Transactional Analysis Journal

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Transactional Analysis in American College Psychology Textbooks

Howard J. Douglass
Transactional Analysis Journal 1990 20: 92
DOI: 10.1177/036215379002000202

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 Transactional Analysis in American College
Psychology Textbooks
Howard J. Douglass
Abstract
Today's college students will comprise one
of the main populations-as clients, parents,
administrators, organizational leaders,
legislators, etc.-on which transactional
analysis will depend for its growth in the
twenty-first century, only a decade away. An
evaluation of current academic trends in the
U.S.A. in educating these students in trans-
actional analysis theory and therapy methods
suggests important considerations for the
future growth of TA as a psychotherapeutic
modality. Based on a review of 62 textbooks,
readers, and workbooks in four courses-
Introductory Psychology, Theories of Per-
sonality, Psychology of Adjustment, and Ab-
normal Psychology-this descriptive research
article provides data and generalizations about
the way that transactional analysis is presented
to students in American college psychology
textbooks.
College textbooks educate students about the
prevailing modes of thought in their culture
regarding a given subject. For example, the
ideas students learn in college about human
growth and development, psychotherapy,
psychopathology, and other concepts in
psychology form the basis of their thoughts
about these topics throughout their lives.
Therefore, education in college represents one
of the best opportunities to inform people about
transactional analysis.
Each year since 1985 approximately 12.2
million students have enrolled (U.S. Bureau of
the Census, 1987) in three thousand public and
private colleges in the United States (The Col-
lege Blue Book, 1987). Assuming that 90% of
them enroll in a psychology course, a
reasonable estimate, then, potentially, 11
million students annually could learn about
transactional analysis if it is presented in their
92
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textbooks. Furthermore, assuming that some of
these students take one or more advanced
psychology courses, say 30%, then 7.7 million
will have had the Introductory Psychology
course, and 3.3 million will have had that
course plus one or more advanced psychology
courses in which they might learn advanced TA
concepts, again, if TA is presented in their
textbooks.
These data suggest that the role of the con-
tent of American psychology textbooks in
educating students about transactional analysis
is crucial for the future growth and develop-
ment of TA. This descriptive research study in-
vestigates the extent to which transactional
analysis is presented in psychology textbooks
today as well as the quality and comprehen-
siveness of these presentations.
Methodology
The Domain of the Survey. This survey in-
cluded 62 textbooks, readers, and workbooks
with copyright dates ranging from 1972 to 1989
and was limited to texts for courses in Introduc-
tory Psychology, Theories of Personality,
Psychology of Adjustment, and Abnormal
Psychology. Ninety-eight percent of the text-
books and 67 % percent of the readers and
workbooks were published within the last five
years. All the Introductory Psychology,
Psychology of Adjustment, and Abnormal
Psychology texts had copyright dates within the
last five years, although among the readers and
workbooks, only the Abnormal Psychology
readers had dates within that period.
The Comparison Therapy. Gestalt therapy
was chosen as a comparison therapy for this
study because it experienced wide-spread
popularity in the 1960's, at about the same time
that transactional analysis reached the height
of its popularity with the publication of Games
Transactional Analysis Journal
 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS

Table 1
TA and Gestalt Therapy Textbook Citations by Courses
No. of TA GT
Course Books Refs. % Refs. %

Introductory Psychology
Textbooks 25 11 44.0 20 80.0
Readers 8 0 0.0 0 0.0
Theories of Personality
Textbooks 7 1 14.3 14.3
Readers 1 1 100.0 100.0
Psychology of Adjustment
Textbooks 8 5 62.5 7 87.5
Workbooks 3 3 100.0 3 100.0
Abnormal Psychology
Textbooks 7 2 28.6 7 100.0
Readers 3 0 0.0 2 66.7
Totals 62 23 37.1 41 66.1

Note: TA abbreviates transactional analysis; GT abbreviates Gestalt therapy.

People Play (Berne, 1964). behavior? (2) Faithfulness-To what extent

Procedure. Each book was reviewed to
determine whether it included references to
transactional analysis and Gestalt therapy.
Careful attention was paid to chapters in which
it seemed logical that these two therapies would
be mentioned-methods of treatment, per-
sonality theories, and abnormal behavior-as
well as to chapters related to areas in which TA
is used-child and adolescent development,
socialization, and social psychology (for script
theory). Finally, ancillary material such as the
Reference List, Author List, and Glossary were
reviewed for citations to either of the therapies
or to authors known to have written about TA
or Gestalt. The numbers of books reviewed in
the four courses are listed in Table 1, accom-
panied by the numbers and percentages of texts
containing references to transactional analysis
and Gestalt therapy.
Criteria. Several criteria were used to iden-
tify the quality of the text from which students
would form an opinion ofTA. (1) General-If
students took only one course and studied TA
theory from this textbook, would they have an
introductory understanding of its relevance and
therapeutic power in explaining human
does the textbook present the basic concepts and
the associated terminology used by transac-
tional analysts? (3) Completeness-To what ex-
tent does it present a complete view of the sub-
topics it presents? (4) Context-Is TA presented
in a historical context as a twentieth-century ego
psychology? (5) Advancements-Do advanced
textbook presentations increase students'
knowledge over what they learned in prior
courses?
Results
Initial Results. Table 1 shows that Gestalt
therapy was cited more often than transactional
analysis in textbooks for three of the four
courses, particularly in introductory
psychology texts, where Gestalt therapy was
cited almost twice as often as transactional
analysis. In abnormal psychology textbooks,
Gestalt was cited almost four times more often
than TA. Textbooks and workbooks for the
Psychology of Adjustment course cited transac-
tional analysis and Gestalt therapy most fre-
quently. Interestingly, transactional analysis
was included in textbooks, readers, and
workbooks only when Gestalt therapy was

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HOWARD J. DOUGLASS
Table 2
Textbook Editions by Textbook Groups
Edition IPT % APTR&W
9th 1 9.1
8th 0 0.0
6th 1 9.1
4th 0 0.0
3rd 4 36.4
2nd 2 18.2
1st 3 27.3
Totals 11 100.1
Note: IPT abbreviates introductory psychology textbooks; APTR&W abbreviates advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks
also included, although no relationship is
assumed. Overall, in all four courses, a student
has about a 37 % chance of studying TA and
a 66 % chance of studying Gestalt based on
these textbooks.
Comparisons. To check for comparability of
textbook samples in the introductory
psychology and advanced psychology text-
books, the numbers of editions for texts in each
group were tabulated (Table 2). The two groups
are quite closely matched in terms of the
numbers of revisions each textbook has
undergone and the number of years since its
first publication; in fact, 82-83 % of each group
are in their first, second, or third editions. No
statistical test for comparability was performed.
Topical Analyses
The following analyses are based on the 23
books that cited transactional analysis, in-
cluding introductory psychology textbooks
(IPT) (n = 11) and advanced psychology text-
books, readers, and workbooks (APTR&W)
(n = 12), namely, Theories of Personality text-
books (n= 1) and readers (n= 1), Psychology
of Adjustment textbooks (n=5) and workbooks
(n=3), and Abnormal Psychology textbooks
(n=2).
Introductory Psychology was singled out for
special attention because most students who
enroll in college psychology courses take only
one course, it has the largest enrollment, and
11 introductory textbooks were reviewed. The
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%
0 0.0
1 8.3
0 0.0
1 8.3
2 16.7
3 25.0
5 41.7
12 100.0
material for an introductory course usually does
not offer as much depth or detail as that for ad-
vanced courses in which students can build on
introductory material to develop a more com-
prehensive understanding of the topic. The ad-
vanced textbooks were evaluated, therefore, to
determine the extent to which they were com-
prehensive in building on introductory
psychology material.
Introductory Psychology Textbooks
TA Placement. The chapter on treatment
methods was the only place in which TA was
cited in the eleven textbooks. Treatment ap-
proaches were classified as either biological or
psychological. All authors cited TA as a group
therapy. Beyond that, little agreement existed
about what category (rubric) it belonged in or
with which other therapies it should be
associated. Table 3 shows the five rubrics under
which TAwas placed and the frequencies with
which it was assigned to these categories.
For comparison purposes, Gestalt therapy is
also shown in Table 3. It was cited as a
humanistic-existential therapy in 8 of 11
chapters. One textbook classified it as a group
therapy with strong humanistic leanings.
Although one author placed it in the insight-
oriented category and one in the group therapies
category, both acknowledged it as a humanistic-
existential therapy, so essentially 10 textbooks
(91 %) placed Gestalt therapy under the
humanistic-existential rubric.
Transactional Analysis Journal
 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
Table 3
Introductory Psychology Textbook Rubrics
Psychotherapy Rubrics
Behavior Therapy
Psychoanalysis
Humanistic-Existential Therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Group Therapy
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Other Well-known Therapies
Group and Community Therapies
Group and Family Therapy
Environmental Therapy
Family Therapy
. Insight-oriented Therapy
Totals
Note: TA abbreviates transactional analysis; GT abbreviates Gestalt therapy.
Associated Theories and Therapies. Table 4
shows that transactional analysis has no well-
defined position in a particular schema, except
perhaps the general schema of group therapy.
Even there it is associated with a wide range
of professional and nonprofessional therapeutic
groups. At one end of the spectrum, TAwas
associated with well-defined therapy
modalities; at the other, it was associated with
various groups that specifically state that they
are not forms of therapy, that is, the self-help
groups.
The Four Major Areas oITA. Topics in the
four original areas of transactional analysis-
structural analysis (StA), transactional analysis
(TA), game analysis (GA), and script analysis
(ScA)-were neither consistently described nor
sufficiently integrated so that a student might
understand the increasing complexity of TA
theory and therapy as a client works from struc-
tural analysis through script analysis. The fifth
analytic area-racket analysis (Erskine &
Zalcman, 1979)-was not described in either
introductory or advanced psychology texts.
Table 5 contains data about these areas.
Citation Indices Comparison. Reformulating
the data from Table 5 into Table 6 allows com-
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Textbook TA Freq. GT Freq.
Citations
11
10
10 8
8
5 7 2
3 1
3 1
2
2
1
1
1 1 1
11 11
parison of the quality of coverage of the four
areas provided by the introductory psychology
textbook group and the advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks group. The
introductory psychology textbooks provided
more comprehensive coverage (81 %) for the
basic areas of TA (except script analysis) than
did the advanced psychology texts, resulting in
a larger citation index for the introductory
textbooks.
Ego States. In two textbooks, the concept of
personality was described (Crider, Goethals,
Kavanaugh, & Solomon, 1989; Rathus, 1987)
using the term ego states. The remaining texts
did not mention ego states, preferring instead
to use Berne's phrase, "three aspects of per-
sonality" (Baron, 1989, p. 451) or "three
aspects of each individual's personality"
(Krebs & Blackman, 1988, p. 749), or phrases
such as, "three separate mental structures"
(Santrock, 1988, p. 528), "more or less mature
aspects of our personalities" (Wortman, Lof-
tus, & Marshall, 1988, p. 453), or "the part
of the personality that is speaking" (Atkinson,
Atkinson, Smith, & Hilgard, 1987, p. 546).
One textbook (Simons, Irwin, & Drinnin,
1987) cited both ego states and Berne's
95
HOWARD J. DOUGLASS

Table 4
Psychotherapy Rubrics and Therapies Associated with TA
(Introductory Psychology Textbooks, n=11)

Psychoanalytic Therapy
1. None, TA alone was described.
Insight-oriented Therapy
1. Psychoanalysis, client-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, and rational-emotive therapy.
Humanistic-Existential Therapy
1. Gestalt therapy and support groups for the mentally ill.
Group Therapy.
1. Gestalt therapy, reality therapy, rational-emotive therapy, and hypnotherapy.
2. Family therapy.
3. Psychodrama, Gestalt therapy, encounter groups, and family therapy.
4. Humanistic growth groups.
5. Personal growth groups: Encounter groups and marathon groups.
6. Encounter groups and self-help groups.
7. Social skills behavior groups and encounter groups.
Other Well-Known Therapies
1. Reality therapy.

Table 5
Citations of Four Theoretical and Therapeutic Areas
Four Areas IPT APTR&W Totals %

StA, TA, and GA 5 3 8 34.8

StA, TA, GA, and ScA 1 2 3 13.0
StA, and TA 2 1 3 13.0
StA, GA, and ScA 0 2 2 8.7
GA 1 1 2 8.7
StA, and GA 1 0 1 4.3
StA 0 1 1 4.3
TA, GA, and ScA 1 0 1 4.3
None 0 2 2 8.7
Totals 11 12 23 99.8

Note: IPT abbreviates lntroductory psychology textbooks; APTW&R abbreviates advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks.

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 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS

Table 6
Analytic Area Citations by Textbook Groups
(N=23)
No. of IPT No. of APTR&W
Analytic Area Descriptions
%
Descriptions %

StA 9 81.8 9 75.0

TA 9 81.8 6 50.0
GA 9 81.8 8 66.7
ScA 2 18.2 4 25.0
Total Descriptions 29 27
Total Textbooks 11 12
Citation Index 2.64 2.25
Note: IPT abbreviates introductory psychology textbooks; APTR&W abbreviates advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks.

Table 7
Transaction Types Described
Transaction Types IPT APTW&R Totals

Complementary, Crossed 5 2 7 30.4

Complementary, Crossed, Ulterior 1 2 3 13.0
Complementary 0 1 1 4.3
None 5 7 12 52.2
Totals 11 12 23 99.9
Note: IPT abbreviates introductory psychology textbooks; APTR&W abbreviates advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks.

aforementioned definition. In one textbook and Jongeward's (1971, p. 269) description.

(Roediger, Rushton, Capaldi, & Paris, 1987)
the concept of ego states was undefined, and
in another it was not described (McConnell,
1989).
Structural Definitions. Ego states were
described almost exclusively in terms of the
structural (phenomenological) model for first-
order ego states (Trautmann & Erskine, 1981)
in which the Parent contains the rules, the Adult
contains thoughts on decision-making capaci-
ty, and the Child contains feelings.
Functional Definitions. With one exception
(Simons, et al., 1987), none of the textbooks
differentiated between the Parent or Child sub-
categories of Critical Parent/Nurturing Parent
and Adapted Child/Natural Child. They also
did not describe the Adult in terms of James
Ego States and Freud's Hypothetical Con-
structs. The relationship of ego states to Freud's
hypothetical constructs was treated in two
ways. Six textbooks cited varying degrees of
similarity or correspondence of the two con-
cepts, ranging from direct correspondence
(Krebs & Blackman, 1988) to a "superficial
similarity" (Crider, Goethals, Kavanaugh, &
Solomon, 1989, p. 595). Five textbooks made
no comments on the relationship.
Transactions. The descriptions of transac-
tions were, in general, less than satisfactory.
In putting Berne's ideas into their own words,
authors failed to be specific enough to fully
define transactions. Some definitions, although
not necessarily wrong, were ambiguous enough
to lead to a variety of interpretations.

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HOWARD J. DOUGLASS

Table 8
Transaction Type Citations by Textbook Groups
(N=23)
No. of IPT No. of APTR&W
Transaction Type % %
Descriptions Descriptions

Complementary 6 54.5 5 41.7

Crossed 6 54.5 4 33.3
Ulterior 1 9.1 2 16.7
Total Descriptions 13 11
Total Textbooks 11 12
Citation Index 1.18 0.92

Note: IPT abbreviates introductory psychology textbooks; APTR&W abbreviates advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks.

Moreover, in the majority of the texts, the
descriptions of complementary transactions em-
phasized only the P-P, A-A, and C-C transac-
tions as healthy transactions. By omitting the
P-C and C-P transactions, some texts gave the
impression that these transactions were
somehow unhealthy. They also failed to iden-
tify these two important types of transactions
which occur in organizations, families, schools,
and other institutions, and they provided no
understanding of the other four types of com-
plementary transactions described by Berne
(1972, p. 14).
Also troubling was the incorrect verbal con-
tent occasionally used to illustrate the Parent,
Adult, or Child in the diagrams accompanying
the written material.
Finally, some authors made clear or implied
moral judgments regarding the"goodness" of
transactions instead of concentrating on the
relative effectiveness of transactions as forms
of communication. Transaction types described
in introductory psychology textbooks are listed
in the IPT column of Table 7.
Citation Index Comparison. Table 8, a refor-
mulation of the data in Table 7, provides a com-
parison of the comprehensiveness of the
coverage of transaction types in introductory
psychology textbooks and advanced psychology
textbooks, readers, and workbooks. Introduc-
tory textbooks provided more coverage of com-
plementary and crossed transactions than did
the advanced textbooks, readers, and work-
books, and the resulting citation index was
slightly higher. However, the fact that 52% of
the texts (45.5% and 58.3% respectively) did
not discuss transactions at all suggests that
neither group was comprehensive in its
presentation.
Games. The textbook presentations became
more specific when describing games. Those
that discussed the concept provided an adequate
sense of game interactions. Some used Berne's
definition and others provided their own; all
adequately communicated the essence of a
game as habitual patterns of destructive, social,
neurotic interactions designed to confirm one's
existential position. However, none mentioned
the "moment of confusion or crossup" condi-
tion that Berne (1972, p. 23) maintained was
an essential component of his game formula and
without which transactions could not be labeled
games.
No pattern was evident in the games selected
to illustrate the concept; only one game,
"Uproar," was cited by more than one author.
In all, seven games were described, approx-
imately one per textbook, ranging from "If It
Weren't For You" to "Why Don't You, Yes,
But. "
Scripts. Only two of the eleven textbooks
described the TA concept of scripts. Santrock
(1988) defined it according to Berne as "a self-
defeating, rigid strategy for coping with the
world" (p. 529) and emphasized the effec-
tiveness of being flexible and adaptive in

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 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS

Table 9
Purposes of TA Therapy
(Introductory Psychology Textbooks)
(n=11)
Goals Frequency

Analyze Transactions: To develop more meaningful life styles 7

Analyze Ego States: Awareness of C, A, and P 4
Analyze Games: To give them up 3
Analyze Communications: To identify intent and eliminate subterfuge 1
To help people adopt I'm OK-You're OK life positions 1
Analyze Scripts 1
Conscious behavior change to discontinue unconscious role playing 1

approaching life's challenges. McConnell al., 1988), and how-to-play-a-piano or dance-

(1989) wrote that Berne believed that "each
game is but a tiny part of a 'script' that a per-
son uses in 'performing' various roles in her
or his life" (p. 503).
However, six textbooks defined and dis-
cussed scripts from a different perspective and
in a different chapter-as a subcategory of the
more abstract concept of schema (from the
Greek, meaning form; plural is schemata). A
schema is an abstract, categorical organization
of experiences in memory of a person's
knowledge about classes of people, objects,
events, or situations that is used to process new
experience. Combinations of schemas, or
schemata, correspond to the TA concept of
frame of reference (Schiff, et al., 1975). Atkin-
son et al. (1987) noted that psychologists use
schemata "to refer to a mental representation
of a class of people, objects, events, or situa-
tions" (p. 275). As a subcategory of schemata,
scripts refer to schema for events and social
situations (Abelson, 1976; Schank & Abelson,
1977), plans about expected sequences of
events and actions (Abelson, 1981), or se-
quences of actions that can be expected in par-
ticular situations (Waldrop, 1984). Examples
of script behavior in this context include the
greeting-a-personscript (Atkinsonet al., 1987),
having-dinner-at-a-restaurant (Schank &
Abelson, 1977), attending-a-football-game
(Santrock, 1988), directing-traffic (Wortman et
a-ballet scripts (Simons et al., 1987).
life Positions. Two textbooks described the
life positions. Rathus (1987), beginning with
Harris's (1969) book and Adler's inferiority
complex, described the healthy life position,
"I'm OK-You're OK," as one of the major
goals of TA, and games as "styles of relating
to others that are designed to confirm one of
the unhealthy life positions" (p. 555). Simons,
et al. (1987), taking a more descriptive ap-
proach, presented Berne's (1964) definition of
life positions as "feelings about themselves and
others that people acquire during their early
years" (p. 600).
Strokes. The one text (Simons et al., 1987)
that discussed stroke hunger and positive and
negative strokes described them in relation to
psychological health.
Purposes of Therapy. Table 9 shows the pur-
poses of transactional analysis therapy as
described in the eleven introductory textbooks.
Essentially, these goals advocate therapy for the
first three areas of transactional analysis, name-
ly, structural, transactional, and game analyses.
Therapeutic Settings. One text commented
that "TA has become a popular technique in
nursing, social work, and school guidance set-
tings" (Krebs & Blackman, 1988, p. 747), and
another said that' 'TA is often carried out with
couples who complain of communication prob-
lems" (Rathus, 1987, p. 555). McConnell

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HOW ARD J. DOUGLASS
(1989) noted that TA has been used in family
therapy, in business, and with suicidal patients.
Moreover, he supported his statements with
Transactional Analysis Journal references, the
only textbook in this study to have included
references from the Journal.
Therapeutic Techniques in Groups. One text
(Simons et aI., 1987) described at some length
the initial steps in developing a contract and the
importance of teaching new group members the
essentials of TA theory, concepts, and ter-
minology. Another text (Crider et aI., 1989)
described the initial activities in group as
becoming aware of ego states and then analyz-
ing transactions. Another text (Zimbardo,
1988) reported that "group members are en-
couraged to describe the 'games' they play in
their interpersonal relations and also to enact
them" (p. 584). Finally, a fourth text (Baron,
1989) emphasized the technique of group ex-
ercises, "such as playing one role after the
other in a given situation" (p. 451).
Evaluative Comments. Three texts conclud-
ed their presentations with evaluative com-
ments. In a positive sense, Rathus (1987) cited
Smith and Glass's (1977) study reporting that
"people who receive TA are better off than
about 72 percent of those who are left un-
treated" (p. 555). Simons et al. (1987) reported
two positive aspects of TA: (1) establishing a
contract between client and therapist identifies
the therapy goals immediately, and (2) teaching
the client the theory and terminology means that
the client is an equal partner in the therapeutic
process. McConnell (1989) noted that the data
suggest there is "little difference between the
'cure rate' of TA and other forms of group
treatment" (p. 503). On the negative side, two
textbooks lamented that "Research comparing
TA's effectiveness to other group or individual
therapies has not been forthcoming" (Simons
et aI., 1987, p. 600) and "there is little sound
empirical research to judge its effectiveness"
(Wortman et aI., 1988, p. 454).
Advanced Psychology Textbooks, Readers,
and Workbooks
Although the twelve textbooks, readers, and
workbooks in this group typically cover the
three advanced courses, they are being con-
sidered as a single group in order to highlight
important ideas and to summarize their con-
tributions to the numerous rubrics.
100
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TA Placement. The inconsistency of the
placement of TA discussed earlier with regard
to introductory psychology textbooks was also
apparent in the advanced textbooks. One text
placed it in a chapter on psychoanalytic exten-
sions (Carver & Scheier, 1988); two classified
it as a group therapy (Napoli, Kilbride &
Tebbs, 1988; Worchel & Goethals, 1989); one
identified it as a phenomenological therapy
because of its here-and-now emphasis (Rathus
& Nevid, 1989); one placed it in the more
general category of dialogic (insight) therapy
(O'Connell, Whitmore, & O'Connell, 1985);
and one classified it as a therapy for interper-
sonal relationships (Carson, Butcher, & Cole-
man, 1988).
Unlike the introductory psychology text-
books, the advanced texts discussed specific TA
topics in chapters other than the therapy
chapter. Berne's ideas on intimacy and fetishes
were discussed in a chapter on sexual adjust-
ment (Brodsky, 1988), the concept of games
was interpreted as an ego defense mechanism
(O'Connell et aI., 1985), strokes were cited as
influences on human development (Napoli et
aI., 1988), the importance of personal names
in behavior was considered (Rathus & Nevid,
1989), and Worchel and Goethals (1989) in-
tegrated life positions (Harris, 1969) into the
concept of self- and other acceptance. In the
workbooks for the Adjustment course, Arkoff
(1988) used Steiner's (1974) concept for an ex-
periential exercise. O'Connell and O'Connell
(1974) cited TA prominently and Berne
specifically for developing the "subper-
sonalities" (p. 77) of the Parent, Adult, and
Child ego states.
Associated Theories and Therapy. Goleman
and Speeth's (1982) selection of Berne's (1966)
writings placed him among the twenty-four
most influential theorists of this century, in the
company of theoreticians such as Freud, Reik,
Adler, Reich, and the neo-Freudians as well as
more contemporary theorists such as Ellis,
Beck, Minuchin, Rogers, and Levitsky and
Perls. Given that approximately 250 therapies
are extant today (Herink, 1980), the fact that
Berne was selected for this compendium pro-
vides TA with a validity not apparent otherwise
in this review.
Further important associations resulted from
Carver and Scheier's (1988) choice of TA to
illustrate important concepts of ego theories,
Transactional Analysis Journal
 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
because TA was associated with Erikson's
(1974) theory of psychosocial stages and
Sullivan's (1953) interpersonal theory of
psychiatry. For comparison purposes, Gestalt
therapy was cited in another chapter on
humanistic-existential therapies.
As a group psychotherapy, TAwas includ-
ed with traditional psychoanalytic group
therapy, family and couples therapy, and en-
counter groups (Napoli et al., 1988); with
Gestalt and family therapies (Worchel &
Goethals, 1989); as a phenomenological
therapy, with person-centered therapy and
Gestalt therapy (Rathus & Nevid, 1989); and
as an insight therapy, with Gestalt therapy
(0'Connell et al., 1985).
Three other citations are important to note.
First, in Kinnie and Kelley's (1976) workbook
on adjustment, TAwas compared quite
favorably with psychoanalytic theory, Skin-
ner's instrumental conditioning, and Gestalt
therapy. Second, considering theory develop-
ment from an interpersonal perspective, TA
was the latest addition to the line beginning with
Adler and continuing with Fromm, Horney,
Erikson, and Sullivan (Carson et al., 1988).
Lastly, in Goldstein, Baker, and Jamison's
(1986) textbook, game theory was described
prominently as one of the psychological
theories of alcoholism, along with
psychoanalytic, social learning, and various
other theories such as reinforcement and per-
sonality theories. However, although Steiner's
work (1969, 1971) was referenced, it was not
acknowledged as TA nor was TA mentioned.
Description of the Four Major Areas afTA. The
various areas that the twelve textbooks,
workbooks, and readersdescribed are listedin the
column labeled APfR&W in Table 5. The
theoretical areas described are as varied as those
shown for the introductory psychology textbooks.
Ego States. In the advanced texts ego states
were primarily presented in terms of the struc-
tural (phenomenological) first-order model
(Trautmann & Erskine, 1981). Several authors
were creative in their presentations. For exam-
ple, Carver and Scheier (1988) provided an ex-
tensive, two-page explanation describing in
depth the origins and the behavior of the
Natural Child, Adapted Child, Adult, Nurtur-
ing Parent, and Critical (Controlling) Parent
ego states. Ego states were also described as
"three orientations" or "elements of personali-
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ty" (p. 259). Students were asked to test
themselves on ego states in order to increase
their interest in the material and to provide in-
sight into their behavior. They identified plea-
sant and difficult transactions and diagramed
them in sets of ego state circles provided. Se-
cond, they were asked to recall behaviors they
identified as coming from their Parent, Adult,
and Child ego states. They conceptualized ego
states as being' 'three complete systems of feel-
ings, cognitions, and behaviors," (p. 259), and
"personality consists of three people, each of
whom has a full set of normal mental and
behavioral functions" (p. 259).
O'Connell et al. (1985) emphasized the terms
exteropsyche, neopsyche, and archaeopsyche
and noted that they have been simplified as
Parent, Adult, and Child ego states. They pro-
vided an information table, adapted from Har-
ris (1969), showing verbal and physical cues
to ego states and other data associated with
them. O'Connell and O'Connell (1974) used
a combination of Berne's (1964) and Harris's
(1969) descriptions of ego states. In addition,
they provided line drawings of two adults and
one child with instructions to write in com-
ments: 1) "If you ever have warned somebody
or forecast failure or told somebody why he
shouldn't do something," 2) "If you have ever
been surprised how you kept 'cool' and rational
in a situation," and 3) "something that gets you
hurt or angry when someone says or does it"
(p. 80).
Kinnie and Kelly (1976) took seventeen
pages to explain ego states, leaving room for
students to write personal comments about their
own ego state use. Moreover, they described
the Natural and Adapted Child (which, unfor-
tunately, they labeled the Unnatural Child), the
Adult, and the Parent. The Parent was not
described functionally as being critical and/or
nurturing; rather, the authors defined a person
as having only the "four basic parts," that is,
the Natural and Unnatural Child, the Adult, and
the Parent.
Ego States and Freud's Hypothetical Con-
structs. Of the twelve advanced psychology
textbooks, nine described ego states, and of
these nine, four discussed the relationship of
ego states to Freud's hypothetical constructs of
id, ego, and superego. One text differentiated
them (Rathus & Nevid, 1989); one text noted
that they correspond in many ways (Carver &
/01
HOWARD J. DOUGLASS
Scheier, 1988); and two texts acknowledged
that they correspond roughly (Carson et al.,
1988; Worchel & Goethals, 1989).
On this topic, Carver and Scheier (1988)
described three of the ways TA is influenced
by psychoanalytictheory: TA assumes behavior
is caused in part by material that is out of con-
scious awareness, that unmet childhood needs
influence adult life, and that the three ego states
"correspond in many ways to Freud's id, ego,
and superego" (p. 259). However, they noted,
ego states are conscious entities in contrast to
Freud's concept of the id, which is un-
conscious, and the superego, which is partly
unconscious. Another difference they noted is
that Freud's model is conflict-based, whereas
the TA ego state model is not. Having made
these points, they nevertheless pointed to the
resemblance between the Child (especially the
Natural Child) and the Freudian id, the Adult
and the psychoanalytic ego, and the Parent and
Freud's superego, particularly the cor-
respondenceof the Critical Parent ego state with
the psychoanalytic ego ideal and conscience.
Rathus and Nevid (1989) cogently pointed
out that people might easily confuse the Parent,
Adult, and Child ego states with Freud's
superego, ego and id, and they clearly noted
that the id is unconscious, the superego is partly
so, and the Child and Parent have the capacity
to be fully conscious.
Although Kinnie and Kelley (1976) made no
specific reference to the comparison between
Freud's and Berne's concepts in the TA
chapter, they did discuss the Adult in relation
to secondary processes and the Natural Child
in relation to primary processes in the chapter
on Freud.
Egograms. Only one textbook (Carver &
Scheier, 1988) described the concept of
egograms. After noting that there are several
ways to measure ego states (James, 1977), they
discussed various possibilitiesand then cited the
use of the egogram as an assessment technique.
Transactions. Data on the transaction types
described by the advanced texts are contained
in the APTR&W column of Table 7. A review
of the texts reveals that what they teach
advanced psychology students about transac-
tions is incomplete, involves the use of incor-
rect terminology, and is confusing regarding
the differences between transactions and games.
None of the textbooks discussed ulterior trans-
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actions per se.
For example, Carver and Scheier (1988)
described and gave examples of complemen-
tary and crossed transactions, but described
ulterior transactions without a diagram. In the
figure portraying the former transactions, they
specified that the transactions were "between
two persons of adult age" (p. 262), leaving it
unclear that two children might engage in these
transactions as well because ego states develop
shortly after birth. In discussing ulterior trans-
actions they labeled the psychological level as
the ulterior message and defined an ulterior
transaction as "the process of conveying the
second message" (p. 263), rather than identi-
fying an ulterior transaction as having a social
level and a psychological level. Despite this
omission, the examples met the criteria for
ulterior transactions.
Goleman and Speeth's (1982) discussion of
complementary and crossed transactions,
although quite limited, gave the sense of trans-
actions. Unfortunately, because they did not
describe ulterior transactions, the reader is left
with the impression that transactions may oc-
cur on both overt and covert levels, which, of
course, is specifically part of the definition of
ulterior transactions. Moreover, they concluded
with the statement, "With every [italics add-
ed] transaction there is a 'pay-off' for each par-
ty in the form of pleasant or unpleasant emo-
tions" (p. 125). This suggests that they are
describing the payoff of a game rather than a
complementary or crossed transaction.
Worchel and Goethals (1989) provided a
transactional paradigm to illustrate a game,
labeling the social level as the "apparent com-
munication level" and the psychological level
as the "actual communication level" (p. 233).
Rathus and Nevid (1989) defined a transac-
tion as "a social exchange between two peo-
pie' , and a complementary transaction as
"when a social exchange follows the same
lines" (p. 318). They noted that communica-
tions on a topic may stop if complementary
lines are not followed, but rather than describ-
ing a crossed transaction, they provided an il-
lustrative figure and two examples of it.
Within the context of ego state identification,
Kinnie and Kelley (1976) discussed P-C and A-
A complementary transactions. They then
asked the reader to consider various other com-
binations of the three ego states, but they did
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 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
not refer to or define transactions specifically.
Carson et al. (1988) described transactions
in two unique ways: first, by considering an
ego state as an assigned role, and second, by
portraying a long-standing P-C transaction be-
tween two adults as a game. They did not define
transaction types specifically, although they did
mention "complementary" transactions.
Games. Since none of the textbooks cited
Berne's game formulas, the definitions of
games varied significantly, with two including
the idea of payoffs and one not. Napoli et al.
(1988) described games as "manipulative ploys
used to induce 'pay-offs' which always are
reactions that support the negative components
of our life position" (p. 542-543). Goleman and
Speeth (1982) emphasized transactions by
defining games as "transactions that include
overt and covert exchanges and afford well-
defined payoffs for the players" (p. 125-126).
Kinnie and Kelley (1976) defined a game as
"essentially ways that people use to try (sic)
to get close to one another when they're too
scared, or don't know how, to do it honestly
and straightforwardly" (p. 152). They dis-
cussed the concepts of the crossup and payoff,
and their illustrations described situations in
which a payoff resulted to both game
participants.
In describing games, one of the advanced
texts demonstrated the same problem as did the
introductory psychology textbooks-by failing
to identify the crossup, what was supposedly
a game turned out to be a series of ulterior
transactions. Carver and Scheier (1988)
described a series of ulterior transactions with
sexual innuendos and labeled it a game of
seduction, rather than suggesting various out-
comes that meet the criteria for a game.
Carson et al. (1988) wrote extensively on the
topic of games in their therapy chapter. They
described three at length using Berne's ideas
and noted the game payoff.
Time Structuring. Kinnie and Kelley (1976)
discussed five of the six ways of structuring
time, but did not identify them as such.
Withdrawal was noted simply as one way to
spend time with people. Rituals were more fully
described as "social formulas and cliches, ...
verbal formulas for many common social situa-
tions, ' , as "actions, " and as ways to
"acknowledge the social presence of another
person" (p. 150). Pastimes were defined as
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"conversations about anything in the world
where the level of personal involvement is
low" (p. 151), including topics such as PTA,
clothes, women's liberation, open marriage,
sports, politics, cars, and books.
Brodsky (1988) outlined Berne's (1971) ideas
about the values inherent in good sexual rela-
tionships under the heading, "The Benefits of
Intimacy" (p. 408). The benefits included: 1)
prevention of physical and mental problems,
2) promotion of health, 3) fewer psychosomatic
disorders, 4) less emotional discomfort, and 5)
inoculation against anxiety attacks.
Trading Stamps. Kinnie and Kelley (1976)
noted that trading stamps are a by-product of
games. They defined trading stamps as "a feel-
ing that you believe is justified but that you
don't express at the time when it would be ap-
propriate but, instead save for later" (p. 152).
They discussed collecting stamps for five dif-
ferent feelings (with their associated colors) that
might result from game behaviors, and out-
comes that might ensue when a person collected
different numbers of stamps.
Scripts. The four advanced texts that dis-
cussed the concept of scripts did so adequate-
ly. They used standard TA descriptions of
script-a person's implicit life plan (Carver &
Scheier, 1988), the preconscious organization
of one's entire life (Goleman & Speeth, 1982),
and the game plan of one's life (Kinnie &
Kelley, 1976)-and offered several ways to
relate it to other TA concepts.
Two texts showed the interrelationships be-
tween scripts, life positions, pastimes, and
games (Kinnie & Kelley 1976; Napoli et al.,
1988). Kinnie and Kelley (1976) asked readers
to compose fairy tales with good and bad end-
ings and then to summarize the characters'
scripts, and Napoli et al. (1988) compared life
scripts to theatrical scripts with their cast of
characters, themes, scenes, etc. Two texts sug-
gested abandoning an ineffective script in favor
of a more realistic one (Goleman & Speeth,
1982) or a new script (Kinnie & Kelley, 1976),
thereby implying that a person must be in one
script or another, rather than being script free.
Script Illusions. Without describing it as a
script illusion, Kinnie and Kelley (1976,
p. 168) posited the dilemma oflate adolescence
or adulthood: the choice to either abandon the
illusions of "waiting for Santa Claus" or
"waiting for death" and to live one's life
103
HOW ARD J. DOUGLASS
without such illusions, or to "live in a dream
world" (with illusions), continue past
behaviors, and follow one's script.
Script Indicators. In describing aspects of a
person's self-schema, Rathus and Nevid (1989)
quote Berne (1976) on names to describe how
people's names reflect expectations about their
forthcoming behavior.
Life Positions. Four textbooks listed the life
positions. Napoli et al. (1988) described a game
process by which individuals might continue to
reinforce positions, and Kinnie and Kelley
(1976) further defined life positions as "the
most basic gut-level feeling you have about
yourself and the world" (p. 168). They de-
scribed the respective consequences of having
parents who held each of the four life positions
and encouraged readers to describe their own
life positions.
Strokes. In a chapter on social and en-
vironmental influences, under the rubric of
society and socialization, Napoli et al. (1988)
described a person's need for human contact
using Berne's (1964) definition of strokes, in-
cluding in their discussion physical,
psychological, positive, and negative strokes.
Carver and Scheier (1988) also described com-
prehensively the concept of strokes, including
types of strokes and their role in game
interactions.
Purposes of Theory and Therapy. Textbooks
varied in their descriptions of the purposes of
TA therapy: Six cited ego state analysis; five,
game analysis; three, transaction analysis; one,
script analysis; one, to teach TA theory; and
one, to adopt an I'm OK-You're OK life posi-
tion. Some textbooks listed more than one
purpose.
Therapeutic Settings. The advanced texts
cited various contexts for TA therapy: with in-
dividuals and time-limited groups (Napoli et
aI., 1988); with teenagers, families, and mar-
ried couples (Kinnie & Kelley, 1976); and with
a focus on interpersonal relationships in a group
setting, often with married couples (Carson et
aI., 1988).
Therapeutic Techniques in Groups. Napoli
et al. (1988) described most fully what goes on
in a TA therapy group. They described the
therapist's responsibilities as teaching basic TA
and facilitating group transactions. They go on
to say that, by concentrating on conscious
behavior, the therapist and the group members
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may identify their own and others' ego states
and determine which ego state has the executive
power. Members also learn to recognize their
scripts, life positions, and the games they play.
During this process, the group provides emo-
tional support, feedback, and assistance. Car-
son et al. (1988) described the group therapist's
functions as analyzing both the interactions of
groups members to help them learn about ego
states and their games in order to develop
members' awareness of their behaviors and the
consequences of their behaviors. In game
therapy, Goldstein et al. (1986) believe that
confrontation (of the alcoholic person by the
therapist) is the "centerpiece of treatment" (p.
492) in order to stop further game playing.
Rathus and Nevid (1989) noted that TA is often
used with couples who have difficulty com-
municating with each other.
TA Applications. After describing the
theories of Perls, Skinner, Berne, and Freud,
Kinnie and Kelley (1976) applied these ideas
to the readers' world views, mass media,
advertising, prejudice, sexuality, and religion.
For example, with regard to advertising,
readers were asked to consider how pastimes,
life positions, games, and scripts are used to
sell products in highbrow, middlebrow, and
lowbrow publications.
Evaluative Comments. On the positive side,
two texts noted that TA is a here-and-now
therapy resulting in change that may be used
immediately (O'Connell et al., 1985; Rathus
& Nevid, 1989): One emphasized that it allows
people more choice in their behavior (Napoli
et al., 1988), and one cited it as a widely used
group therapy (Worchel & Goethals, 1989).
Kinnie and Kelley (1976) described Berne's
world view, in contrast to the world views of
Skinner, Perls, and Freud, as "the simplest,
the most fun, and probably the most widely ap-
plicable of them all" (p. 207). However, they
suggest that the fun aspect may be a disadvan-
tage in some ways because, although people
may use TA language and enjoy it, they do not
take TA seriously enough as a psychotherapy
and "many never get beyond it" (p. 207). They
also evaluated positively three books by Berne
(1964, 1966, 1972) as well as James and
Jongeward's (1971) book.
Carver and Scheier (1988) noted that
egogram assessment is a "rather informal
technique" (p. 268) designed to assess an
Transactional Analysis Journal
 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
individual's use of ego states. In assessing the
egogram's validity, they noted that it is
"heavily based on intuition," and "little tra-
ditional psychometric information" is avail-
able about it, "though some anecdotal evidence
is." They thought the evidence for egogram
change during therapy was "largely impres-
sionistic, " and, in the final analysis, lacking
"more rigorous data," it "should be inter-
preted with some caution." Moreover, "its
usefulness remains to be clearly demonstrated"
(p. 270).
Carson et al. (1988) classified game analysis
as an "intervention strategy" (p. 610) that may
be used in various treatment settings. However,
since transactional analysis has not become a
" 'school' of psychotherapy" in the usual
sense, they interpreted its value as "some
useful techniques" (p. 611) to help people bet-
ter understand themselves and their behavior.
Summary Data
Topical Coverage. This review included all
the TA topics described or discussed in the 23
textbooks, readers, and workbooks; they were
reviewed for all rubrics. Six categories of texts
were analyzed, composed of four textbooks,
one reader, and one workbook. Based on the
criterion that at least one textbook in the
category must have discussed the TA topic be-
ing considered, this review shows that discus-
sion of topics varied widely, although the more
fundamental TA topics were discussed more
frequently than the less basic topics.
a. The following eight topics were addressed
by at least one textbook in all six categories
(100 %): TA placement, associated areas, four
areas, ego states, transactions, games, pur-
poses, and authors and references.
b. Three topics were addressed in five of the
six categories (83.3 %): relation of ego states
to Freud's constructs, scripts, and evaluative
comments.
c. Three topics were addressed in four of the
six categories (66.7 %): life positions,
therapeutic settings, and therapeutic techniques.
d. One topic, strokes, was discussed in three
of the categories (50.0%).
e. Two topics were described in two of the
categories (33.3%): time structuring and TA
applications.
f. Four topics were considered in only one
of the six categories (16.7%): egograms,
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trading stamps, script illusions, and script
indicators.
Summary of the Textbook Categories
Coverage. Analysis of the coverage data from
the six textbook categories shows that they may
be arranged in order based on the percentage
of the topics they discussed.
a. Psychology of Adjustment textbooks,
86.4%.
b. Psychology of Adjustment workbooks,
72.7%.
c. Introductory Psychology textbooks,
68.2%.
d. Theories of Personality textbooks, 59.1 %.
e. Theories of Personality readers and Ab-
normal Psychology textbooks, 54.5%.
TA Authors and References Cited. As might
be expected, because of its popularity, Games
People Play (1964) was cited most frequently
as a reference for Berne's work in all 23 texts.
Considering the number of Berne's publica-
tions, it is also not surprising that he was cited
most frequently as a reference source, receiv-
ing 30 (61 %) of the 49 citations. Table 10 con-
tains these data as well as well other authors'
works cited as reference sources.
Discussion
Limited Space Opportunity. As Table 1
reveals, 67 % of the introductory psychology
textbooks and readers and 59 % of the advanced
textbooks, readers, and workbooks did not in-
clude TA in their presentations. A number of
explanations account for these data. Textbook
authors, especially in introductory psychology
texts, are faced with difficult choices in
deciding what content to include in the single
chapter allotted to personality theories and the
one chapter on therapy methods. Most chapters
on personality begin with Freud's
psychoanalytic theory and go on to discuss his
dissident followers, the neo-Freudians, and the
ego psychologists. The author(s) has yet to
discuss the humanistic-existential theorists, the
behaviorists, the cognitive and cognitive-
behavioral theorists, and other theories in order
to provide the student with a balanced
presentation.
Authors face the same problem with the
therapy chapter; many of the major concepts
in psychoanalysis, such as free association,
transference, resistance, dream content, cathar-
sis, etc., need to be described, along with
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HOWARD 1. DOUGLASS

Table 10
Citations of TA Authors and References
Author Date Title IPT APTW&R Totals

Berne, E. 1964 Games People Play 8 7 15

Harris, T. 1969 I'm OK-You're OK 2 4 6

Berne, E. 1972 What Do You Say

After You Say Hello? 3 2 5

Berne, E. 1961 TA in Psychotherapy 3 4

Steiner, C. 1974 Scripts People Live 2 3

Berne, E. 1966 Principles of Group

Treatment 0 2 2

Berne, E. 1976 Beyond Games and

Scripts 1 2

Berne, E. 1958 Amer. Journal of

Psychotherapy, 12 1 0

Berne, E. 1971 Sex in Human Loving 0 1

Bredehoft, D. J. 1986 Trans. Anal. J., 16 0

Douglas, L. 1986 Trans. Anal. J., 16 0

Dusay, J. M. 1977 Egograms 0 1

Harris, A. B. & T. A. 1985 Staying OK 1 0

James, M. 1977 Techniques in TA 0 1

Kapur, R. & Miller, K. 1987 Trans. Anal. J., 17 1 0

Krausz, R. 1986 Trans. Anal. J., 16 0

Nykodym, N. et al. 1986 Trans. Anal. J., 16 0

Steiner, C. 1969 Quart. J. Studies of

Alcohol, 30 0

Steiner, C. 1971 Games Alcoholics Play 0

Totals 23 26 49

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 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
Rogers's and Perls' s humanistic-existential
therapies and the cognitive therapies developed
by people such as Ellis, Bandura, and Lazarus.
The same problem occurs in the advanced
courses textbooks, especially Psychology of
Adjustment and Abnormal Psychology texts,
becausethere again only one chapter is assigned
to personality theories and one to therapy
methods. Only in Theories of Personality text-
books do authors have the opportunity to assign
one theory per chapter.
KnowledgeBase. In addition to space restric-
tions, much of American psychologicalthought
is heavily-centered in concepts from the late
1800's to early 1900's, and many authors are
unwilling to leave this secure knowledge base
to consider developments of the late 19OOs.
Cognitive Orientation. Another factor con-
tributing to the low citation index for TA is that
most academic psychologists-those most likely
to write textbooks-are oriented toward a
.cognitive perspective on human behavior, not
only in personality theory and therapy, but also
in other substantive areas such as social
psychology and developmental psychology.
Although they may understand the
psychoanalytic-TA connection, this awareness
may serve to reduce their desire to describe TA,
precisely because it is associated with
psychoanalysis and is therefore not cognitive-
ly oriented.
The Inclusion of TA in Textbooks. Having
focused on the degree to which TA is not in-
cluded in psychology textbooks, it is also im-
portant to note that many other important
psychotherapy theories are also not described
in these texts. Perhaps given the competition
for space, TA theory has a higher citation in-
dex than the majority of other theories, except
the established, traditional modalities.
Moreover, since TA has been an established
modality for only 25 years, its progress may
be considered quite satisfactory, although it has
not achieved the prominence accorded to
Gestalt therapy.
Placement Ambiguity, Considered as a unit,
Tables 3 and 4 show the ambiguity existing in
these textbooks about where to place TA as a
therapeutic modality. Compared to Gestalt
therapy, which is clearly identified under the
humanistic-existential rubric, TA appears to
lack a well defined position among therapeutic
modalities. This may be due, in part, to the
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failure of textbook authors to understand that
it is one of the current ego psychology exten-
sions of psychoanalysis. This supposition is
validated by the way the concept of scripts was
handled. As previously noted, only two of the
eleven introductory psychology textbooks
described TA scripts; six others described
scripts as a part of schemas, quite unrelated to
TA scripts. As Table 5 shows, only six (26%)
of the 23 texts described the script concept.
This suggests various explanations, none of
which were validated by the data obtained in
this summary. However, only the introductory
psychology books referred to scripts as a part
of schemas (Abelson, 1976); in the advanced
psychology texts Berne's definition of script
was cited whenever scripts were discussed.
TA as "Pop" Psychology. Given the am-
biguity of the placement of TA among
psychotherapeutic modalities and the descrip-
tion of the theory in terms of first-order, struc-
tural ego states, it is easy to understand how
textbook authors could view TA as a "pop"
psychology, not in the same league with
psychoanalysis or other traditional modalities,
particularly because TA's vocabulary is based
on everyday words such as Child, Adult, and
Parent. Further, if authors do not view TA as
a present-day extension of psychoanalysis, that
is, one of the ego psychologies, they may not
understand its heritage and may think of it as
"popping" out from nowhere with Berne's
(1964) publication of Games People Play.
Their lack of understanding may be an impor-
tant reason for the absence of TA in these
textbooks.
However, authors may also follow conser-
vative guidelines in choosing text content in
order to ensure that their books will be used
by professors, who tend to be conservative in
their approach to psychological knowledge.
Many psychology professors will not adopt
texts unless they are science-based and have a
logical connection to prior truths. At the pre-
sent time, TA is neither science-based nor are
its logical connections widely known among
non-TA psychologists. For example, the
previous discussion of script theory testifies to
the wide chasm between TA script theory and
script theory being developed in psychological
research studies. Consequently, when introduc-
tory psychology textbook authors describe
script theory, they choose the research-based
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HOWARD J. DOUGLASS
version rather than the TA version. In advanced
psychology texts, authors have more freedom
to choose, and if they include script theory at
all, they tend to favor the TA version rather
than the research-based version. All the forego-
ing is based on speculation; empirical research
evidence is needed to determine authors' at-
titudes about TA and related topics.
Diversity of the Presentations. As Table 5
shows in a general sense and Table 7 shows
specifically in relation to transactions, neither
introductory nor advanced texts provided a con-
sistent portrayal of major TA concepts.
Together the tables give the impression of TA
as an elaborate Rorschach protocol from which
textbook authors selected combinations of con-
cepts, some of them more general and all-
encompassing and some of them more detail-
ed with regard to TA theory and therapy. This
diversity can be explained in various ways, but
since the authors do not indicate how the con-
cepts were chosen, a discussion of these ex-
planations would be purely speculative.
Comparisons ofIntroductory and Advanced
Textbook Groups. Tables 6 and 8 suggest that
the introductory psychology textbooks are
slightly more systematic than the advanced texts
in their presentations of the three basic areas
of TA-structural, transactional, and game
analyses and complementary and crossed
transactions-although in neither table were the
differences in the citation indices statistically
significant. The summary of the textbook
categories coverage suggests that advanced
textbooks provide more comprehensive
coverage, at least in the case of Psychology of
Adjustment textbooks and workbooks. The
other two courses, Theories of Personality and
Abnormal Psychology, were not as comprehen-
sive in their presentations as were the Introduc-
tory Psychology textbooks.
Advanced psychology texts provide descrip-
tions of the same material contained in in-
troductory textbooks, perhaps because the
authors assume that advanced students have not
learned about TA in introductory psychology,
a reasonable assumption given that only about
a third of the introductory psychology texts pre-
sent material on TA. However, because the ad-
vanced texts present basic material-limited,
for the most part, to first-order structural ego
states, transactions, and games analysis-
advanced students never learn about advanced
J08
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TA concepts or the power of TA in analyzing
script behavior and its conceptual similarity in
many ways to psychoanalysis. Thus students
are left with a view of TA based heavily in
behavior psychology and fail to understand how
TA therapy is an important method for in-
tervening in serious abnormal behaviors.
First-Order Ego State Theory and Therapy.
None of the descriptions in either the introduc-
tory or advanced texts went beyond a descrip-
tion of the first-order structural (phenom-
enological) ego state model (Trautmann & Er-
skine, 1981). The Child was described, in
general, as the feeling aspect of the personali-
ty; the Adult, as the computer aspect; and the
Parent as the critical, rule-bound aspect. Thus
students are left with an unsophisticated
understanding of ego states which does not help
them to understand the more sophisticated
dynamics of their own or others' behavior.
Historical Presentation of TA. As Table 10
shows, Berne's seven publications were cited
more frequently than any other author's work,
suggesting that textbook authors regard him as
the euhemerist of TA much as they do Freud
for psychoanalysis. Although the number of
Berne citations is understandable, at the same
time, they give a view of TA which is more
than two decades old. Seven other TA publica-
tions with copyright dates from 1969 to 1985,
with only one of them published in the 1980s,
were also used as references. Only one of the
23 textbook authors (McConnell, 1989) includ-
ed current articles from the Transactional
Analysis Journal. From this we may infer that
students using these textbooks are learning TA
concepts that are one-and-a-half to two decades
old, and that they are not being exposed to some
of the exciting developments in TA that have
occurred in the last decade.
Summary and Conclusions
This review of current textbooks, readers,
and workbooks for four American college
psychology courses provides a comprehensive
analysis of the way TA is presented to college
students in the United States today. The data
presented support the following conclusions:
a. TA is not widely represented in either in-
troductory or advanced psychology textbooks.
b. It has no well-defined position as a
therapeutic modality.
c. When included in introductory psychology
Transactional Analysis Journal
 TA IN AMERICAN COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
textbooks, TA is described somewhat more
systematically and somewhat less comprehen-
sively than in the descriptions provided by ad-
vanced psychology texts.
d. Both introductory and advanced textbooks
describe TA based on historical concepts that
picture it as a social control therapy.
Proposed Uses of this Survey. The data and
conclusions from this survey might be used by
the ITAA as the basis for forming a standing
committee to assist authors and publishers in
portraying TA in a clear, concise, and
systematic fashion in introductory and advanced
psychology textbooks. The committee's first
function might be to establish guidelines or
standards. Recognizing that there is usually not
space to include all the topics discussed in a TA
101 course, the committee might consider the
minimum number of topics an introductory and
an advanced undergraduate student studying
psychology should know upon completion of
the TA segment of instruction. Further, the
guidelines might establish the most effective
order in which to present TA material. Authors
could then select TA principles that fit their
understanding and writing styles, but at the
same time, the committee could provide some
guidance about which TA principles should
take priority and in which order they would be
presented most effectively.
Suggestions for Future Action. With or
without the ITAA guidelines, Certified
Members might volunteer to consult with
authors or textbook publishers and to read and
comment on therapy chapters in general or on
TA material specifically. Further assistance to
authors might be given by college professors
who are well-versed in TA theory and therapy
and who could provide feedback directly to
them in letters or by talking with publishers'
representatives who periodically visit their
offices.
Howard J. Douglass, Ph.D., is on the faculty
of the Department of Psychology, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and has a private prac-
tice in clinicalpsychology in Albany, New York.
Please send requestsfor reprints or the textbook
database of this study to Dr. Douglass at the
Department of Psychology, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590,
USA.
Vol. 20. No.2, April 1990
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