> On Apr 15, 2015, at 5:02 AM, Michael Britt <[email protected]> wrote:
> I have spoken to a few clinicians who agree that while multiple personality 
> disorder probably doesn’t exist

MPD/DID undoubtedly “exists"—that is, people exhibit the symptoms. The 
controversy has always been over how best to explain the development of this 
cluster of symptoms.

> , people do indeed “dissociate”.  In one of the videos so far mentioned a 
> clinician says that dissociation is similar to that experience we have when 
> we are driving and we arrive somewhere but don’t know how we got there.

In my classes, this is one area where I prefer to use the old psychoanalytic 
concept of levels of awareness or the more modern cognitive concept of 
automatic processes. 

I think of “highway hypnosis” as resulting from well-learned responses that 
have become “habitual." When our attention is focused on something else, 
habitual responses activated by the situation we are in take over. This may be 
thought of as occurring at the preconscious level (if we are using a Freudian 
approach) or automatic processing of information (if we are using a cognitive 
approach). I wish I had more time right now to discuss the nuances (e.g., 
Zajonc’s work)—maybe later.

I studied the concept of dissociation for several years and I have to admit 
that I’ve never gained a clear understanding of it, perhaps because it’s been 
conceptualized in so many ways.

Best,
Jeff

-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Curriculum Vitae <http://sccpsy101.com/curriculum-vitae/>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scottsdale Community College
9000 E. Chaparral Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
Office: SB-123
Phone: (480) 423-6213
Fax: (480) 423-6298


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