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Article
June 1969

The Biodynamic Roots of Human Behavior.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1969;20(6):731-732. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1969.01740180115013
Abstract

The purpose of this short theoretical review monograph is to show how observations on animal behavior are relevant to the understanding and therapy of patients. Perhaps we can all agree that this is no mean task, and, as likely, agreement will stop there. The problem is not simply that human nature is so complex and poorly understood that it defies analysis in terms of observations made on lower animals. Rather, the problem is that we know even less about the behavior of other animals than we do about ourselves and have few concepts of basic organization which apply across species, let alone across genera. For example, the phenomenon of social "imprinting," although conceptually very exciting, as Masserman indicates, is not yet well enough understood for us even to be sure whether it constitutes a variety of learning or not. Furthermore

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