E&w. Ru. 7%~. Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 167-174, 1987 Printed in Great Britain. AI1 righu rtserv~

BOOK REVIEWS

0005-7967/8? $3.00 + 0.00 Copyright 6 1987 Pergamon Journals Ltd

F. R. BRUSH and J. B. ovERMIw( (MS): &$ecr, C~dirj~n~g and Ca~iti~n: .?kwys on the ~e~errnin~~s Q~~g~~or, Lawrenm Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ (198.5). xii f 387 pages. E32.00.

“And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon. . . . . ”

This volume is a dedication by former doctoral students of the University of Pennsylvania in honour of their teacher-Richard L. Solomon. The ‘students’ form a sparkling list of names, many familiar through their work in conditioning theory. They write on avoidance learning (Brush), fear (Mineka), Pavlovian conditioning (Rescorla), context and conditioning (Lolordo), learned helplessness (Alloy, Gvermier, Seligman), and two-process theory. All this research had its origins in Richard Solomon’s laboratory, and will be known to behaviour therapists as foundation material.

There are 22 contributors, and they present an account of the extensions and research developments which they and their colleagues are currently exploring. It makes interesting up-dating material, though one would have to be fairly well-versed in the issues to follow the detail of the discussion.

What is useful is the way it shows how fund~en~ research can be reiated to clinical practice. In discussing Solomon’s influen~, the ~nt~buto~ note his insistence on relating laboratory work to ‘real-life’. After meeting his exacting demands to ensure precision in experimental work one would “not end up with something small, trivial and sterile. . . after the experiment was complete, one could’go on to talk about really interesting things”. It is a reflection on Solomon as a teacher and researcher that so many of his students have been concerned with the applicability of their research findings to clinical problems. Part of the value of this book lies in the examples it provides of such successful applications.

Despite the term ‘cognition’ in the title, the book is very largely about a&ct and conditioning processes. The cognitive element arises in cont~~~~ ~Rditio~ng research which ~~~~y incorporates cognitive processes. Rescorla, for example, speaks of Pavlovian conditioning analogues to Gestalt perceptual principles, a far cry from mechanistic S-R connections. The gap between conditioning theory, even one which encompasses both affective and cognitive processes, and the kind of cognitive approach which clinicians have adopted, is pretty wide, and although the book may be about affect, conditioning and cognition, these are treated mainly from a conditioning perspective and without much integration or conceptual linkage between them.

Therapists who have an interest in keeping up with conditioning theory and in how researchers have attempted to make theory relevant to therapy will find the book informative and useful in its implications. It also reminds us of the influential role which presumably any good teacher can use to prise open the usual boundaries of thinking.

IRENE MARTIN

E. BUNCHARD and F. ANDRASIK: Management of Chronic Heaabches. Pergamon, New York (1985). xii + 203 pages. E8.25; $10.95.

The surge of interest in the ~ycholo~ of pain is a most welcome developm~t. Clinicians have succeeded in developing a variety of pr&ures for assisting in the psychological management of pain, especially chronic pain, and this book is a useful addition to the growing literature on the subject.

The apparent success of various forms of psychological management has had the paradoxical effect of adding yet one more element to what has been described as ‘the puzzle of pain’. Plausible claims have been made on behalf of at least five distinguishable forms of psychological management-cognitive modification, biofeedback, operant training, relaxation, and all of the above. The slowly growing evidence suggests that at least some of the claims made for these procedures are justified. However, many of the studies on which the claims are based contain fiaws, notably m~surement problems and absent or insufficient data on follow-up status. Nevertheless the trend certainly is encouraging, and it should not be forgotten that the present status of psychological management is somewhat similar to that which still prevails in understanding the pain reducing effects of various forms of physical therapy (such as electrical stimulation, vibration, etc.). There is still no satisfactory explanation of the mechanisms involved in these treatments or how they achieve their beneficial effects.

The book under review is intendwl as a guidebook for practitioners. It provides a clear and detailed account for the treatment of chronic headaches. The descriptions are preceded by a brief account of the nature of the problem and how psychologists are currently approaching the subject of headache. The bulk of the description is devoted to a thorough account of relaxation training, biofeedback and, finally, cognitive therapy. The authors also provide a useful if inconclusive aceount of how to predict the outcome of therapy, and an unusual but welcome guide to the treatment of headaches in children. Their section on the features of headache that suggest the possibility of some organic dysfunction is particularly helpful and practical. The section on the assessment of headache is full and clear, even if they do have a lingering attachment to the MMPI. In all, this is an instructive and well-presented guidebook that will serve a useful function for some years to come. Naturally one would feel more comfortable about recommending this, and similar guidebooks, if we had a more secure grasp of the processes involved in bringing about pain relief, but until that time, this particular guide will serve well, With the exception of the overlap caused by descriptions of relaxation training (which in any event are obtainable elsewhere), it complements Turk, Meichenbaum and Gene&s Pain and Behauior~l Medicine 11984. Guilford Press: reviewed in an earlier issue-of this journal) rather well. Clinical psychologists and graduate students will get much service from both these two books-and if all goes well, both of them will need to be revised and expanded within a few years.

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