Comparison of verbatim transcripts and psychoanalytic process notes for emotion tone, abstraction, and referential activity using computerized text analysis methods

The study compared verbatim transcripts for 20 contiguous, mid-phase psychoanalytic hours with detailed process notes for the same hours. The notes were handwritten by the analyst during the sessions. The tape and note texts were separately analyzed using computerized text analysis methods. Comparisons were performed to determine (a) whether detailed process notes are analyzable using available computerized text analysis procedures, (b) whether notes contain a minimally distorted image of tapes, and (c) whether notes provide new information not contained in tapes. Three previously developed computer text analysis dictionaries were used to measure emotion tone (i.e., affect), as in free association).; Results showed that the notes average 35% of tape word volume, and largely preserve speaker identification, speaker proportions, vocabulary, and connotation. that the analyst preferentially listens for these words. This emphasis is consistent with the psychoanalytic view that articulation and integration of feelings and thoughts is central to treatment. The tape and note texts were also examined for treatment cycles defined by specific transitions in transcripts, these cycles have been previously interpreted to represent a repetitive treatment structure containing emotional arousal, free association, and working through. For 13 of the 20 sessions, two judges agreed as to the number and location of cycles. Eight matching cycles were identified. The results indicate that psychoanalytic process notes might substitute for tape transcripts in some text analysis research.