South African Journal of Psychology

Two institutions were created in South Africa during the Second World War, which significantly influenced the development of South African psychology. These were the Personnel Research Section of the Leather Industries Research Institute, and the Aptitude Tests Section of the South African Air Force. It is argued that this formed a significant advance in the professionalization of psychology in this country, as it institutionalized psychology as a discipline outside the universities for the first time.

A training programme in rape crisis intervention for lay therapists (members of Rape Crisis in Cape Town) is described and evaluated. Apart from this experimental group (N = 8), there were two control groups: one consisting of members of Rape Crisis who did not attend the programme (N = 9) and the other consisting of people who were not members of Rape Crisis and had not attended the programme (N = 8). Levels of facilitativeness (FAC) and action orientatedness (ACT) that subjects were able to offer before and after the programme were assessed, using a modification of the instrument developed by Carkhuff. The levels of FAC that subjects were able to offer were not affected by the programme. Members of Rape Crisis offered significantly lower levels of FAC than those subjects who were not members of Rape Crisis, both before or after the programme. The programme appeared to increase the levels of ACT that subjects were able to offer. Theoretical and practical explanations for, and implications of, these results are examined.

A review of international and local research on projective personality testing across cultures is given. It is concluded that thematic apperception tests have been used more frequently, and the possible reasons for this are discussed. Features common to the adaptations of various projective techniques for cross-cultural use are pointed out, and discussed in terms of a distinction between the more traditional ‘tests of inclusion’ and the more recent ‘tests of selection’ that are useful in cross-cultural testing contexts. The conclusion is drawn that this reconceptualization elucidates a centrally important aspect of testing across cultures, namely, the transmission of meanings.

In this review we evaluate definitions of bilingualism, its nature and scope, and types of bilinguals. We indicate the importance of assessing the degree of bilingualism accurately, and delineate some of the difficulties associated with evaluating it. We discuss bilingualism and biscriptalism, and reading different orthographies. Finally we place these issues within the context of English — Afrikaans bilingualism in South Africa.

In this article we review and evaluate different explanations of the structure of the bilingual lexicon and of the internal representation of the two languages. We present evidence for and against shared or separate internal representation, and consider different conceptual models of bilingualism. We propose a theoretical model to explain the manner in which bilinguals process information. The theory extends the information-processing model developed in the context of unilingual performance and this model may be able to explain some of the discrepancies concerning the psychology of bilingualism, which have been reported in the literature.

A brief summary is provided of the development of environmental psychology in South Africa. Discussion focuses on contributions to human -environment theorizing, completed research, and university training in environmental psychology. In conclusion it is argued that the development of a socially responsive environmental psychology in South Africa is dependent upon the extent to which attention is paid to sociopolitical factors influencing human — environment relationships.

Kernberg's and Kohut's ideas concerning the idealizing transference are explored. It is postulated that their disparate ideas are explicable in terms of their different beliefs concerning human nature. The ontological status of these beliefs cannot be verified but they lead Kernberg and Kohut to adopt different observational stances. These stances influence their interpretations of the data perceived and the theories they construct. It is argued that Kernberg and Kohut are not unique in this regard. The link between psychological theories and deeply held convictions about human nature is an inextricable one. The controversy between Kernberg and Kohut simply serves to illustrate this.