CHAPTER 

 XV 



SUMMARY AND GENERAL DISCUSSION 



Ralph W. Gerard, M.D., Ph.D. 



I 



AM not confronted here with the problem that so often emerges 

 in trying to summarize a symposium of this kind, because Drs. 

 Fields and Abbott have so clearly exhibited the logical bones of 

 the organization. I think it has been beautifully planned and, on 

 the whole, beautifully executed. There have been many good 

 talks and many interesting lines of thought developed, not all of 

 which, obviously, can I allude to; nor shall I attempt to mention 

 all the participants in the course of my discussion, although I 

 shall refer to things said by practically all. A few items to start 

 us off. 



Dr. Lindsay, in the opening theory session, made rather a point 

 of distinguishing product theories from process theories. I had not 

 previously heard the dichotomy in that particular form, but I 

 liked it. It is equivalent, I should think, to molar and molecular 

 theories and to the term introduced by Mainz, order-analytical 

 interpretations and cau.sal-analytical interpretations; and it does, 

 as Lindsay suggested, imply a progressive reduction from one 

 level to another. He seemed to think this is primarily because 

 psychologists are reaching out hands toward neurophysiologists. 

 I think the hands are coming from both sides of the gap; and, 

 indeed, still partly an act of faith, I am quite convinced that the 

 hands have about touched. 



At the level of genes, Kit and Echols, gave the beautiful evidence 

 showing that the genetic code is about to be broken; and, as I 

 listened, it seemed that here, also, interest was moving from one 

 level of thought to another. There was again reductionism; prob- 



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