Through the Viewing Tube: Videocassette Psychiatry
DAVID V. FORREST M.D.1,
JAMES H. RYAN M.D.2,
RICHARD GLAVIN M.D.3, , and
H. HOUSTON MERRITT M.D.4
1 Director of Education, Department of Educational Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th St., New York, N. Y. 10032
2 Director, Department of Educational Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th St., New York, N. Y. 10032
3 Director of Training Media, Department of Educational Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th St., New York, N. Y. 10032
4 Consultant in Neurology, Neurological Institute of New York, and Professor Emeritus of Neurology, Dean Emeritus, and Vice-President Emeritus, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y.
The authors, who have been exploring the potential of videotape presentations for psychiatric education, discuss the issues that have arisen since they began developing their "Electronic Textbook of Psychiatry." They consider such questions as the adequacy of the television image in capturing emotion and transmitting information, the ideal length of the taped segment, and the flexibility and limits of the medium. They conclude that videotape presentation may (as have dream interpretation. psychometrics, linguistics, and other useful approaches to behavior) contribute to our conception of mental disorders.
