Doc 0000184362

V~t/t/3 "-'Office Memorandum ~,. • UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO : Chief, Technical Branch DATE: 30 SepteMber 1954 - ( .. fl.O M · SUBJECT: National Meetings of the American Psychological Association l. The National Meetings of the American Psychological Association were_held in New York City, 3 through 8 September 195~. The program included a good many papers in clin1cal psychology and the features of this· years meeting were the number· or symposia held. In order to ac t· . commodate the large number of people, two three symposia were held ~r concurrently. Thus, it was impossible to cover all papers of interest. 2. In discussions with many psychologists, I found ·there was increasing interest in hypnosis in the colleges and more· experil'lental work was being done in this area although strangely enough there were no papers on this subject· at this meeting. ). Another field of interest which was reflected both in the papers and in private discussion was the use of drugs. It is generally - felt that contributions to the theory and understanding of personalities can be made through the investigation of behavior under the influence of drugs and universities, particularly in. conjunction with medical schools, are carrying on research with many types . of drugs including mescaline ( and LSD. Apparently, LSD is easily obtainable. 4. In the symposium, "Affects of Drugs on Behavior," Dr. G. R. Wendt gave a paper in which he described the application of barbiturates, - which he did not name, to students who were paid for being subjects. He administered both exhilarating and depressive drugs. The subjects were observed through one-way glass and were also checked by having them fili out a list cf adjectives. Thus, if a subject checked happy, joyful, pleasant, etc., it was considered tha:t the drug the effect ~d of exhilaration and if the subject checked angry, sad, etc., it was considered to be depressive. \ihen"part of the subjects were given depressive drugs and part were given exhilarating drugs, it was round that the effects of the exhilarating drugs were decreased. When all were given exhilarating drugs each of the subjects seemed to stimul~te the others and, hence, there was an enhanced effect. In questioning, after the paper, Dr. Wendt was somewhat. evasive and answered criticism by saying you can't have a simple-minded explanation, that drugs had unusunl effects. 5. J1Urray Jorvik gave a paper on the "Use This page displays a graphic representing a vault door, likely symbolizing secure storage or access to information. Prominently displayed are the words "THE BLACK VAULT" in a stylized font, which visually reinforces the theme of accessing hidden or restricted content. Below this, text explains that the document originates from "The Black Vault," an online database of declassified government documents, specifically mentioning the MKULTRA/Mind Control Collection. The text further clarifies that the CIA declassified over 20,000 pages related to this collection and provides a URL for access. Therefore, the visual elements of the vault and text work together to establish a context of unearthing sensitive, formerly classified information. This is a typed memorandum with handwritten annotations. At the top right, "A/B, 1, 1/3" is written in blue ink. The document includes headings like "Office Memorandum," "UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT," and "DATE: 30 September 1954." There are several instances of redactions obscuring text, most notably in the "FROM" field and towards the bottom right. The text discusses national meetings of the American Psychological Association and research on drugs and hypnosis. There are no photographs, stamps, diagrams, or structured data visible. The primary visual elements are the typed text, handwritten annotations, and redactions. of the subjects seemed to stimul~te the others and, hence, there was an enhanced effect. In questioning, after the paper, Dr. Wendt was somewhat. evasive and answered criticism by saying you can't have a simple-minded explanation, that drugs had unusunl effects. 5. J1Urray Jorvik gave a paper on the "Use of Drugs in General," classifying then1 into exhilarating, depressive, patho-genic and mis~ cellaneous. Under the heading of"patho-genic drugs, he included mescaline, LSD-Lysergic Acid, and adrenochrome and indicated that there - was increasing interest and more experimentation with patho-genic drugs. __( _ . . ~$.,~::,..*.£.;;:.~"~;;:-,7'::'!(...:.~:;,.:=-::;.¥"~!.:,.~·~.~~ ·;·-..-t:~ . . ~ . p;~~;~-;~A;:-·~.~4;:;:'1:~~,,·~:~~: ..~. :-:c~~:;;.s;;:~~~-;\~;!-2:-.~~:;::.:;·"~?~ ~~~-:::·:.-·:.:~. •.: -; ·:...~-.:: ~: ·.. : r;o;.':(~:~~-. .. ~- 6. Covin Kornetsky presented a paper on the "Effects of \'lith-· drawal. in Drug Addiction" on patients at the Lexington Hospital. Nothing of interest to- our program was presented. 7. Daniel Wilner gave a paper on "Drug Addiction in Juveniles in New York City. n Although interesting, there was no pertinent in formation for our purposes. 8. Dr. Joseph Zubin, who also has done work with drugs, was Chairman of this symposium. He again indicated the increasing ·in - terest in experimentation with drugs. 9. In another symposium, Dr. Fred Brm..-ne described an experi- . ment in which the Rorshach test was administered to subjects under the influence of LSD. He found the tests showed differences from ~hat normal state and under the in!luence of this drug the subjects were self-critical and interpreted their own scores. · 10. Dr. Webster of McGill University described to me a rese~rch .. project carried out by the Canadian Army. n1is research was alluded to in the presidential address at the convention. Students who were - paid ~20.00 a day were used as subjects. In the experiment they attempted to eliminate as far as possible all sensations. The students were blindfolded and their ears were covered with ·roam rubber and their feet and hands were covered with large mits and they were placed in soundproof rooms. However, 11t the request of the subject, they co~d have as much water and as much food as they wanted and could sleep as much as they wanted on a cornfortable bed. Also, when requested, childish rhymes would be read to them. In the early phase of the ex periment, a humming noise was induced but this was discontinued. The subjects tended to lose their sense food as they wanted and could sleep as much as they wanted on a cornfortable bed. Also, when requested, childish rhymes would be read to them. In the early phase of the ex periment, a humming noise was induced but this was discontinued. The subjects tended to lose their sense of time. They became very irritable and requested tiJne after time to hear the simple cr..ildish rhymes. None of the subjects held out longer than a week. This experiment gets at of the psychological factors found in prisoners-of-war treatment SOJ1'!8 where the individual is completely isolated in solitary c~Jl,f'inement. ll. Dr. Albert .A:x frorn the rTashin.gton University School of Medicine, presented a paper on the quantitative effects of sleep . deprivation. Students acted as subjects. The sleep deprivation was .. moderate--eight hours. other subjects were disturbed during their sleeping period and the controlled group had undisturbed sleep. Loss of sleep and disturbed sleep lowered test scores. +nteresting tests, however, causing greater motivation, sho\red less loss in score and there was a tendency to compensate for fatigue ·by i;reater effort. 12. Another pa.per was presented on the psychological:. effects of st-arvation with hard physical work. This work was done in the Laboratory of Hygiene at the University of rlinnesota. Physiologi~al - -2- .· - .· ... . ~ . ... :·}:-:-:. .. .. ~~~~-.;,·:::~~-::~-~:;,?;:.:;:..:..~~-'\~~-;.~:t-;r;:·:~:\~~--~.:;:;.,~":!:!.;."'Ji1"'!:'~;.t::.!!~~?.;<.:·~~.;;.,.· ;~:·'r.'.::.,·""·~--T-;; ::_:·:,(·~·:. :,-:~"',..:.:.--:·~·· lor-·-- ... ·.~- ·~ . • Twelve male students fasted for four and one-hal! days. calle&~ ·( However, water intake vas not They worked for several hours rest~icted. ' on a treadmill apparatus. This showed a decrease in physical tests but there was no decrement in intellectual test scores. 'rhe subjects , . .- . showed response to emergency rations. The above two experiments ~ck are also along tho lines of treatment of prisoners or war but do not go far enough. 13. Another interesting paper was the following up on the occupational success of Air Force Cadets who took test in 1943-hU and it was found in most instances that high scores were associated with occupational success in ciVilian life. ..... ... ~· - 1.4. other papers were attended in the clinical and industrial area but the papers were of technical or general interest. .. . - ( -~ :'. • - .,. ._ . . · .. . · .. •. ~ The document is a typed page with handwritten annotations, predominantly text. There are no photographs, forms, diagrams, or structured data present. Several sections of text are obscured by black redactions, particularly towards the bottom and right side of the page. There are also some stray marks and a page number "-2-" indicating it's part of a larger document. - 1.4. other papers were attended in the clinical and industrial area but the papers were of technical or general interest. .. . - ( -~ :'. • - .,. ._ . . · .. . · .. •. ~ The page contains typed text with several large, black redactions, suggesting the removal of sensitive or classified information. There are no photographs, diagrams, or forms visible. The redactions, concentrated in the middle and lower portions of the page, effectively obscure significant portions of the content. The text itself describes experiments involving college students, physical tests, and Air Force Cadets, with some redactions occurring after sentence fragments, hinting at censored details related to these procedures.