The Dynamics of Anxiety and Hysteria : An Experimental Application of Modern Learning Theory to Psychiatry

Here Hans Eysenck applies the principles of modern learning theory to account for the observed phenomena of hysteria and anxiety. Such principles were initially developed through the experiments and theories of Pavlov, Hull, and Tolman. When The Dynamics of Anxiety and Hysteria initially appeared, these were considered the most advanced, relevant, and applicable to the subject matter. They have not been superseded by later work.

The Dynamics of Anxiety and Hysteria has never been published in the United States. It was the fifth book Eysenck authored as part of a series of experimental studies and theoretical work carried out under the auspices of the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London. Two of the first four books-Dimensions of Personality and The Psychology of Politics, have been reissued with new introductions. These focus on dimensional analysis of personality based on experimental and empirical studies.

The present work, on the other hand, goes beyond classification to a study of dynamics; from nosology to aetiology; from description to causation. Eysenck scientifically explores such topics as learning theory and human behavior, personality and learning theory; personality and perceptual processes, socialization and personality, drugs and personality, and psychological theory and psychiatric practice.

This volume, which complements Transaction''s other new editions of Eysenck''s groundbreaking work, will be of lasting significance to psychologists, psychiatrists, behavioralists, and students of personality disorders. He provided for modern psychology the empirical foundations of themes that previosly were the monopoly of psychoanalysis.

Hans J. Eysenck (1916-1997), a professor of psychology at the University of London and the director of its psychological department at the Institute of Psychiatry, was best known for his experimental researches in the field of personality. He was a prolific author and wrote, among others, Rebel with a Cause, Dimensions of Personality, and Intelligence, all available from Transaction.