Originally published in 1973 the editors of this book collected together those studies which had been considered at the time to yield the best evidence in support of Freudian theory, and found on close examination that they failed to provide any such proof. Each paper is printed in full and is followed by a critical discussion which raises questions of statistical treatment, sufficiency of controls and alternative interpretations. The particular usefulness of this format is that it allows readers to form their own opinions while providing helpful suggestions and guidelines on how to approach experimental studies with a critical mind.

Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction Part one: Psychosexual Development 1 Leon J. Yarrow (1954) The relationship between nutritive sucking experiences in infancy and non-nutritive sucking in childhood 2 Frieda Goldman-Eisler (1951) The problem of 'orality' and of its origin in early childhood 3 Gerald S. Blum and Daniel R. Miller (1952) Exploring the psychoanalytic theory of the 'oral character' 4 Paul Kline (1968) Obsessional traits, obsessional symptoms and anal erotism 5 Alvin Scodel (1957) Heterosexual somatic preference and fantasy dependency Part two: Oedipus and Castration Complexes Calvin Hall (1963) Strangers in dreams: an empirical confirmation of the Oedipus complex 7 Bernard J. Schwartz (1956) An empirical test of two Freudian hypotheses concerning castration anxiety 8 Irving Sarnoff and Seth M. Corwin (1959) Castration anxiety and the fear of death 9 Calvin Hall and Robert L. Van de Castle (1965) An empirical investigation of the castration complex in dreams Part three: Repression 10 David S. Holmes (1972) Repression or interference? A further investigation 11 George Levinger and James Clark (1961) Emotional factors in the forgetting of word associations 12 Joseph Adelson and Joan Redmond (1958) Personality differences in the capacity for verbal recall Part four: Humour and Symbolism 13 Harry F. Gollob and Jacob Levine (1967) Distraction as a factor in the enjoyment of aggressive humour 14 H.J. Eysenck and M.Soueif (1972) An empirical test of the theory of sexual symbolism Part five: Psychosomatics 15 Marvin Stein and Perry Ottenberg (1958) Role of odours in asthma 16 Howard M. Wolowitz and Samuel Wagonfeld (1968) Oral derivatives in the food preferences of peptic ulcer patients 17 Yizhar Eylon (1967) Birth events, appendicitis and appendectomy Part six: Neurosis, Psychosis and Psychotherapy 18 Harold S. Zamansky (1958) An investigation of the psychoanalytic theory of paranoid delusions 19 Joseph Wolpe and Stanley Rachman (1960) Psychoanalytic 'evidence': a critique based on Freud's case of Little Hans 20 S.B.G. Eysenck (1956) Neurosis and psychosis: an experimental analysis 21 H.J. Eysenck (1952) The effects of psychotherapy: an evaluation Epilogue Author index General index