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This research project aims to explore how existential therapists, trainees in the orientation and their trainers perceive the relationship between existential philosophy and therapeutic practice. More specifically the focus is to: explore how participants draw on existential philosophy in their therapeutic practice; to gain insight into what they see as the value of existential philosophy for informing training and practice and what they regard as some of the challenges of using and learning to use existential philosophy in practice. The research comprised a study in two parts with the first part consisting of five interviews with experienced existential therapists and the second involving interviews with six trainees and newly qualified existential therapists and two of their trainers. In keeping with a qualitative methodology, all interviews were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun &Clarke, 2006).The first part of the study provides an insight into the perceived theory/practice relationship in existential therapeutic practice, whilst the second explores this relationship at the point of training when issues around establishing and understanding the relationship are foregrounded. The key findings include a challenge to the traditional narrative of theory and practice as separate entities existing in a dualistic paradigm. Instead, existential ideas were seen to form an existential identity and way of being which is embodied by the therapists and conveyed via the therapeutic relationship, as opposed to drawing on theory in practice. Perhaps as a result of this, many participants appeared to have a rather paradoxical relationship with theory in that they had a strong commitment to what they regarded as the radical philosophical ideals of existential therapy alongside an ambivalence towards 'using' theoretical concepts in therapeutic practice. At the same time, many appeared to employ theoretical frameworks and concepts in more conventional ways, which sometimes conflicted with professed existential philosophical ideals. A key perceived value of the approach was the significant challenge involved in both training in, and practising, this therapeutic orientation as it involves in-depth personal change; this perceived value, at times, implied the perceived superiority of the approach which was rarely acknowledged by the participants. Implications for therapy training are various and will be discussed in chapter 9.

Maritime disasters can result in devastating loss of life. In order to mitigate such loss, it is necessary to optimise the efficacy of evacuation procedures. Previous research on maritime disasters and the behaviour observed during evacuation is limited. This is mainly due to issues involving the collection of sufficient reliable data. Human behaviour is a complex phenomenon variously affected by experience, emotions, interactions and environment. These factors are further modulated by the life-threatening nature of uniquely evolving disasters. Currently, computational evacuation models fail to consider passengers as sentient, psychological agents. Some have shown success in the prediction of actions undertaken. This thesis describes three interlinked studies intended to crystallise a methodological approach for effective future research into disaster evacuations. The first study was a replication of a previous study of the Costa Concordia disaster. Behavioural Sequence Analysis was conducted on data collected from a new sample of survivors. Statistically significant correlations were found which indicated the reliability of the method of data collection. These data were then broken down by gender, age, companions, and experience in order to detect intra-cohort differences. Analysis of routes and transitions in decomposition diagrams detected differences between sub-cohorts. However, existing psychological literature was unable to offer consistent, persuasive explanations for certain detected phenomena. The second study involved the recreation of the first study using the 'Talk-Through' method. This method is potentially valuable for the creation of reliable imagined data, which mirrors real-life experiences. The third study involved an in-depth comparison of the data extracted by each method. This filled a specifically noted gap in knowledge concerning the ecological validity of the 'Talk-Through' method. It was anticipated that the results of the two methods would be comparable. Indeed, correlation analysis provided evidence for the validity of the talk-through method with respect to the number of acts and transitions reported in each condition. In order to accelerate evacuation research, refinements to data-collection and analysis were proposed. By taking control of the storytelling, more controlled and comparable data may be produced which focus on choices made at each phase during a complete sequence of evacuation. This would create data more appropriate for computer modelling and more capable of quantitatively evaluating choices. Understanding motivations is critical to the communication of effective and authoritative instruction. By redirecting psychological research towards this goal, persuasive evidence may be produced to guide and inform the implementation and execution of emergency evacuation procedures.

Optimism has a multitude of benefits to individuals in the domains of physical health (Räikkönen & Chirag, 2019); it has also been associated with better performance, socially and academically (Solberg Nes, Evans, & Segerstrom, 2009), decreased stress and less likelihood to burnout (Chang, 2000), better mood, coping and stronger immunity in response to stress (Segerstorm, 1998), and increased problem solving (Chang, 1996). Currently, optimism has been defined in two main ways. Firstly, it has been defined as 'the global generalising tendency to believe that one will generally experience good versus bad outcomes in life' (Scheier & Carver, 1985; p.219). This suggests that optimists look on the bright side of life, whereas pessimists believe that if something can go wrong for them, it will. Secondly, optimism is conceptualised as a positive explanatory style; it concerns how they explain the event to themselves, either positive or negative. This optimistic or pessimistic thinking is reinforced daily through how we explain things to ourselves, relating to why good or bad things happen to us (Seligman, 2005). In the main, explicit measures have been used to measure optimism; however, explicit measures may be susceptible to several biases, such as social desirability. Implicit measures have been suggested to be able to overcome these biases (Greenwald, 1998). In this thesis, an implicit measure was created and assessed to overcome these biases. These implicit measures were compared to explicit measures to investigate how well they correlated. This thesis has three main aims; (a) to create an optimism implicit association test (IAT) to investigate the relationship between implicit and explicit measures of optimism. (b) to investigate the relationship between implicit and explicit measures of optimism, including associated changes when using positive psychology interventions. (c) to investigate if optimism is changeable over time. To address these aims, within the thesis, three studies and a systematic review were employed. Study 1 aimed to create a valid and reliable optimism implicit association task (IAT) and to also investigate the relationship between implicit and explicit measures of optimism. The study examined the relationship between implicit Visual Probe Task (VPT), IAT and explicit Life Orientation Test Revised (LOT-R). The findings in study 1 showed promising results for the reliability and validity of the IAT. However, no relationship was found between implicit and explicit optimism measures. Study 2 examined the factor structure of optimism, within both the optimism IAT and explicit questionnaire measures. The findings suggested that implicit and explicit optimism were separate factors and therefore, could be considered separate dimensions. A systematic review and meta-analysis explored optimism and positive psychology interventions in the workplace (using the PRISMA checklist). The systematic review revealed three studies that investigated randomised controlled trials (RCT) and whether positive psychology interventions (PPIs) increase optimism in the workplace. The meta-analysis found good homogeneity and a small to medium effect on optimism. This suggests that optimism in the workplace is malleable through PPIs. Study 3 used a pilot RCT to examine whether PPIs can change the implicit and explicit optimism. A working population were randomly assigned to kindness to self, kindness to others or control group. The findings suggest a preliminary effectiveness at increasing optimism. The overall conclusion from the three studies and systematic review suggested that optimism and pessimism are separate two-dimensional constructs. Additionally, the findings suggest that implicit and explicit measures are also separate constructs. Finally, the acts of kindness to self and others positive psychology interventions show potential to increase implicit and explicit optimism, and optimism is changeable over time.

Over the past decades, experimental research with animals has demonstrated that the generalisation between two stimuli is determined not only by their intrinsic properties, but by their associative history. This phenomenon is illustrated with the use of acquired equivalence tasks, which show that stimuli are treated as more similar when they come to elicit the same response as a result of conditioning. Different associative learning theories have been proposed to accommodate extant experimental findings. Mediated conditioning can explain simple forms of acquired equivalence (Honey & Hall, 1989), but is unable to accommodate findings from more complex configural acquired equivalence tasks, where stimuli are equally reinforced and nonreinforced. Pearce's (1994) connectionist model and its extended version (Honey & Watt, 1998) can explain findings from revaluation configural acquired equivalence procedures, but cannot anticipate findings from other forms of configural acquired equivalence. Alternatively, Honey and colleagues (Honey, 2000; Honey et al., 2010) proposed a connectionist model that allows for similar inputs that share a common reinforcer to share hidden units. This model was able to accommodate a wide range of experimental findings that other models failed to explain. Honey and colleagues claimed that their connectionist model could also accommodate the results from Intra dimensional/Extra-dimensional shift tasks (IDS/EDS), which consistently find that IDS is easier than EDS, without explicitly invoking the need for attention. In Chapter 2, we tested this claim by assessing the correlation between performance in a configural acquired equivalence task and two attentional set tasks: IDS/EDS and optional-shift. Findings revealed an overall positive correlation between test performance in acquired equivalence and optional-shift, but no correlation between performance in our acquired equivalence task and IDS/EDS, in what could be seen as a challenge to Honey et al. (2010). Chapter 3 tested the effects of various outcome manipulations in configural and non-configural acquired equivalence. Experiments in this chapter revealed an enhanced revaluation and acquired equivalence effect in participants who had experienced different outcomes across training and revaluation, compared to participants who had received the same outcomes across stages. However, these group differences disappeared in a second experiment that intermixed configural and non-configural trials during the initial discrimination. A second set of experiments in this chapter failed to replicate findings from Delamater (1998), which reported a faster reversal acquisition in a group of rats that received different outcomes within stimulus modality compared to a group of rats that received the same outcomes within stimulus modality. Although Honey and colleagues carefully described the characteristics of their network, verbal descriptions could be prone to error. To the aim of qualifying the model, Chapter 4 describes a series of simulations of the experimental data presented in chapters 2 and 3 of this thesis using a formal computer instantiation of Honey's model that was recently published (Robinson et al., 2019). This Hebbian learning network successfully simulated data from our 2-Stages configural acquired equivalence task and confirmed an enhanced acquired equivalence effect in a simulation with different outcomes across training and revaluation. This instantiation of the model was also able to accommodate findings from Delamater (1998), despite our unsuccessful attempts to replicate and extend the generality of the findings to human participants.

The concept of ‘Flourishing’ has been a key idea in the history of positive psychology. The narrative of positive psychology has been influential within politics, culture and society and its language and philosophy have informed key social policies of the UK government, particularly in the area of welfare and wellbeing policy. This thesis examines the ways in which positive psychology is mobilised in political discourse and considers the implications of this. I argue that a psychoanalytic viewpoint is missing from that government policy arena and so, consequently, a significant alternative narrative on what it means to flourish is denied the space to be explored. I argue that psychoanalysis offers an important dimension to our understanding of human flourishing and can provide a more nuanced interpretation than positive psychology allows. Its means of exploring flourishing takes account of the affective dynamics that shape social relations in the contemporary social and cultural context, together with the potential spaces that can be opened up for change and transformation. The purpose of my thesis is to get a purchase on the complex and contested nature of what it means to flourish by exploring ‘structures of feeling’. This involves exploring the conscious system of ideas and beliefs, as well as the whole lived social process organized around dominant meanings and values at any one time (Williams 1977, p.108), The role of the researcher, in this instance, is to document the things and feelings which can block the paths to human flourishing, yet also actively seek what has the potential to offer a more hopeful future (Highmore 2016). It does this through four key case studies, employing a multimodal and psychosocial approach. It argues that the repression of psychoanalysis reveals a deficit that can be fruitfully filled by its rehabilitation in public discourse. This allows a new space for thinking about the complexities of contemporary social and cultural experience. The thesis sets out to foreground an alternative narrative of what it means to flourish from a psychoanalytic, specifically object relational, standpoint. As an original contribution to knowledge, this thesis shows how austerity measures in the UK since 2010 had a direct impact on people's capacity to flourish. The thesis reasserts the value of psychoanalysis for an understanding of flourishing. By adding a psychoanalytic dimension, I am contributing a new intervention into the evaluation of the meaning of flourishing and its relationship to the contemporary political culture of austerity. I am also offering an alternative articulation of what it may mean to flourish by presenting a psychoanalytic object relations understanding of flourishing based on a capacity for concern.

This thesis presents innovative uses of technology to support motivation, using motivational interviewing (MI) and functional imagery training (FIT) scripts developed specifically for remote delivery. MI scripts aimed to develop discrepancy, evoke solutions and promote self-efficacy. FIT scripts included multi-sensory mental imagery exercises at key points in the MI scripts. Four methods of delivery were developed: a human video-counsellor, a NAO robot programmed with Choregraphe software, a video robot counsellor for comparison with the human video-counsellor, and a life-sized two dimensional 'holographic' projection. Four empirical studies tested these developments in participants wanting to become more physically active. Study 1 (N=18) and Study 2 (N=20) used qualitative methods to explore the usability and acceptability of MI delivered by a pre-recorded human video counsellor and NAO robot respectively. Analysis of participants' verbal dialogue with the video counsellor in Study 1 showed high levels of change talk, an important ingredient of effective MI. In both studies, participants reported that voicing their goals aloud was helpful but they were somewhat frustrated by the lack of personalised response. Participants positively appraised the non-judgemental aspect of the interview with the robot. Study 3 tested if virtual FIT would be more acceptable and effective than virtual MI. Ninety-eight participants received FIT or MI delivered by a video robot, and compared to a wait-list control group. In Study 4, 104 participants were randomized to a monologue version of FIT delivered by a human counsellor projected as a two-dimensional life-size hologram, or on a computer screen, or a wait-list control condition. Neither Study 3 or 4 found any quantitative effect of virtual counselling on physical activity, self-efficacy, or motivation. As in studies 1 and 2, although participants found the technological interaction somewhat impersonal, qualitative responses were largely positive: participants liked the opportunity to voice their goals, reported a motivational boost, and perceived the virtual coaches as non-judgmental. This research has shown that people perceive benefits from speaking aloud about their goals and problems, and even engaging silently in imagery-based counselling. There is potential to deliver a brief motivational intervention that is fully-automated and acceptable to participants.

In this thesis, I present research that investigated schema formation and schemadeviation effects in memory for instances of a repeated event. In five experiments, samples of adult participants repeatedly encountered stimuli that were intended to establish a schema in terms of units of content occurring in a specific temporal order. As the complexity of stimuli across experiments increased, this schema was operationalized as a sequence of word-categories in a list, actions in an unfamiliar story, or activities experienced during a visit. Each aspect of the schema—content and order—was then systematically violated by introducing deviations in the final instance of the repeated event. To examine potential deviation effects on memory for the whole repeated event, participants were asked to recall all instances. The findings indicated that content and order deviation effects are qualitatively different, and that (any) deviation effects likely depend on the level of schema formation and on the degree to which a deviation is noticed. Specifically, a content deviation within an instance of a repeated event for which a schema is developed is likely to be noticed, well remembered, and may result in better recall across all instances. By contrast, due to the implicit nature of the order aspect of a schema, an order deviation may not be noticed but may result in disruption of recall across all instances. In repeated events for which a schema is still developing, any deviations are less likely to be noticed and more likely to have negative effects on recall of the deviation instance. Finally, across all experiments, participants memory of the first instance was better than their memory of any other instances. I discuss implications of this research for theory of adults’ memory for repeated events and deviation effects in this context, and practical implications of the findings in investigative interviewing settings.

This thesis explores the role and representation of material objects in experiences of illness, recovery and disability. It argues that periods of ill health, broadly defined, can be transformational to unconscious processing, specifically via the testing and strengthening of individuals' relationships with external, material objects and people, and with 'internal objects'. It also positions the literary text as a form of 'holding environment' - a key Winnicottian concept. Across five chapters, I demonstrate that literature and experiences of the material environment may equally be used as a site of return to a grieved lost object; that illness and play share a role in processing traumatic external reality, complicating definitions of health and ill health; that textual and material objects may act as 'containers' of unintegrated emotions, a phenomenon that includes the tendency of literature to 'contain' and perpetuate problematic tropes of disability, even as it claims to offer a radical rejection of them; that an attention to narratives of lived, material experiences of illness and disability offers a way to restore an emphasis on the individual subject; and that illness can be represented as a restaging of early infantile anxiety-situations, shaking object relations. The scope of this research covers psychoanalytic, literary and auto/biographical writing from the twentieth and twenty-first century. Using in particular the work of psychoanalytic theorist Donald Winnicott, I look at literary and autobiographical writing by Virginia Woolf, Patrick Hamilton, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Melanie Klein, alongside anonymised patient oral histories and supporting material. The methodology combines close textual reading with critical contextualisation and an account of psychoanalytic object relations theory in the context of illness, disability and ill health. This thesis makes a contribution to literature, material culture, psychoanalysis and the medical humanities by making the case for a renewed emphasis on relationality, materiality and supportive 'holding environments' in interpretive work within the critical medical humanities and, more broadly, within healthcare delivery.

This thesis explores the working with maps and the agency and effects of mapping. It aims to inspect on what basis mapping qualifies as one critical spatial practice. The theory of participatory mapping tends to overlook its account for the functioning of mapping as experience. This account is crucial since maps and mapping can assign the power they are assumed to have. It means to ask, from the standpoint of a transdisciplinary perspective informed by the theory and practice of psychoanalysis, what are the functions of mapping and the work of and with maps. To make sense of these functions, I devise categories through which to approach maps, mapping and their effects. A better knowledge of these enables researchers, educators, and academics to grasp the complexities and potentials of mapping as a method for participatory initiatives. From a practice of mapping in which the dwellers of an informal urban settlement became mapmakers, I glimpsed the functioning of mapping as chinks and catalysts through which to transform realities. This thesis shows mapping being applied as a practice of space and as a dialogic participatory method. This research applied three methods: i) semi-structured mapping interviews in which the respondent interacts with a paper basemap; ii) transect walks; iii) participatory photography. These methods form a descriptive, experimental, qualitative research focused on the discovery and observation of phenomena. The significance of this study is that it improves the theoretical and empirical grasp of how maps and mapping function. It shows that they catalyse the representations in space, channelling, along the process, the mapmakers’ recognition of their objective and subjective circumstances. The categories outlined here about the transitional functions of mapping provide to future applications in which the agency of maps and mapping can contribute to the mapmakers’ transformation of their realities.

The thesis falls into two parts. The first examines Jung’s two personalities, as described in his memoir, Memories, Dreams, Reflections. The argument is that Jung’s experience of the dynamic between the two personalities informs basic principles behind, first the development of Jung’s psychological model and second Jung’s entire mature psychology. It is suggested that what Jung took from this experience was the principle that psychological health required the avoidance of one-sidedness, achieved through the dynamic of the two personalities. This dynamic was thus central to Jung’s notion of individuation. In short, this required the individual to bring any one-sided position into tension with a conflicting ‘opposite’ position, in order that a third position could be achieved which transcended both of the earlier positions. The second part of the thesis utilises the conclusions of the first section to bring an internal critique to bear on Jung’s analytical psychology as enshrined in the collected works. It is suggested that in certain arenas Jung’s personal one-sidedness distorted his psychology in such a way as to undermine his ability to follow through the ‘logic’ of the two personalities (as identified in part one). Jung’s tendency to prioritise the inner dimension of psychological work, and to downplay or ignore the outer dimension shows up in analytical psychology’s persistent problems engaging with political, social and historical matters. It is argued that this one-sidedness expresses a bias in the direction of Jung’s no 2 personality. Examples to support this argument are given from Jung’s writings on contemporary affairs, and from his casework with patients.

This thesis proposes a comparison of the individuation process in Jungian psychology and the purification of the nafs (the self) in Sufism. The premises for my argument are the lack of literature between Jungian psychology and Sufism despite the obvious potential of comparative materials, while Jung’s relation to other religious traditions is relatively well documented. The methodology will establish a blueprint within the debate between psychology and religion, with some guidelines for a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study. I initiate my research with a biographical analysis to highlight the existing traces of Sufism in Jung’s milieu, which is permeated by an Orientalist outlook that influenced his writings as well as his personal, social and historical environment. The main purpose of the biographical analysis is to understand the context for the existing literature, but it will also expose some guidelines for my own comparison. My main contribution is therefore a comprehensive comparison based on a conceptual analysis of some fundamental notions for the individuation process in Jungian psychology and the purification of the nafs in Sufism. The comparative and conceptual methodology allows the negotiation of similarities and differences with a sensible treatment of the psychological and mystical knowledge presented within their respective contexts. This conceptual analysis determines the extent of the crossovers between Jungian psychology and Sufism, while it remains critical regarding their boundaries. The similarities and differences of the comparative analysis ultimately define some patterns and principles in the relation between psychology and mysticism. I therefore conclude my thesis with a critical examination of my argument in the broader context of psychology and religion. I discuss the nature and relation of Jungian psychology and Sufism as a mystical tradition and the various aspects of a comparative study, such as interdisciplinarity and cultural awareness.

The first half of the twentieth century was a time of seismic shifts in scientific and cultural perceptions of what constitutes individual and social development. The expansion of industry and communication technologies, Darwinian and Lamarckian theories of evolution, changes in the conception of gender, class and sexual identity as well as the devastating effect of the two world wars left the modern citizen in the East and the West with few stable reference points to hold on to. These global trends resulted in two opposing tendencies in the scientific and artistic understanding of the mind. One sought to infuse the brain and body with trans-individual forces and eternal communities which transcend cultural and linguistic differences and resist the passage of time. The other looked to investigate the impact of society on individual psychic life and to employ this knowledge as the basis for psychologically founded social interventions. This thesis will explore the tension between these transcendentalist and materialist narratives in psychoanalysis, film and literature between the 1910s and the 1950s. In particular, I will focus on the work of the psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein and three literary authors: Hilda Doolittle (H.D.), Annie Winifred Ellerman (Bryher) and Djuna Barnes. The psychological conceptions of these scientists and artists afford insight into how individual and social development was understood by authors who - as non-Western or homo/bisexual women - were excluded by dominant progress narratives. Their work thus sheds important light on the political implications of different models of the human mind that appeared in the modernist period. Chapter one outlines the political specificities of Spielrein's understanding of drives and unconscious symbolism as well as her journey towards a materialist approach to psychoanalysis. Chapter two shows how H.D. adapted Freud's idea of universal symbols to her feminist mythological system and how this narrative became a defence against the traumatic impact of war-time events. Chapter three explores Bryher's oscillation between the exclusive image of the pre-oedipal poet and the materialist psychology of her post-war fiction and her cinema articles. Chapter four gives voice to Djuna Barnes's subversion of psychoanalytic stories of progress that opposed pleasure to reality, myth/fiction to science and passion/sexuality to reason and cultural advancement.

Money and money-related problems are an omnipotent topic in daily life but there is paucity in the existing knowledge about how to tackle these issues. Similarly, there is a big research gap in our understanding about money attitudes in India as, most of the research conducted in this topic is mainly focused on the Western world countries like the UK (Brown, Henchoz, & Spycher, 2018). The purpose of this research was to deepen our understanding of different perspectives about money by including both Indian and British views. Furthermore, the aim was to create a remedial positive psychology intervention which will help to improve well-being and to reduce anxiety about money and test it’s the efficacy of the PPI across two cultures (India and the UK). This research unfolds in three different studies; The first study was a systematic review about various money attitudes and their impact on various life outcomes, the second study investigates if participants from India and the UK share similar or different views about money. Furthermore, this study aimed to find out the coping strategies used by participants to deal with money-related stress and anxiety. The next chapter was a pilot creating an intervention to enhance well-being and reduce anxiety related to money. The third study was to test the effectiveness of this money intervention in an Indian versus British culture. The overall findings from this research suggest that every individual has a unique attitude towards money. Furthermore, every individual deal with money-related issues in a distinct fashion. The money related views and issues are complex and demand nuanced understanding to deal with them. The findings have implications for people dealing with anxiety related to money, ways of dealing with money-related issues and understanding cross-cultural perspectives around money. Thus, this research advances the overall knowledge in the psychology of money.

This thesis is written as an element of PhD research by sculpture practice, undertaken in response to the idea of ‘embodied dreaming’, a phrase originated by British psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas (1999). The investigations through practice, and the arguments made, construct a new definition of sculptural practice that embeds the psychic life of the maker in the action of making, and explores how this might contribute to existing histories of British sculpture. I use a capitalised form of Embodied Dreaming to differentiate my use from Bollas’. The concept of Artistic Research (Mika Hannula, Juha Suoranta and Tere Vadén, 2005) is used to characterise sculptural making in methodological terms and its key principle the ‘democracy of experiences’ enables the research to bring together critical and analytical practices with action based, manual processes in a way that has relevance to contemporary identity questions. The traditional processes of modelling and casting are reconfigured to encapsulate an understanding of the psychic activity of the maker when making, in relation to identity formations that have class, gender and multigenerational ethnicity in their scope. The research asks the question: how can sculpture convey what it is like to inhabit a woman’s body as the researcher knows it, which is differently positioned from the masculine contributions to the history of figuration that constitute the European and British sculptural canon from Rodin to the present day? Life writing, from a feminist perspective, is the key method used to reveal the interpretative psychoanalytical approach employed in the research, it is the way that knowledge of making is explicated, in methodological terms, from inside the practice as lived experience. The arguments made demonstrate how my proposal of Embodied Dreaming, which is the result of this research, is a way to understand what Tim Ingold has described as ‘thinking through making’, and analyse sculpture that results from such a practice (2013).

Positive psychology coaching has grown in popularity in the last 15 years. There are references in the positive psychology coaching literature to “what works”, but little evidence about how it might work when embedded in a coaching programme. This thesis, therefore, explores how, for whom and in what circumstances a positive psychology approach worked when senior leaders took part in an executive coaching programme in one UK police organisation. The study used realist action research as its methodology. A new positive psychology executive coaching programme was theorised, designed and delivered. Based on twenty semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants including researcher observations, six programme resources were studied, namely positive psychology knowledge, understanding and skills; a positive coaching relationship; positive reframing; organisational support; positive psychology feedback; and positive learning. Personal, organisational and sectoral contexts enabled or constrained the effectiveness of these resources when coachees engaged in cognitive, emotional and behavioural reasoning, making decisions and taking actions leading to successful or less successful coaching outcomes. A refined programme theory was derived, modelled and used to inform future programmes. The study identified how the programme facilitated coachees’ personal change through the pursuance and achievement of coaching goals and, by doing so, how coachees contributed to the organisation’s leadership development culture. The thesis’ major contribution is in the creation of new knowledge in the coaching psychology field. It sheds light on how and why this positive psychology coaching programme worked in the highly pressurised and stressful context of modern-day policing. It also makes other contributions to knowledge relating to coaching programme design and to the development of realist action research as a methodology for coaching enquiry. With implications for organisations, coaches and coachees working in policing and related settings, it could impact more widely on the development of coaching theory, policy, practice and coach education.

In this thesis, I argue that a deconstructive approach to Freudian dream-work gives new perspective on how meaning is generated in the mind. Using that perspective I develop a new metaphor for mind, and an accompanying theory of meaning. I argue that The Interpretation of Dreams suffered from assumptions about the nature of consciousness issuing from attachment to a 'metaphysics of presence'. This inhibited the development of metapsychology, putting concepts such as the unconscious, phantasy and repression on an unstable basis and contributing to the subsequent development of psychoanalysis in a fragmented manner. It also prevented Freud from reaching valuable philosophical conclusions about the relationship of the unconscious to consciousness. Existing literature has examined Derrida's approach to Freud but this has found application primarily in fields such as literary and critical theory: far less attention has been paid to the potential clinical implications of a deconstructive reading of Freud, or the possibilities for a revised theory of mind. Extending Derrida's delineation of Freud's metaphors for mind, I suggest a new metaphor, based on the method of Fractal Image Compression used to store images digitally. I claim this updated version of Freud's 'mystic writing pad' enables us to conceptualize how the mind processes experience to produce meaning based on structures of difference, thereby providing a challenge to traditional representational theories of mind. This model of the mind provides a conceptual frame within which psychoanalytic theories can be evaluated and brought into conversation with each other. I use it as a tool to test different theories of dream interpretation, analysing a dream of my own. I then demonstrate how we can employ it to critically evaluate different psychoanalytic schools of thought by showing how my account supports and extends Bion's notion of 'dream-work-alpha', and challenges Lacan's ideas about language and the unconscious.

This thesis draws on conceptual tools developed in Michel Foucault's late work on 'technologies of the self' to historically reposition The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), not as the inaugural text of the 'psychoanalytic movement', but instead as belonging to a long-standing tradition of practices and writings, which view the self as an object of cultivation, representation, and knowledge. In order to historicize psychoanalysis in this way I critically examine practices and techniques employed within hypnotism and experimental psychology, in addition to literary discourses on self-representation in 19th century autobiography. As a scientific treatise, a technical manual and a quasi- autobiographical text, Interpretation borrows from each of these approaches. In doing so, however, Freud would install a tension at the heart of the modern self that radically undermined the liberal conception of the individual as transparent, coherent, and responsible. My conviction is that positioning psychoanalysis within the history of practices of the self, and charting its 'pre-history' in these terms will deepen our understanding of Freud's oeuvre as a significant event and agent in the history of subjectivity. For as this thesis contends, Freud contributed to the emergence of the notion that the self was an object that could be critically renegotiated via the relation of the self to itself, rather than submission to religious values, universal notions of duty, or bourgeois aesthetics. In doing so, Freud provided certain techniques of self-reflection to individuals who would not have had the authority or expertise to give an account of, or alter themselves in this way before. Finally, this reading also subverts Foucault's critique of psychoanalysis (represented in his middle works) by arguing that Freud's 'technology of the self' cannot be subsumed under the rubric of 'governmentality,' and instead constitutes a 'caustic' technology that enables individuals to identify and renegotiate prior subjections.

This investigation examines how the uneasy relationship between death and representation plays out across three overlapping modalities – text, body, and image. Drawing from Freud’s formulations, I trace out the paroxysmal movements of the death drive in concurrence with narcissism, masochism, and the uncanny, arguing that the theoretical indeterminacy of these concepts might be ascribed to the manner in which they interrogate, exceed, and destabilize the prevailing perception of the self as an integrated whole. As a situation of subjective/symbolic rupture, perhaps it is not “possible” to think beyond the limit that death poses for psychoanalytic theory. However, I propose that reconsidering Freudian metapsychology in light of Georges Bataille’s work on transgression and excess allows us to think across said limit. In deploying this highly dynamic approach, I elaborate on the role of death in the drive economy and, subsequently, its potential association with the ‘oceanic’ feeling that Freud acknowledges (but quickly dismisses) as a motivation for religious belief. Considering death and its corresponding drive through the ontological oscillations they provoke, I argue, expands the field that constitutes their manifestations and opens up new avenues of inquiry via potential applications in religion and aesthetics.

This thesis focuses on probabilistic associative learning. One of the classic effects in this field is the stimulus associability effect for which I derive a statistically optimal inference model and a corresponding approximation that addresses a number of problems with the original account of Mackintosh. My proposed account of associability - a variable learning rate depending on a relative informativeness of stimuli - also accounts of the classic blocking effect \cite{kamin1969predictability} without the need for Prediction Error [PE] computation. Given that blocking was the main impetus for placing PE at the centre of learning theories, I critically re-evaluate other evidence for PE in learning, particularly the recent neuroimaging evidence. I conclude that the brain data are not as clear cut as often presumed. The main shortcoming of the evidence implicating PE in learning is that probabilistic associative learning is mostly described as a transition from one state of belief to another, yet those beliefs are typically observed only after multiple learning episodes and in a very coarse manner. To address this problem, I develop an experimental paradigm and accompanying statistical methods that allow one to infer the beliefs at any given point in time. However, even with the rich data provided by this new paradigm, the blocking effect still cannot provide conclusive evidence for the role of PE in learning. I solve this problem by deriving a novel conceptualisation of learning as a flow in probability space. This allows me to derive two novel effects that can unambiguously distinguish learning that is driven by PE from learning not driven by PE. I call these effectsgeneralized blocking and false blocking, given their inspiration by the original paradigm of Kamin (1969). These two effects can be generalized to the entirety of probability space, rather than just the two specific points provided by the paradigms used by Mackintosh and Kamin, and therefore offer greater sensitivity to differences in learning mechanisms. In particular, I demonstrate that these effects are necessary consequences of PE-driven learning, but not learning based on the relative informativeness of stimuli. Lastly I develop an online experiment to acquire data on the new paradigm from a large number (approximately 2000) of participants recruited via social media. The results of model fitting, together with statistical tests of generalized blocking and false blocking, provide strong evidence against a PE-driven account of learning, instead favouring the relative informativeness account derived at the start of the thesis.

Ageing assessment of transformer paper insulation is commonly conducted through measurements of 2-furfural (2-FAL) and carbon oxide gases in oil. In addition to these conventional ageing indicators, the use of methanol and ethanol in oil to indicate the ageing state of paper was proposed in 2007. Methanol has been used to indicate the early stage of paper ageing, whereas ethanol has been used to indicate abnormal paper ageing that occurs due to severe overheating. However, there is little experience on the applicability of these indicators to the insulation systems with alternative transformer liquids. In addition, research on other factors such as the partitioning, stability and generation from oil is still needed. An in-house method, which uses the headspace gas chromatography (GC) mass spectrometry (MS) technique was developed based on [1] to measure methanol and ethanol in transformer oils. Partitioning (20 °C and 60 °C), ageing (80 °C, 100 °C and 120 °C) and stability experiments (130 °C) were conducted on samples with a thermally non-upgraded kraft paper and a gas to liquid technology based (GTL) oil or a synthetic ester. In addition, an inhibited mineral oil was used as a benchmark. Under the investigated temperatures of 80 °C, 100 °C and 120 °C, methanol in both alternative oils increased linearly with paper ageing until degree of polymerisation (DP) reached 400. During this period concentration of methanol in oil was higher than that of 2-FAL, which proved the concept of using methanol to indicate early paper ageing in alternative oils. The relationship between methanol and DP of paper in the GTL oil was similar to that of the mineral oil. However, the rate of increase of methanol against the reduction of DP in the synthetic ester was about three times higher than that in both the GTL oil and the mineral oil. This is due to a difference in the partitioning of the indicator between oil and paper. Since the synthetic ester was more polar than the hydrocarbon oils (the GTL oil and the mineral oil), it attracted more methanol from the paper resulting in a higher concentration of methanol in oil for the same reduction of DP. In addition, a reduction in methanol was observed at the later stage of paper ageing at 120 °C in all three oil types, which could be due to either a change in the partitioning between oil and paper or an esterification reaction that consumes methanol in the insulation system. At the same temperature of 120 °C, methanol measured in oil samples aged without paper was less than 10% of that measured in the samples aged with paper, which confirmed that methanol was generated largely from the paper rather than the oil. However, the amount of ethanol measured in the samples aged without paper was similar or even higher than that measured in the samples aged with paper, which indicated that ethanol was generated mainly from the oil rather than the paper. The production of methanol and ethanol from oil only samples increased with the increase of the temperature or the amount of air in the system. A reduction trend of methanol and ethanol was also observed in oil only samples at high acidity of about 0.4 mg KOH/g oil. Stability experiments conducted at 130 °C implied that this behaviour is not due to the direct effect of temperature but the high acidic condition, which results in the esterification of the alcohols in oil.

This dissertation examines psychoanalysis in a colonial context, tracing its history in early to mid-twentieth century India. A rich, neglected archive of diaries, letters, administrative documents, as well as psychoanalytical and literary writing in Bengali and English, are drawn on to offer an account of the Indian Psychoanalytical Society (est. 1921), and the anthropologists, doctors, army officers and political figures who were in different ways intimately involved with psychoanalysis. Reconstructing these narratives, and by means of a close reading of texts by Freud, I suggest that the understandings of temporality, sexuality and authority in Freudian psychoanalysis resist colonial discourses of progress and civilisation, notably in relation to the category of the 'primitive', thus frustrating attempts to appropriate the theory for colonial endeavours. In this thesis, psychoanalysis is both an object of historical study, and a form of questioning, part of colonial history and a body of writing and theory available for contested readings. I discuss writing by two colonial psychoanalysts, Lt. Colonel Claud Daly, and Owen A.R. Berkeley Hill, which combines an investment in psychoanalysis with commitment to Empire, based on a desire for all-knowing psychic and political mastery. In contrast, the memoirs of renowned psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, recounting his childhood in India, are read for their more complex psychic register and anti-colonial strain. Records left by dream-collecting colonial administrators in the Naga Hills, and documents relating to the trial and 'insanity plea' of revolutionary nationalist Gopinath Saha, show us the historical operations of psychoanalysis in collective life. In addition, literary writing by the modernist poet H.D., Temsula Ao, Bankimcandra Chatterji, and Rabindranath Tagore, offers another template for examining the issues raised by both the historical and psychoanalytical writing.

This thesis offers an alternative understanding of the Controversial Discussions and reframes its stalemate by centring on the question of internal demarcation in psychoanalysis. The Controversial Discussions took place in London during the Second World War, in the aftermath of Sigmund Freud’s death. It was an in-depth discussion concerning the validation, expansion, and status of psychoanalytic knowledge, wherein Melanie Klein’s formulations were measured in relation to Freud’s work, and challenged by a hostile audience captained by Freud’s daughter, Anna. These two most prominent psychoanalysts of their time arguably stood for tradition versus change, and never reconciled their views. This work investigates the similarities between the Controversial Discussions and scientific controversies, according to a sociology of associations and Actor Network Theory (ANT). In working systematically with defining aspects of scientific controversies, this thesis shows how it is possible to approach the dynamics of the Controversial Discussions using a knowledge production rationale. Investigating the criteria of internal demarcation, it is argued that the Controversies’ participants relied mainly on phylogenetic and ontogenetic criteria to the validation of Klein’s views. This is contextualised within the emergence of phylogenesis in psychoanalysis and is discussed according to its articulation in Freud’s work on the theory of the Oedipus complex. This thesis argues that Freud’s use of phylogenesis was a relevant aspect of knowledge production in psychoanalysis, since it is an important aspect for psychoanalytic truth to be produced as fact. Thus, this work considers the use of biology in the Controversial Discussions as a criterion of internal demarcation between accepted views in psychoanalysis and those to be regarded as outside the psychoanalytic realm. Drawing on this process of knowledge production, this thesis argues that psychoanalysts should think about their differences by considering their conflicting views, the need for coherence, and a sense of crisis that ignores the constitutive process of facts in psychoanalysis. Connecting phylogenesis with knowledge production and biology, this thesis offers new understandings of old problems where clashes among different schools of thought need no longer be entrenched, where psychoanalytic truth as fact may be revisited, and where the stalemate at the end of the Controversial Discussions can inform the question of psychoanalytic plurality.

Despite Carl Gustav Jung’s acknowledgement of Albert Einstein’s influence on his thinking, and despite the significant number of studies into Jung’s interest in physics – and his collaboration with the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli – so far there has been no thorough investigation into the connection between Jung and Einstein. This thesis researches the historical context of the relationship between Jung and Einstein, and the extent of Einstein’s influence on Jung’s concepts and system of psychology, and thereby redresses the balance of the theoretical argument about the intellectual influences on Jung from the field of physics. First, it explores the dynamics and importance of the relationship between the two men, and reconstructs the narrative of this connection. It identifies other key figures who played a mediating role between Jung and Einstein and investigates their involvement in conveying Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity to Jung as well as their part in the formation and subsequent deterioration of the relationship between Jung and Einstein. Secondly, this thesis analyses Einstein’s influence on Jung's reconceptualization of libido as psychic energy, and Jung’s employment of the theory of relativity in his writings, which culminates in his conception of the ‘psychic relativity of space and time’, the idea that underpins his theory of synchronicity.

In this study I investigate the relationship between the concept of Primordial Mental Activity (PMA) coined by Michael Robbins, and the constellation of archetypes, as described by Analytical Psychology. PMA, expressed as a mental function qualitatively different from thought for its a-rationality, is generated by the self-organization of brain and driven by raw affects and unidentified emotions (not cognitivised), forming the core that scaffolds the process of individuals' emotional regulation. Accumulating information by implicit and procedural learning, PMA is expressed in enactments and actualisations. For its reliance in interrelationships for the learning of attribution of meaning to experiences, PMA depends on a non-logical approach to subject-object relations, demonstrating the fluidity of the frontiers of inner/outer realities. Considering the nature of archetypal energy as bipolar, composed by an affective pole and its 'spiritual' counterpart, PMA is associated with the biological pole (that constrains and allows meanings construed by cognitive mind functions). I portray PMA as the neural circuitry that roots the possibility for conceptual meaning (archetypal imagery) to be 'born' out of the embodied perceptual-sensorimotor experiences (archetypes-as-such) it neuroanatomically manages. To expose PMA and archetypes as underlying factors responsible for experiences in mental health and spiritual experiences, I cross-culturally analyse 1) mystical experiences of the Santo Daime Church and of European neo-shamanistic encounters, and 2) selected artworks from the 'Museu do Inconsciente' [Museum of Images from the Unconscious] and the 'Adamson Collection'. Thus, I discuss how awareness directed to behaviours and attitudes derived from impressions stored in the unconscious, can elucidate individuals' interpersonal and transpersonal difficulties, promoting psychic transformation.

In this thesis, it is argued that Jungian and post-Jungian perspectives, in contrast to Freudian and Adlerian, have been neglected in classic and contemporary career development theories. This omission is addressed by undertaking a critical evaluation of career development theory in relation to analytical psychology. The primary research strategy adopted is a systematic and critical comparison of the two literatures. Canonical and contemporary texts from within career studies are selected focusing on seven areas of career theory: cultural systems; personality; career types; career strategies; narrative; life course development; and learning. These are critically evaluated using concepts from analytical psychology. Specifically, the work of Jung and post-Jungian scholars is deployed in relation to individuation and the key themes of: projection; persona; typology; archetypal image; personal myth; vocation; and transformational learning. The original contribution is a post-Jungian evaluation and re-imagination of career development theory. It is suggested that cultural career theory can be enhanced by considering the role of projection. In addition, it is argued that self-concept career theory is enriched by Jung’s structural model of the psyche; and the literature on career types can be broadened to include typology. It is further proposed that individuation offers a more critical take on career strategies; and personal myth extends the narrative turn in career studies. Finally, it is claimed that developmental theory is illuminated by an analytical psychological view of vocation; and career learning augmented by transformational learning theory. Overall, it is argued that career means to carry life, and through personal myth, weave together the golden threads that connect us all.

This research aims to examine Chinese myths, legends and tales from the perspective of analytical psychology. Considering that analytical psychologists have paid little attention to Chinese myths and that previous studies on Chinese myths from the standpoint of analytical psychology are lacking, this thesis investigates the universal archetype and its cultural carrier, or archetypal image, in Chinese mythical texts. First, this study examines both Jung’s engagement with Chinese culture, in order to see the function and significance of Chinese thought in analytical psychology, and the reception of Jungian thought in China, in order to demonstrate the lack of research on Chinese myths from the perspective of the theory of analytical psychology. Second, the study defines the concepts of archetype and archetypal image, and adopts the method of myth analysis from Jung and his followers to interpret Chinese motifs and symbols. Third, interpretations from the perspective of analytical psychology are applied to three motifs in Chinese culture: creation myths, flood myths and erotic anima figures. These provide materials for exploring similarities and differences in the mechanism and development of the human psyche between East and West. Fourth, this research concentrates on discussing two important Chinese symbols – Long (dragon) and Qi lin (unicorn) and their counterparts in western culture – by analysing these symbols at both the archetypal and cultural levels. The final part of this study explores the possible therapeutic value of Chinese myths in helping analysts to comprehend the human psyche and analysands to understand themselves in greater depth. This thesis fills a gap in the understanding of Chinese myth by means of Jungian psychology with the hope also of applying analytical psychology to Chinese culture more thoroughly and insightfully in both theoretical and practical contexts.

To understand and deal with difficulties of contemporary marriages in China, I investigate the notions of masculinity and femininity as they are related to intimate relationships, from depth psychological perspectives. I argue that these notions are not universal, but are, rather, culturally/socially assigned. By interviewing Chinese couples and amplifying a Chinese opera - Peony Pavilion - I point out that, in China, the feminine and the masculine aspects of emotional behaviours are not as clearly divided and opposite to each other as in the West. I address how sexuality and aggression have played an active role in romantic relationships and fostered the process of individuation for both men and women, and how relationships with one's own mother and father have influenced this process. An examination of clinical materials offers further proof of these arguments. My conclusion is that the Chinese psyche today is experiencing a transition from the compliance of collectivism to the awareness of individuation, and that the rediscovery of the notion of integrity will make young Chinese people independent individuals and bring a new approach to their marriage.

This thesis is a study of pain in childhood in British medical and scientific discourse between 1870 and 1950. It explores the physical, emotional, and performative dimensions of pain from a cultural perspective, analysing written documents and visual material and comparing the perspectives of disciplines including physiology, paediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, and psychoanalysis. Successive chapters focus on: Depictions of pain by medical authors before the period covered in depth by the thesis; how different types of medical professional interpreted children's pain between 1870 and 1900, focusing on Great Ormond Street Hospital's photographs of sick children; the development of "infant pain denial" from 1890 to 1950 in the Child Study movement, behavioural psychology, and paediatrics; concepts and treatment of child insanity and mental suffering in the second half of the nineteenth century; the rivalry between the competing theoretic frameworks of the clinical tradition (which claimed a somatic basis for mental illness) and psychotherapy; debates about evacuation of the children during the Second World War, exploring the contrasting figures of the victim of air raids and the victim of parental separation, showing the role played by psychoanalysis in understanding psychological trauma, with a focus on the work of psychoanalysts Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, and Donald Winnicott. The key findings of the thesis are: rivalry between different scientific disciplines meant that medical and scientific models of childhood pain and therapeutic treatments involved complex relationships between different professions and institutions; despite medicalisation, identifying and categorising children with pain often depended on non-medical factors, which usually reflected social norms; the figure of the child in pain accumulates power and value through its multiple figurations in distinct disciplines and contexts; a multidisciplinary approach is needed to be able to understand the cultural power of this figure.

This research conducts an investigation of Maggy Reichstein and Mischa Epper, two unknown cases of C.G. Jung, around the 1920s. The sisters belonged to an aristocratic family and Reichstein, born in Indonesia in 1894, brought her sister Epper, born in Holland in 1901, to Zürich to be treated in 1917. Epper’s story sheds light on an important period of the development in Jung’s practice. Her story adds information to the manner in which Jung applied and taught the techniques he developed in his self-experiment. Epper’s case also sheds light on the work of Maria Moltzer, one of Jung’s early close collaborators. Jung mentioned, anonymously, Reichstein's case as an example in different passages in his presentations and writings, relating it to the process of transference and countertransference, to the concept of synchronicity, and to his studies on Eastern psychology. He published some of her mandalas, and considered her able to understand his ideas in depth. Reichstein’s case challenged and triggered his interests in different subjects. The material presented can be compared to Jung’s treatments of Kristine Mann, Tina Keller-Jenny and Christiana Morgan, which took place in a similar period of time. The research also provides insights into how Jung shaped case material as examples for his concepts.

Previous research employing modulation of 5-HT2C receptors (5-HT2CRs) in rodents has identified a potential role in mediating cognitive flexibility. The work presented in this thesis explores the effects of systemic administration of the selective 5-HT2CR antagonist SB242084 on a range of Pavlovian and operant learning paradigms used to model cognitive flexibility and reward-based learning in mice. Based on a key design difference in previous research reporting discrepant outcomes, trial initiation requirements were manipulated. However the effect of SB242084 administration relative to vehicle-treatment was consistent with prior reports of impaired reversal performance following reductions in 5-HT2CR activity, regardless of whether trials were automatically or self-initiated. In contrast, performance on a probabilistic reversal learning task was enhanced by drug-treatment, raising the possibility that task difficulty mediates the effect of this manipulation on performance. A drug-related enhancement in the ability to overcome learned non-reward at the previously incorrect location was additionally demonstrated under probabilistic reversal conditions, with no effect on perseverance at the previously correct location. However, performance of drug-treated animals in two closely related tasks demonstrated impaired extinction learning but intact development of latent inhibition to a pre-exposed stimulus. The effect of SB242084 on incentive motivation was additionally explored, but did not impact upon the acquisition of a sign-tracking response to a conditioned stimulus, or a subsequent reversal; suggesting that 5-HT2CRs may be more critically involved in instrumental than Pavlovian learning. These experiments reveal a complex picture for the involvement of 5-HT2CRs in flexible cognition, however, systemic manipulations may not be optimal for dissecting their role. Therefore, a final study explored the expression of c-Fos immunoreactivity in response to reversal learning. A broad network was activated by elements of the reversal task, including regions of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, providing a basis for future studies targeting components of this circuitry.

What have dams, toxic industries, oceans, and nature reserves got to do with psychic life? What are the psychic economies of colonial and postcolonial environmental relations? What, moreover, does psychoanalysis have to do with postcolonial environmentalisms? This thesis will advance a psychoanalysis that is materialist – attending to both the materiality of the body and the materiality of the environment. It is my contention that the usefulness of postcolonial “uses” of psychoanalysis lies in future engagements with critical medical theory and the biological sciences. Through these fields we are increasingly aware of the “environmental” constitution of the subject. I reach beyond the human-centered environment typical of psychoanalysis and conceptualise a material basis for psychic life. The chapters in this thesis reveal the subject as always-already immersed in and interpellated by ecological materialisms (pollution, disease, epigenetic acquisitions, extinction). In this thesis, I use the term “ecologies of skin” to allude to the material and psychic “skin” as an environmental category: a substrate for our environmental relations. I situate the skin of the subject within new biomedical ecologies (the microbiome) and the ecologies of the colonial environment (its nexus of forced labour migrations, its uneven distributions of disease and environmental “sanitation”, and its production of materially deprived environments). I work across a range of colonial and postcolonial contexts in which environmental relations are inflected by the politics of skin. These contexts include: rural and urban reserves and the politics of water reservoirs in Zimbabwe, immigrant labour and environmental sanitation in Canada, socio-spatial assignments in apartheid South Africa, and land rationalisation and the racial politics of the nature reserve in post-genocide Rwanda. I show how colonial environmental racism – which I further refine as epidemiological racism – forms a constitutive nexus for psychic life. Ultimately, I contend that the postcolonial co-implicates our psychic proclivities with our ecological situation and that this co-implication is the wider resonance and continuing lesson of the postcolonial beyond its initial purview.

Sign-tracking describes the behaviour of individuals who attribute incentive salience to irrelevant, reward-associated cues, whereas goal-tracking pertains to individuals who use such cues only as predictive tools for upcoming rewards. The importance of the signtracker/goal-tracker phenotypes has been noted in the preclinical literature, with researchers suggesting that they are useful for the study of addiction. This thesis provides translational data, examining sign-tracking and goal-tracking in human social drinkers across six separate experiments. Chapter One reviews the relevant literature on sign-tracking, covering the history of its discovery, its mechanisms, correlates, effects and aetiologies. Chapter Two details the general methods used across experiments (computer tasks and questionnaires). Chapter Three is the first experimental chapter; it presents the largest study of human sign-tracking to date, assessed via the additional singleton tracking task (ASTT). Results revealed a sign-tracking effect in a sample of social drinkers; however, no association to individual differences (e.g., weekly alcohol consumption, impulsivity etc.) was found. This study suggests that human sign-tracking is real, automatic, and driven by pavlovian conditioning. Chapter Four contains two alcohol priming experiments, the first testing a 0.3 g/kg dose, the second a 0.6 g/kg dose. The lower dose, but not higher, magnified sign-tracking compared to a control drink. Chapter Five used a novel variant of the ASTT which contained three (rather than the usual two) reward-associated distractor cues. Results revealed that signtracking pertained only to the high-value and medium-value cues, with the low-value cue seemingly being ignored. This study provides unique insight into how sign-tracking changes in more complex reward displays. Chapter Six attempted to compare three sign-tracking tasks: two variants of the ASTT and a Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) task. However, all tasks failed to observe sign-tracking, perhaps due to boredom and/or fatigue effects. Chapter Seven recruited participants from previous studies to complete the ASTT while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results revealed subcortical activations (namely in the striatum and other 'reward-motivation' structures) and correlations with sign-tracking, though sign-tracking was found to be unstable over time. Chapter Eight assessed the potential influence of covariates and confounds on signtracking; participants' gender, whether they believed they would obtain extra rewards for good task performance and cues' physical salience (regardless of value) were all shown to have no significant effect on sign-tracking as measured by the ASTT. Chapter Nine showed that sign-tracking is automatic/reflexive (as shown by quicker responses towards distractor cues compared to target cues), that distractor cues of different value attract attention with the same 'force' (as shown by identical reaction times [RTs] to the differently valued cues), and that the two measures of sign-tracking in the ASTT – RTs and omissions – do not consistently correlate. Chapter Ten reviews the methods, results, limitations and potential applications of this research. This thesis suggests that humans attribute incentive value to irrelevant, reward-associated cues, that this attribution can be exacerbated by low levels of alcohol consumption, is unstable over time, and is associated with activity in the subcortical 'value-driven attention networks'.

This thesis explores collective phenomena, specifically mass visions of the Virgin Mary and examines the case of Marian apparitions in Zeitoun, Egypt. A review of the literature points to a prevailing socio-political approach to examining visions of the Virgin Mary while a psychoanalytical approach is generally lacking. The former approach suggests that Marian apparitions can be interpreted as a backlash against modernity, secularization, and political ideology. I argue that an important gap remains in this interpretation, as the socio-political approach does not address the psychological aspect of the apparitions, but rather research is stressed on social and political implications surrounding them. In particular, a Jungian perspective seems to be particularly suited for the objective of filling in this gap, thanks to Jung’s interest in investigating collective visions. This thesis draws from Jung’s compensation theoretical model in Flying Saucers with the aim of merging depth-psychology and historical material from the Zeitoun case. Weaknesses to Jung’s theoretical approach are discussed, and this is addressed through the employment of qualitative and quantitative empirical work in the form of survey, eyewitness testimonial case studies, and photographic material. Common themes and symbols are extracted and interpreted from the empirical material and analyzed along with Egyptian social and political data. This study concludes with a discussion on how depth psychological principles grounded in empirical and historical material could be applied in order to explicate cases of mass visions.

The aim of this research is to explore the unconscious elements that fuels the ‘radioactive atmosphere’ of psychoanalytic institutions - unconscious sources of the chronic conflicts that sometimes plague the relationships between members of psychoanalytical societies and obscure the path of a constructive resolution of conflict that leads to progress and further development. The starting point of this thesis was Hinshelwood’s (1999) idea about the displacement of negative countertransference feelings from patients to colleagues as a source of tensions amongst analysts. The first part of the thesis (Chapters 1-4) explores the development of the ideas on countertransference and its uses for a better understanding of ‘the patient’, surveys different perspectives on the life in psychoanalytic organizations, and points to the existence of a link between analysts’ analytic attitude towards patients and their attitude towards colleagues. The second part of the thesis presents the empirical study set to test the correspondence between the analyst’s omniscient attitude towards patient and arrogant attitude towards colleagues (Chapter 6). The preliminary findings indicates that ‘sibling rivalry’ and complicated relations during training as one source of conflict in psychoanalytic institutions, and are further investigated in the empirical research presented in Chapter 7, using the psychoanalytically informed research interview as an experimental situation, an original research method. The final chapter examines the main findings of this empirical research.

The principal aim of the thesis is to re-vision what I am calling ‘the business domain’ by showing how different archetypal energies of the collective unconscious operate in it and how they structure the domain’s creative dynamics. In this task, I am drawing on a range of Jungian theories. While the psychoanalytic organisational approach, with its focus on the personal/group unconscious, is well developed, the Jungian organisational approach is in its infancy with the result that little is said in the relevant literature to date about collective unconscious dominants, the archetypes. The introduction of this perspective involves arguing against the prevailing psychoanalytic emphasis on the pathological aspects of the business domain. The key value of the archetypal approach is that it exposes the inherent tensions within business life. In addition, it adds a much-needed catalyst for bringing insight into creativity and innovation as they manifest in the business domain. Jungian psychology, as I argue, offers a perspective that is instructive for grasping the complexities of creativity in business, which differs from manifestations of creativity in other domains such as the arts and sciences. Jungian psychology could thus make a valuable contribution to the analysis of business dynamics. I will also demonstrate how the archetypal approach can be helpful in containing the unconscious projected contents (both personal and collective) inherent in the business domain. As a first step in delineating the value and scope of an archetypal understanding of the dynamics in the business domain, this thesis invites further consideration of the question about how this approach can be used to construct a theoretical framework for analysing the business domain and what this framework could look like.

Proponents of positive psychology advocate that it is the absence of distress combined with the presence of positive functioning that is reflective of good mental health and well-being (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). There is consensus within the theoretical schools of well-being that the capacity to freely experience and express emotion is important to subjective well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001; Ryff & Singer, 1998). Fear of Compassion (FoC; Gilbert et al., 2014) and Attitudes towards Emotional Expression (AEE; Joseph, 1994) are two transdiagnostic concepts related to distress and the ability to experience and express emotion in a healthy manner. The relationships between these concepts and subjective well-being were explored for the first time in a community sample of 331 adults aged between 18 and 89 who completed the AEE questionnaire (Joseph et al., 1994), FoC scales (Gilbert et al., 2014), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (Watson, Lee, & Tellegen, 1988), and Positive Functioning Inventory (PFI; Joseph & Maltby, 2014). Correlations revealed that more negative AEE and greater fears of compassion were associated with lower levels of subjective well-being. Partial correlations and multiple regressions provided evidence that FoC and AEE explain unique variance in subjective well-being. Thus, whilst both concepts relate to the processing, and expression of, emotions, they appear to act through different mechanisms. It is suggested that FoC and AEE may map on to different aspects of the Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory (CEST; Epstein, 2003), with FoC proposed to map onto the emotional-cognitive experiential system and AEE suggested to map onto the cognitive rational system. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed; for example, the utility of AEE and FoC to both distress and subjective well-being, and the value in conceptualising mental health on a single continuum as done by the PFI (Joseph & Maltby, 2014).

This thesis puts forward the hypothesis that there exists within us an Immortality Phantasy which can help to explain the relationship between creativity and destruction. The Immortality Phantasy occurs in response to sublimation, leading to desexualised libido and the release of self-destructive impulses and can help to explain the connection between creativity and destruction. As a result of the first identifications with the Oedipal parent, we can see a defusion of instinct occur, which allows for the concurrent release of creative and destructive energies. The ego is left unprotected against the death instinct, resulting in guilt and punishment for Oedipal phantasies. However, through creativity and reparation on the page, a survival can occur, and it is this survival which must be repeated; it is also responsible for the oscillation often viewed in creative artists between manic creativity and melancholia. Each repetition is a symbolic phantasy of victory over the father, but with the survival, there is also the accompanying destruction. So we can define the Immortality Phantasy as the symbolic matrix of the desire for survival, stemming from the repetition of the defusion of instinct following sublimation. The Immortality Phantasy allows for an indulgence in destructive behaviour due to an omnipotent belief in our immortality. The ego acts as if it cannot be destroyed, which allows it in turn to survive this created destruction, reinforcing this idea. This thesis explores in detail Freud’s theories of the life and death instinct, whilst giving close considerations to the existing theoretical ideas on creativity, aesthetics and melancholia. Three novels are used as case studies to test the Immortality Phantasy hypothesis: The Spire by William Golding, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe.

This research recognized that being other was an experience we all endure at varying times. Rooting itself within post-colonial theories, this research sought to expand the understanding of this experience into the worlds of relational psychotherapy and the transpersonal. With a phenomenological epistemology, this research therefore utilized creative techniques such as visualizations, drawing, and sand tray work, to understand the unconscious experience of being other, and what the other is. It also explored the unconscious impact of othering, and why the other is drawn to the subject. This research also undertook a heuristic study recognizing that a connection to our own sense of otherness was a route towards psychological wholeness.

Previous research has found that positive mood results in broader and more flexible cognition, including in relation to control of more complex cognitive processes (e.g., divergent thinking in creativity), as well as those that may be described as being more basic and fundamental (e.g., promoting flexibility over stability in attentional switching). The neuropsychological theory of positive affect suggests these effects may be mediated by an increase in dopamine activity. However, the motivational intensity model suggests that the effect of positive mood on cognition depends on appetitive motivation, such that only positive mood low in appetitive motivation results in broader/more flexible cognition, whilst narrower/more stable cognition occurs as a result of positive mood that is high in appetitive motivation. Six studies were conducted to examine the differential influence of positive mood that was high and low in appetitive motivation on cognition, as well as to explore the possible underlying neural and physiological mechanisms, using electroencephalogram (EEG) and spontaneous eye blink rate (EBR) - an indirect measure of dopamine activity. Therefore, Studies 1 and 2 examined the effects of positive mood that were high and low in appetitive motivation on creativity, as well as the effect of these on EBR, and the relationships between EBR and creativity. Studies 3, 4, and 5 also explored these effects/relationships, but in relation to the balance between flexibility and stability in cognitive control. Finally, Study 6 used EEG to examine the effect of these mood inductions on left frontal asymmetry in alpha power, assessed using EEG, and the relationship between this and EBR. Appetitive motivation was found to moderate the influence of positive mood on divergent thinking in creativity, in line with the directional predictions of the motivational intensity model (i.e., performance was enhanced for the low appetitive induction, but attenuated for the high appetitive induction). There was also some evidence that the low appetitive induction resulted in greater flexibility and reduced stability in cognitive control. However, complementary results (i.e., reduced stability and greater flexibility) were not found for the high appetitive induction. Only the high appetitive induction was found to increase EBR, as well as left frontal asymmetry, suggesting this may be associated with increased dopamine activity in the left prefrontal cortex. In addition, there was also some evidence of a negative relationship between EBR and divergent thinking, as well as a positive relationship with left frontal asymmetry.

Background: Communication via email plays an increasingly vital role in all work settings, particularly in those which are cross-cultural and culturally diverse, where employees with different cultural backgrounds and professional status groups must interact effectively to achieve individual and organisational goals. This is particularly important in the increasingly culturally diverse organisations within the healthcare, higher education and business sectors, which necessitate cultural intelligence and competence in effective communication, especially in the essential requirement of email communication, in which reactions to email violations in different cultures can differ. Study 1 tests a conceptual model in the higher education (HE) and healthcare (HC) sectors in the UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), with the aim of exploring whether the cultural background and work status of both email sender and receiver have any moderation and interaction effects on the receiver's cognitive attributions, emotional and behavioural reactions to email violation caused by technical errors and etiquette violation. Study 2 tests a revised conceptual model which includes the additional moderating factors of global identity, trust, extraversion and emotional stability, applied to the international business sector in the context of work status, with regard to social identity theory and appraisal theory (concerning in-group and outgroup members). Method: Both studies employed a 2 (cultural background: same/different) x 3 (work status: high/same/low) experimental design, Study 1 in higher education (N=443) and healthcare (N=411), and Study 2 in international business (N=744), using a cross-sectional survey questionnaire containing an email violation vignette, which included technical errors and etiquette violation. Six experimental variations of this vignette were randomised to participants, to vary the email sender's cultural background and work status. Study 1 Findings: All the participants perceived email violation, with different effects recorded by those in the KSA and the UK, with the KSA participants (more collectivistic and higher power distance culture) reporting stronger negative emotional and behavioural reactions towards email violation than the UK participants. A similar culture negative bias was evident in the UK sample, increasing the effect of anger on the tendency to move against an email sender when from the same culture as the receiver, whereas the KSA participants reacted more favourably towards the same-culture sender, increasing the effect of happiness on the tendency to comply with the sender's request. When comparing country of origin and sector, there was a moderating effect of higher status negative bias in the UK HC, with a higher-status sender increasing the effect of anger on the tendency to move against the sender, but reducing its effect on the tendency to move away from the sender, whereas the sender's status did not moderate the reactions of the KSA HC sample. In addition, it was found that the effects of anger and guilt on the move against tendency were enhanced by lower-status sender (a lower-status negative bias) and reduced by higher-status sender in the KSA HE, whereas the sender's status did not moderate the reactions of the UK HE sample, in which higher levels of anger and guilt, and lower levels of s happiness, liking and positive attributions mediated the relationship between perceived violation and negative behavioural reactions. Study 2 Findings: In the international business sample, it was found that high global identity, and high dispositional and organisational trust reduced the recipients' negative emotional and behavioural reactions to email violation, suggesting that these factors have a positive impact on email communication in international business. The findings from these studies therefore show that email communication is, in fact, influenced by multiple factors affecting how the sender is perceived and how the recipient reacts. Consequently, this complexity in the dynamics of email communication highlights the need to train professionals in appropriate email etiquette across all organisational sectors, focusing on the necessity to control any negative emotional and behavioural reactions towards a perceived email violation, as this could be harmful to professional inter-group relationships and outcomes. Keywords: Cultural background, work status, email communication, email norm violation, experiment, social identity theory, self-categorisation, in-group, outgroup, SIDE model, appraisal theory, attributions, dispositional trust, organisational trust emotional reactions, behavioural reactions, emotional stability, extraversion, global identity, local identity.

This thesis aims to examine the connection between aesthetic and ethical valuations. Nietzsche and Freud both claim that values are symptoms of underlying psychical constitutions. I elicit an original understanding of aesthetic and ethical valuations through a synthesis of their works. Beginning with drive theory, I argue that the death-drive is an entropic principle guiding all psychical life. Another original contribution is my conceptualization of Eros as reducible to the death-drive as the means by which the death-drive manifests itself as a homeodynamic process in open systems. I argue, fundamentally, that the way our drives are expressed in the world entail vicissitudes that are more or less incorporative of stimuli and content as a means of mastery. There is a bifurcation of drive expression concerning incorporation, which I articulate as being egodystonically oriented, as in the case of defense mechanisms; or egosyntonically oriented, as in the case of sublimation. Sublimation is the only indirect vicissitude that can be regarded as egosyntonic because it involves neither repression nor disavowal. Unlike other vicissitudes, then, sublimation is the vicissitude by which Nietzsche’s emphasis on incorporation is realized. Following my analysis of the various vicissitudes, I demonstrate that there is accordingly a bifurcation of valuations. While most ethical theories involve repudiations of self-interest (our primary drives or inclinations), Nietzsche wants us to return to an incorporation of self-interest and an infusion of it into our relations. His arguments against the ethical theories of Kant and Schopenhauer echo precisely his arguments against their aesthetic theories regarding disinterestedness. I thus discuss the ethical as a corollary of the aesthetic. I conclude describing what it means for aesthetic and ethical valuations to emerge from egosyntonic vicissitudes, and I argue that the Übermensch is ultimately an archetype of egosyntonic relating. Nietzsche illustrates this with the metaphor of dancing.

From Edgar Allan Poe's macabre tales of mystery, to David Lynch's nightmarish visions of American suburbia, to Rachel Whitread's haunting casts of interior spaces, the uncanny represents a significant aspect of art and culture. Following Freud's famous essay on the topic, the uncanny is typically characterised as an unsettling ambivalence between the familiar and the unfamiliar. But beyond this broad characterisation, it seems that no one is able to say exactly what the uncanny is. This thesis aims to plug this gap by offering an original account of the uncanny. While I reject Freud's theory of the uncanny in terms of the 'return of the repressed', I develop aspects of Freud's more often overlooked theory of 'surmounted primitive beliefs'. I use philosophy of emotion to provide a framework for defining the uncanny-specifying the way that an object is experienced by the individual such that it elicits the emotion of uncanniness. What all uncanny phenomena share in common is that they are incongruous relative to what is believed to be possible: waxwork figures appear to be both animate and inanimate; doppelgangers and twins appear to be the same individual; strange coincidences appear to not merely be coincidences. This incongruity causes an uncertain threat to one's grasp of reality. I define the uncanny as an anxious uncertainty about what is real caused by an apparent impossibility. I elaborate the definition by examining in detail each of the four key concepts that comprise it: reality, impossibility, uncertainty, and anxiety. I discuss fictional cases where the object is not experienced as real, but rather fictionally experienced as real. I discuss two subsets of uncanny phenomena, which I call 'uncanny narratives' and 'uncanny pictures'. And finally, by way of conclusion, I offer some brief remarks on the 'paradox of the uncanny'- the question of why, when the uncanny is essentially a negative emotion, it is also something that we often find attractive.

Previous research has implicated the role of food associated cues or pre-task reward exposure with eating behaviour. Eating behaviour (specifically overeating) has itself been associated with subtypes of impulsivity. To date, no research has examined the direct relationship between (food) reward-associated cues, or rewarding food exposure on behavioural impulsivity – a possible underlying mechanism. This thesis aimed to examine how behavioural impulsivity may be modulated by external cues, or by hedonic reward consumption, and how this interacts with eating attitudes (TFEQ). Experiment 1 examined the aims explicitly, giving participants a hedonic preload (or nothing) before they completed impulsivity tasks. Those who received a preload were more impulsive in terms of their impulsive choice, and inhibitory control than those who had not received a preload. This effect did not replicate in experiment 3, where 2 further conditions were added, a non-hedonic preload, and an anticipation condition, but no differences were found between the groups. Experiment 4 conditioned rewarding cues to novel stimuli, and presented them before the behavioural tasks, but again, no difference was found between the groups. This thesis discusses the theoretical and methodological concepts, which may explain some of these null findings. Experiment 2 aimed to examine how the reinforcing value of food (RRV) may be associated with types of impulsivity. However, no relationship was found between RRV and impulsivity, but RRV was consistent in predicting ad libitum food intake, as shown in previous studies. Chapter 6 of this thesis is a meta-analysis of our laboratory's research linking delayed discounting (DDT), the TFEQ, and cue exposure paradigms. The analysis showed that those in high in dietary disinhibition (TFEQ-D) who were shown food cues, or consumed a hedonic preload were more impulsive on the DDT than those high in TFEQ-D that did not consume anything. The key limitations of this thesis are discussed, most notably the lack of statistical power in the experimental studies conducted. The general discussion of this thesis discusses the important implications of this finding in understanding modulation of behavioural impulsivity.

In this thesis I explore the possibility of developing an approach to literary criticism oriented by the work of the British psychoanalyst, Wilfred Bion. Although his work is the subject of renewed interest within clinical psychoanalysis, Bion's theoretical ideas and standing as a writer have not yet been the subject of sustained interest within the field of literary criticism. I seek to demonstrate how his ideas can generate productive readings of literary texts in ways that extend existing scholarship or supplement the insights of a Freudian literary criticism. The thesis draws widely from Bion's clinical contributions from the 1960s (Learning from Experience, Elements of Psycho-Analysis, Transformations and Attention and Interpretation), the later collections of seminars and lectures, and his final experimental autobiography, A Memoir of the Future. I reference a number of his theoretical insights, including his theory of thinking (thoughts without a thinker, the container-contained relationship), his description of 'psychotic' modes of functioning (beta-elements, bizarre objects), the theory of transformations and the caesura. Although his work is oriented to the clinical context, the idiosyncrasies of his written and pedagogical style, along with his deep attention to the language and imagery of a number of thinkers and poets, open a rich seam of critical resources for the literary critic. Each chapter of the thesis develops a critical reading of an individual text: Freud's Project for a Scientific Psychology, Stevie Smith's Novel on Yellow Paper, B. S. Johnson's The Unfortunates, Mary Butts' short story 'With and Without Buttons', Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, J. G. Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition, Nicholas Royle's Quilt, and Wilfred Bion's A Memoir of the Future. The last of these, exploring Bion's late foray into experimental literary writing, also considers Bion's interest as a writer.

This thesis introduces and explores Jacques Lacan's controversial topologisation of psychoanalysis and attempts to establish whether or not it was necessary, successful or important by providing readings of texts that have been largely ignored by the Anglo-American reception of Lacan (such as ‘L'étourdit' and Seminar XXII). In Part I, Lacan's efforts to present the topological architecture of the real, the symbolic and the imaginary are introduced as inextricably linked with less hermetic topics such as his concerns regarding the future of (institutional) psychoanalysis and his own legacy. Two particular figures (the infinite straight line and the knot) are looked at as exemplifying some of the theoretical impasses that Lacan hoped the writing of topological structure would formalise rather than resolve. Part II explains the purpose of each of the figures of Lacan's ‘surface' topology (the Möbius strip, the torus and the cross-cap). In Part III, his ‘topological turn' is given context by being examined alongside some of the more well-known and well-regarded elements of the Lacanian bricolage such as linguistics and logic. The role topology played in the ‘return to Freud' is also examined and some key principles of topological reading and interpretation are established. The question of how the shift from an unconscious ‘structured like a language' to an unconscious that is structured topologically (and thus not entirely reducible to linguistic mechanisms) might affect psychoanalytic literary criticism is addressed in Part IV. The thesis concludes in Part V by returning to some of the issues and questions raised in Part I, concentrating particularly on the validity and consequences of Lacan's provocative contention that, with the Borromean knot, he produced writings that ‘support a real.' We will also see how it is that with these nodal writings Lacan finally distinguished psychoanalysis from science, philosophy and religion.

Within classical economics, an agent is deemed “rational” if their preferences are both consistent and maximize utility of positive, subjective experience. Violations from this norm may occur as a result of utility devaluation (proceeding from risk or delay) or when an imbalance occurs between ‘liking' and ‘wanting'. The current studies investigate how changes in reward-contingencies, delay before reward receipt, and reinforcer devaluation contribute to such utility-based decision-making in human and rodent models. I examined the effects of devaluation through pre-exposure and outcome-contingency on the development and maintenance of sign- and goal-tracking responses in rats (chapter three) and humans (chapter four). Chapter four presents a novel, translational, eye-tracking procedure and correlates of such behaviour, including trait-impulsivity and discounting performance. In chapter five I presented probability- and temporal discounting using a mouse model, exploring the consequences of satiety-based devaluation, and changes in outcome-contingencies- and delays. In Chapter six I presented the same factors in a human sample using a novel laboratory-based procedure and sought to explore the impact of trait and state impulsivity and correlates of rapid discounting. Finally, in chapter seven I considered the relationship between trait impulsivity, alcohol use, smoking and discounting behaviour using a more conventional online questionnaire. The results represent some of the first to present probability discounting using a mouse model and characterisation of reliable sign- and goal-tracking performance in humans. The results of the latter studies broadly support previous findings in rats showing that lowered reward contingency diminishes goal-oriented, but enhances sign-oriented, responding. Chapter six establishes a human equivalent to rodent discounting paradigms through implicit learning that will allow future controlled studies in humans. Finally, chapter seven presents evidence for an association between delay discounting and trait impulsivity. The results of these studies support the assertion that irrational decision-making arises, in part, from changes in reward utility as a function of delay, probability, devaluation and individual differences. Furthermore the translational-homologous models presented allow for future biopsychological research into mechanisms underlying such behaviours.

It is a familiar tenet that desires and beliefs have opposite directions of fit. Our beliefs, according to this view, should be changed to fit the world – if necessary – because they are for saying how things are. Our desires give us reasons to change the world, because they are for saying what to do, or how things should be. I argue that like beliefs, desires have only the mind-to-world direction of fit. In arguing for this conclusion, I present new accounts of both desire and direction of fit. Desires are inputs to the goal-directed system – a system for behavioural control studied in psychology and neuroscience – with the function of tracking the reward values of outcomes. In the goal-directed system these states are combined with further states representing contingencies between actions and outcomes, in order to select the actions which offer greatest reward. According to this account, desires come in occurrent and standing forms, are likely to have a wide range of outcomes as their objects, and interact with habits, emotions and intentions in familiar ways. My account of direction of fit uses a teleosemantic framework. Teleosemantics is a family of theories of representation that aim to identify the characteristic functions of representations and the systems in which they operate, and focus on representation as a biological phenomenon. It is particularly suited to thinking about direction of fit, because representations have their directions of fit in virtue of what they are for – that is, their functions. I claim that representations have the mind-toworld direction of fit when the systems that produce them have the function of doing so under specific conditions, and the world-to-mind direction of fit when the systems that consume them have the function of behaving in specific ways, whenever the representations occur. Desires do not have the world-to-mind direction of fit, because what the goal-directed system should do when any given desire is occurrent also depends on what other desires are occurrent at the time, and on the agent’s beliefs. It does not follow that we have no reason to try to make the world fit our desires; instead, this conclusion shows that the place of desires in rational motivation is less closely tied to their properties as representations than some philosophers have thought.

This theoretical study brings together Carl Jung’s active imagination and Robert Desoille’s “rêve éveillé dirigé/directed waking dream” method (RED). Such a rapprochement is two-fold. Firstly, it aims to study the historical development of these two approaches in Central Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. Secondly, it aims to explore their theoretical similarities and differences and proposes implications for a hybridised and integrated framework of clinical practice. The first part of the study contextualizes Jung’s active imagination and RED in the broader psychotherapeutic currents practised at the time. Furthermore, this work analyses them through the geo-historical background of twentieth century France and Switzerland. It also goes on to investigate key historical intersecting points where Jung and Desoille, as well as their disciples, crossed paths. The second part of this study is a theoretical comparison between C. G. Jung’s active imagination technique and Robert Desoille’s directed waking dream method (RED). This work compares the spatial metaphors of interiority used by both Jung and Desoille to describe the traditional concept of inner psychic space in the waking dreams of Jung’s active imagination and Desoille’s RED. This study also attempts a broader theoretical comparison between the procedural aspects of both RED and active imagination by identifying commonalities and divergences between the two approaches. The comparison is built on a comparative methodology based on five operatively important categories chosen from the literature review. These are related to the therapeutic practice and procedures of both waking dreams and include: setting and preparation of the body, structure and directivity by the analyst/therapist, transferential and counter-transferential relationship, narratives, and interpretation. Such a comparison also helps to explore the implications for an integrated- hybridised framework of clinical practice i.e., a RED-based approach to active imagination that fills an important gap in post-Jungian writings on active visual imagination as well as offering a long-awaited acknowledgement of the RED method.

This research constitutes an investigation of unconscious interaction between patient and analyst in situations where psyche and soma are in relation. The literature is extensive, but not coherent, and there exists a need for an overall mapping of the field. The project aims to establish a conceptual topography, grounded in Jung’s psychoid concept, since this applies to a deeply unconscious realm that is neither physiological nor psychological but that partakes of both. A methodology based on the conceptual research of Dreher (2000) is employed, including: a historical study tracing the evolution of Jung’s ideas, from their biological origins in the work of Driesch (1903) and Bleuler (1929), through Jung’s own self-investigation in his Red Book work, to his subsequent theoretical conceptualisations, to establish a public definition for the psychoid concept; and an empirical study, based on expert interviews, to interrogate this definition. The empirical study employs a methodological instrument, developed for this research, for identifying clinicians’ private theories relating to psycho-physical experience. Such instrument comprises the process notes for a single session, in which the psychic fact and the physical fact are combined, and a set of discussion vertices, derived from Sandler (1983), Canestri (2006) and Tuckett (2008), for guiding the interview. The empirical data, constituting the transcripts of the interviews, not the process notes, is analysed using grounded theory. Comparisons from psychoanalysis are employed at all stages of both studies. The results demonstrate that the psychoid concept is valid and clinically useful. The empirical study establishes that clinicians support contrasting views of the transference, namely a symmetrical and mutual transference and an asymmetrical and hierarchical transference, the former being consistent with Jung’s psychoid concept. Unexpectedly, not only Jungians but also some psychoanalysts conceptualised a symmetrical transference, albeit employing different terminology. This adds Popperian weight to the research results.