Center for Advanced Psychology

Center for Advanced Psychology is a non-profit organization aimed at promoting new and groundbreaking approaches to the field of psychology. It was created by Dr. Codrin Stefan Tapu, the founder of the hypostatic personality theory and of hypostatic personality psychopathology. The Center's team is committed to help adding a human touch to an increasingly technological world.

We believe that psychology is life, and it should improve life. This is a psychology portal dedicated to you, whether you are a psychologist or not. It provides psychological, as well as general information and tools for your everyday life.

Initially a branch of the Center for Personality Research, the Center for Advanced Psychology is inspired by the ideas of biologist Constantin S. Tapu (1935-1988). His vision led him to state that all living organisms, vegetal and animal alike, reveal themselves in a wealth of aspects, regards, respects, or simply put, hypostases.

The hypostatic theory of personality was created by Dr. Codrin Stefan Tapu, and it is presented extensively in his book, "Hypostatic Personality: Psychopathology of Doing and Being Made" (2001).  New! Buy this book now.

 The Center conducts hypostatic research on personality; it also publishes psychological articles that rely on any contemporary theoretical background, particularly the ones that are based on integrative and unified approaches ( e.g. social cognitive, humanistic).

Mark Snyder, Chairman 

Peter Thompson, Vice President 

 The model presented here is the outcome of  Dr. Tapu's research on the foundation and evaluation of a comprehensive methodology of personality assessment and therapy.

Laying on a long-standing tradition, the systemic orientation in psychology (in its broadest sense) gave birth in the 20th century to a series of theories and models of personality.

In the humanistic-systemic, or hypostatic perspective, personality consists of four subsystems (or "hypostases"): cognitive ('Homo Sapiens' - the intelligent and creative person), linguistic ('Homo Loquens' - the speaking and communicating person), energetic or motivational ('Homo Potens' - the powerful person), and pragmatic or actional ('Homo Faber' - the productive person) - see Figure 1.

These subsystems of content are being bound in emerging functional couples, of two kinds:

- Psychical axes: cognitive-pragmatic (adaptive) axis, and linguistic-energetic (regulative) axis;

- Peripheral psychical dyads.

While the axes are supporting the global adaptation of the person and its superior regulation respectively, the dyads are each coordinating one of the specific types of activity within the broad adaptation process, as follows: the cognitive-linguistic dyad - cognitive activities, the cognitive-energetic dyad - affective activities, the linguistic-pragmatic dyad - practical activities, and the energetic-pragmatic dyad - non-verbal social behavior ('expression').

In this manner, the model provides a tree-leveled image of psychological functioning, with a subsystemic level, a coordinating, functional couples level, and a global activity level.

In addition to the active ('doing') dimension of personality just described, there is also a constitutive ('being made') dimension, including the constitutive axes - each one of them formed of a mental content (trait), a function related to it, and their brain and environmental correlates, respectively. Each one of the constitutive axes consists of two inter-generated couples: one formed by the brain factor and a psychological function, generating a psychological content or trait, and the other one formed by the psychological content and an environmental correlate, generating the psychological function. For example, aggressive behavior is determined by environmental factors and aggressiveness, whereas aggressiveness itself, as a trait, is the product of both brain predisposition and aggressive behavior.

This constitutive model creates a frame for analysis of the dynamic and interactive psychological function, content, and development.

The theoretical framework supports a methodology that comprises techniques of assessment, psychotherapy and human optimization corresponding to the mind's "couples of forces". Such techniques are: the expressive technique of blindfolded drawing, the cognitive, "life philosophy" technique, life episodes assessment (an affective technique), "self-coverage" and self-report (adaptive techniques), the practical technique of expression control, the hierarchy of wishes (a regulative technique).

The model implies several areas of research:

1. Area of development assessment. The functional couples methodology permits a complex assessment of development, through the method of causal-dynamic analysis, which studies psychological development and the dynamic forces that propel it;

2. Area of present personality assessment uses the following methods:

- The human liberty test; it assesses the degree of liberty of the behavior as an indicator of mental health;

- The test of prints of consciousness; it measures the degree of organization and stability of the activity, assessing the functional disorders of behavior;

3. Area of psychotherapy involves, among other things, the method of relational therapy, which addresses the disorders of specific interpersonal communicational relations.

The research on diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders led the author to put forward a classification of those disorders based on some discoveries made on their manifestations and causes. This classification includes axial, dyadic, structural, and relational disorders.

The research conducted on the relation between biological and psychological behaviors shows that in normal circumstances the two are not internally connected, instead forming a rather contiguous entity. Their "systemization" only takes place in disorders involving asthenic phenomena.

The work remains open to researchers and therapists who want to join one of the new ways to the human mind.

Now you can browse psychology sites and more with new, unique facilities.

WorldOS is a Linux-based multimedia operating system on a live installable DVD, the latter complete with OpenOffice.org suite.

CommandOS is an e-reading-oriented operating system on a live USB.

E-Workspace is a new type of GUI called a movie frames interface, with rich internet applications running in a set of frames which can be scrolled vertically on the screen.

Dual Browser Interface. This application was created through cognitive interface design research conducted by our Center. That research showed that many intermediate and advanced web surfers preferred a dual organization of their work fields. This led to the design of a browsing window with two stacked frames that made parallel browsing very easy. But dual browsing is more than parallel browsing - it is a synchronized browsing. Browsing through the history list affects both viewports, prompting the user to keep the two threads of browsing synchronized. This way, the information of the two threads can be integrated, better serving the goals of the user. The same research suggested that users needed an integrated browsing environment, regardless of the local browsers installed on their computers.

Face to Face is a complete web desktop, with a browser, complete office package, and access to various types of web applications and resources.

CAP Browser is a small, basic web browser and file manager interface for Windows.

Our toolbar (for IE and Firefox) provides quick access to CAdPsy site, email, various search engines, and many useful gadgets.

These products are gateways to what could be called "the metanet experience", or the second order internet experience, which is a virtual experience of an already virtual world, a net beyond the net, a truly psychologically friendly Internet.

After you try our products, please do not forget to send us your answers to this short Metanet Experience Survey.