The elucidation of the effect of pa

The elucidation of the effect of past experience on subsequent behaviour has derived from the systematic investigations of Pierre Janet in France and, particularly from the discoveries of Sigmund Freud in Vienna. During the last five decades, this work has been elaborated into impressive theoretical structures, accompanied by a large body of clinical data. Unfortunately, well-organized experimental and laboratory studies along these lines are still largely absent. However, Freud's work has been instrumental in setting the stage for efforts to describe the organism as a whole, in terms of its organization, behaviour, and adaptation to its environment. The psychological movement in American psychiatry is linked to Adolf Meyer's concept of psychobiology. Meyer conceived of the individual as the total product of his life experience, and thus denied the concept of body-mind duality. He was concerned with the "functions of the total person" in his environment; thus, he was one of the pioneers of the current culture-personality approach.