Unconscious (Rhetorical) Motivations

By Iris C. Rotberg

Reports of the decline of psychoanalysis are premature. The test below, which requires matching the rhetoric of school reform in Column I with its psychological counterparts in Column II, is designed to assess the unconscious motivations that may underlie your school reform preferences. The test is designed for diagnostic purposes only, and the results will be held in strict confidentiality. Your individual scores will not be used to determine your eligibility for positions in education or public policy, or even your need for therapy. Nor will rankings by schools, states, or nations appear in the press. (Correct answers are listed below.)

1. My reforms will solve the problem.

2. First in...