideas which would emerge from the conference itself. The organization of the sections devoted to the work of the several committees is not uniform, but has varied with the nature of the committee's activities. The edited discussions have been inserted, wherever they are most appropriate, either following the article to which they are pertinent or in a separate section devoted to the general work of the committee. The summaries prepared by the various committees and presented to the main conference, together with the discussion from the floor following the presentation of these summaries, have been included as a separate section at the end of the volume, and are followed by Dr. Kety's final, over-all analysis of the work of the conference and the consolidated recommendations of the various working groups"--Introductio. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographies and bibliographical footnotes.

Reproduction note

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association, 2005. Available via the World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement.

Other format(s)

Also issued in print.

Other title(s)

PsycBOOKS.

Statement on language in description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...