Jeffrey Parkman

File:Parkman Portrait.gif

Professor Jeffrey Parkman

Description

I am a staff psychologist specializing in dreams and nightmares. My practice is set up on the University of Southern California campus where I also teach and do research.

Currently, I'm doing a study on a certain class of nightmares, "night terrors", which have a strong physiological component. Additionally, local law enforcement occasionally makes use of my abilities as a psychic investigator.

As loath as I am to admit it, my drinking has become a problem. I must get it under control, Anne deserves better.

Case Files

• House on Bunker Hill
• The Dark Man

Timeline

Time	World and California History	Dark Jazz History
3000 BC		Originally dreams were thought to be part of the supernatural world.  Dreams were messages from the gods sent to the villagers during the night perhaps as an early warning device for disaster or good fortune.  From what we can tell, the Egyptians certainly were the first dreamers to attempt interpretation of their dreams, because of the fact that they published a book on some of the conclusions they had come to about dream symbols.  In fact, Egypt was where the process of "dream incubation" began.  When a person was having troubles in their life and wanted help from their god, they would sleep in a temple, when they would wake the next morning a priest, which was then called a Master of the Secret Things, would be consulted for the interpretations of that night's dreams.
1900 BC		There is an ancient belief that dreams predict the future; the Chester Beatty Papyrus is a record of Egyptian dream interpretations dating from the 12th dynasty (1991–1786 BCE).
1715 BC		Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream as foretelling that seven years of abundance would be followed by seven years of famine and advises the king to appoint some able man to store the surplus grain during the period of abundance. Pleased with his interpretation, Pharaoh makes him viceroy over Egypt,
700 BC		Greeks also believed that dreams carried divine messages, but they could only be interpreted with the aid of a priest similar to those of the Babylonians and Egyptians.  It was from these two groups the Greeks also inherited many occult techniques. Dreams also aided in their practice of medicine, sending sick people to particular temples in those places where the "gods of the body" had their shrines.  The ailing Greeks would visit these temples, perform various religious rites, sleep, and hope to have a dream that assured a return to good health.  Night after night they would sleep and sometimes this would go on for weeks or even months until they had the "right" dream.  The most famous for dream pilgrimage was the Aesculapius at Epidaurus.
600 BC		Daniel, a young Jew, rises to power as an adviser to the Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel is described as possessing the power of prophecy from visions that he has in dreams.
400 BC		Hippocrates practiced dream therapy, encouraged dream incubation, and taught about the therapeutic powers of dreams.
387 BC		Plato suggested that the brain is the mechanism of mental processes.
350 BC		Aristotle finally put an end to Heraditus' idea that dreams were messages from the gods. He began to study dreams and the dreaming process in a rational way.  In his De divinatione per somnum, he states, "most so-called prophetic dreams are to be classed as mere coincidences, especially all such as are extravagant," and later includes that "the most skillful interpreter of dreams is he who has the faculty of absorbing resemblances.  I mean that dream presentations are analogous to the forms reflected in water."  Aristotle's Parva naturalia suggests that dreams are in fact believed to be a recollection of the days events.
335 BC		Aristotle suggested that the heart is the mechanism of mental processes.
150		The Oneirocriticon or The Interpretation of Dreams by the Roman Artemidorus is the first comprehensive book on the interpretation of dreams.  In this five-volume work, Artemidorus brought out the idea that dreams are unique to the dreamer.  He believed that it was the person's occupation, social status and health would affect the symbols in a dream.  Although he was a brilliant man, his interpretations were often extremely shrewd.  A man by the name of
350		Astrampsychus wrote a second Oneirocriticon, which somewhat resembled the dream books produced by the Victorians.  This book contained a few ideas that were somewhat outrageous such as "To wear a purple robe threatens a long disease" and "To hold or eat eggs symbolizes vexation."  However, some of the axioms held true to today's interpretations, such as "Sitting naked signifies loss of property."
1637		French philosopher Renê Descartes publishes Discourse on Method
1649		René Descartes postulates the total separation of body and soul in the book Passions of the Soul
1675 July 4 - 1676 August 12	King Philip's War: New England Colonies vs. Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Nipmuck Indians
1689-1697	King William's War: The English Colonies vs. France
1702-1713	Queen Anne's War: The English Colonies vs. France
1744-1748	King George's War: The French Colonies vs. Great Britain
1756-1763	French and Indian War (Seven Years War): The French Colonies vs. Great Britain
1759-1761	Cherokee War: English Colonists vs. Cherokee Indians
1774		Franz Mesmer detailed his cure for some mental illness, originally called mesmerism and now known as hypnosis.
1775-1783	American Revolution: English Colonists vs. Great Britain
1793		Philippe Pinel released the first mental patients from confinement in the first massive movement for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.
1798-1800	Franco-American Naval War: United States vs. France
1801-1805; 1815	Barbary Wars: United States vs. Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli
1808		Franz Gall wrote about phrenology (the idea that a person's skull shape and placement of bumps on the head can reveal personality traits.
1812-1815	War of 1812: United States vs. Great Britain
1813-1814	Creek War: United States vs. Creek Indians
1834		Ernst Heinrich Weber published his perception theory of 'Just Noticeable DIfference,' now known as Weber's Law.
1836	War of Texas Independence: Texas vs. Mexico
1846-1848	Mexican War: United States vs. Mexico
1848		Phineas Gage suffered brain damage when an iron pole pierces his brain.  His personality was changed but his intellect remained intact suggesting that an area of the brain plays a role in personality.
1859		Charles Darwin published the On the Origin of Species, detailing his view of evolution and expanding on the theory of 'Survival of the fittest.'
1861		French physician Paul Broca discovered an area in the left frontal lobe that plays a key role in language development.
1861-1865	Civil War: Union vs. Confederacy
1869		Sir Francis Galton, Influenced by Charles Darwin's 'Origin of the Species,' publishes 'Hereditary Genius,' and argues that intellectual abilities are biological in nature.
1874		Carl Wernicke published his work on the frontal lobe, detailing that damage to a specific area damages the ability to understand  or produce language
1878		G. Stanley Hall received the first American Ph.D. in psychology.  He later founded the American Psychological Association.
1879		Wilhelm Wundt founded the first formal laboratory of Psychology at the University of Leipzig, marking the formal beginning of the study of human emotions, behaviors, and cognitions.
1883		The first laboratory of psychology in America is established at Johns Hopkins University.
1885		Herman Ebbinghaus introduced the nonsense syllable as a means to study memory processes.
1886		Sigmund Freud began performing therapy in Vienna, marking the beginning of personality theory.
1890		The term "Mental Tests" was coined by James Cattell, beginning the specialization in psychology now known as psychological assessment.
1890		Sir Francis Galton developed the technique known as the correlation to better understand the interrelationships in his intelligence studies.
1890		William James published 'Principles of Psychology,' that later became the foundation for functionalism.
1890		New York State passed the State Care Act, ordering indigent mentally ill patients out of poor-houses and into state hospitals for treatment and developing the first institution in the U.S. for psychiatric research.
1892		My older sister, Cynthia is born.
1892		Foundation of the American Psychological Association (APA) headed by G. Stanley Hall, with an initial membership of 42.
1895 September 21		I am born, Jeffery Greg Parkman, to Victor and Millie Parkman in Orange County, California.
1895		Alfred Binet founded the first laboratory of psychodiagnosis.
1896		Writings by John Dewey began the school of thought known as functionalism.
1896		The first psychological clinic was developed at the University of Pennsylvania marking the birth of clinical psychology.
1898 February 15	An explosion occurrs on the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.
1898	Spanish-American War: United States vs. Spain	My Uncle Bill is killed in the Spanish-American War. (I turn 3 this year.)
1898		Edward Thorndike developed the 'Law of Effect,' arguing that "a stimulus-response chain is strengthened if the outcome of that chain is positive."
1900		Nikola Tesla secures the patents for the radio.
1900		Sigmund Freud published 'Interpretation of Dreams' marking the beginning of Psychoanalytic Thought.
1901	McKinley assassinated - Roosevelt succeeds McK. - Picasso's Blue Period - J.P. Morgan organizes US Steel Corporation
1901	Union Labor Party (ULP), a political party which ostensibly represented the interests of the city's workingmen…, is formed.	The British Psychological Society was founded.
1902	Trans-Pacific telephone cable connects Canada and Australia.	Nikola Tesla, with investments from various businessmen, creates the first radio network.
1903	Wright brothers made their first powered flight in a biplane.
1905		Alfred Binet's Intelligence Test was published in France.
1905	The San Francisco Chronicle launches a series which accuses Japanese immigrants of debauching white women, deliberately undermining the school system, and causing crime and poverty in California. The series inspires the founding of The Japanese and Korean Exclusion League with 80,000 members.	After years of depression following the death of her husband, Bill, my Auntie Mine begins seeing a psychologist, Dr. Ansher. Antie Mine’s dramatic recovery makes a strong and lasting impression on me. (I turn 10 this year.)
1906		The Journal of Abnormal Psychology was founded by Morton Prince.
1906		Ivan Pavlov published the first studies on Classical Conditioning.
1906 April 18	San Francisco was wrecked by a Great Earthquake and then destroyed by the seventh Great Fire that burned for four days.
1907	Organized labor in San Francisco exercises "more power and influence than labor in any other major American metropolitan area." At this time, with the city considered a "closed shop" town and labor firmly in control of its political machinery, circumstances begin to change. Between 1905 and the street railway strike of May 1907, an earthquake, charges of corruption against the mayor and almost all the supervisors, and a struggle for political control between local reform elements and controlling labor interests changed San Francisco politics.
1908	The FBI originated from a force of Special Agents created in 1908 by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.
1910	Angel Island opens. Angel Island serves as a point of entry to the United States for many immigrants. Like Ellis Island in New York, it processes the entry of people from different parts of the world. Unlike Ellis Island, it also serves as a prison for hundreds of Chinese immigrants. The immigration compound at Angel Island was built to enforce an exclusionary law passed in 1882. This law, The Chinese Exclusion Act, was passed to deny entry to Chinese
1911 October 10	In California a special election was held to vote on Senate Constitutional Amendment no. 8 granting suffrage to women. The amendment passed by a margin of 3,507 votes.	I begin courting Anne Worthly. I’m a junior in high school, she’s a freshman. (I turn 16 this year.)
1911		Edward Thorndike published first article on animal intelligence leading to the theory of Operant Conditioning.
1911		Alfred Adler left Freud's Psychoanalytic Group to form his own school of thought, accusing Freud of overemphasizing sexuality and basing his theory on his own childhood.
1912	Japanese Americans owned 12,726 acres of farmland in California.	Max Wertheimer published research on the perception of movement, marking the beginnings of Gestalt Psychology.
1912 April 15	Titanic sinks
1913		I am accepted to USC. (I turn 18 this year.)
1913	California Alien Land Law prohibited "aliens ineligible to citizenship" (ie. all Asian immigrants) from owning land or property, but permitted three year leases.	John E. Watson published 'Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It' marking the beginnings of Behavioral Psychology.
1913	Congress passed the 16th Amendment creating the federal income tax.	Carl G. Jung departed from Freudian views and developed his own theories citing Freud's inability to acknowledge religion and spirituality.  His new school of thought became known as Analytical Psychology.
1914-1918	World War I: Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary vs. Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia.
1916	By mid-1916, after viewing the carnage in Europe, the United States saw itself poised with great reluctance on the edge of participation in World War I. Isolationism and anti-preparedness feeling remained strong in San Francisco, not only among radicals such as the Industrial Workers of the World (otherwise known as the IWW, or the Wobblies), but also among responsible labor leaders. At the same time, with the rise of Bolshevism and labor unrest, San Francisco's business community was nervous. The Chamber of Commerce organized a Law and Order Committee, despite the diminishing influence and political clout of local labor organizations. Radical labor was a small but vociferous minority which few took seriously. Violence, however, was imminent. The huge Preparedness Day parade of Saturday, July 22, 1916, was the target date. A radical pamphlet of mid-July read in part, "We are going to use a little direct action on the 22nd to show that militarism can't be forced on us and our children without a violent protest." At 2:06 pm, about half an hour into the parade, a bomb exploded on the west side of Steuart Street, just south of Market Street, near the Ferry Building. The bomb was concealed in a suitcase; ten bystanders were killed and forty wounded in the worst terrorist act in San Francisco history.	Stanford-Binet intelligence test was published in the United States.
1917	The United States joins The War on the side of the Triple Entente.	I serve in The War as an M.P.
1917		Robert Yerkes (President of APA at the time) developed the Army Alpha and Beta Tests to measure intelligence in a group format.  The tests were adopted for use with all new recruits in the U.S. military a year later.
1918 November 11	At eleven o’clock the war ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice.
1919 January 29	The 18th Amendment is ratified, it will bann the "manufacture, sale, or transport of intoxicating liquor."
1919	One of the worst race riots in the country started in Chicago with the drowning of a black child in a white swimming area. The riot was fueled by white fears that blacks would try to move out of the "Black Belt" on the south side of Chicago into white communities.	I graduate from USC with a B.S. in Psychology. I am accepted into Miskatonic University’s Psychology Department’s PhD program. (I turn 24 this year.)
1920 January 29	The 18th Amendment goes into effect.
1920	When Roger Baldwin founds the ACLU. Citizens are sitting in jail for holding antiwar views. U.S. Attorney General Palmer is conducting raids upon aliens suspected of holding unorthodox opinions. Racial segregation is the law of the land and violence against blacks is routine. Sex discrimination is firmly institutionalized.	John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner published the Little Albert experiments, demonstrating that fear could be classically conditioned.
1921	Immigration laws drastically cut the number of foreigners allowed in the U.S. to prevent further overcrowding in cities and to raise wages. Fear and intolerance led to further cuts aimed at southern and eastern European and Asian immigrants.	Psychological Corporation launched the first psychological test development company, not only commercializing psychological testing, but allowing testing to take place at offices and clinics rather than only at universities and research facilities.
1921	Arbuckle, Roscoe 'Fatty', 1887 - present, screen comedian. Grown-up fat boy of American silent cinema, his career is ruined after his involvement in a scandal in which starlet Virginia Rappe died.	I publish my first paper--The Interpretation of Dreams in the Criminally Insane--in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. (I turn 26 this year.)
1922	In Ozawa v. U.S., the Supreme Court reaffirmed that Asian immigrants were not eligible for naturalization.
1923		I successfully defend my PhD thesis on Night Terrors. (I turn 28 this year.)
1923		I take a job as a staff psychologist at USC. In addition to my practice, I teach a few classes and pursue my research.
1923		I marry Anne Worthy.
1924		The LAPD begins occasionally making use of my abilities as a psychic investigator.

See also

Parkman Institute