Friday, 9 October 2009
The Quest for Scientific Proof in Psychological Medicine
Drozdstoj Stoyanov (Visiting Fellow), Medical University of Plovdiv, Department of Health Care Management
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning

::: photo album

Dedicated to the 88th anniversary of the birth of Prof. Azarya Polikarov. Abstract:  In this presentation I shall stress the historical as well as the current epistemological conflicts among the methods and categories in medical/clinical psychology and psychiatry. Foremost it is very important to outline the reconstruction of the debate from a historical perspective in the XIX an XX centuries. Then  I will define the area of contemporary 'scientific' methodology of psychological and psycho-pathological exploration. I criticize the cognitive value of different tools, such as psychological tests. Thereafter we adopt some preliminary distinctions among evidence and proof serving to regulate the concepts of taxonomy and phenomenology as well as the outcome of treatment in psychological medicine.