Two fields of interest are combined in this volume: the history of science and the theory, or philosophy, of science (metascience). The result is a history of psychology with emphasis placed upon a metascientific analysis of the work of fourteen psychologists from various periods.Each analysis is set in historical context; a period or school is discussed in each chapter, together with a metascientific analysis of some major works from the respective period or school. The author employs a metascientific descriptive system or `systematology' developed during more than 30 years of work on comparative, metascientific studies of about 50 psychological theories. The results of those studies have been published in previous works.These analyses are also used here for verifying T.S. Kuhn's much-debated theory about the `revolutionary' development of sciences. The author revises Kuhn's theory and shows that it can be applied to the history of psychology. Thus, in a Kuhnian sense, psychology may be said to have had two `normal periods' and two `periods of crisis' leading to school formation.

History and Systems of Psychology provides an engaging introduction to the rich story of psychology's past. Retaining its trademark clarity and accessibility, the Eighth Edition also features expanded coverage of non-western traditions in psychology as well as added coverage of nineteenth-century advances in philosophy and science. The emergence of applications of psychology in clinical, educational, neuroscientific, and social settings are further emphasized within the twenty-first-century landscape of psychology as a cognitive and a positive science. Assuming little prerequisite knowledge, the authors discuss the people, places, and concepts that have shaped psychology's story, and show that we remain fascinated and perplexed by the same enduring questions that confronted our ancestors – namely, our wonder at our subjectivity and consciousness of self. The Eighth Edition is supported by rich online resources including a manual, test bank, and lecture slides for instructors, and study guides and links to primary source literature for students.

This book is an exploration of science in the making. It offers readers the opportunity to critically reflect on the process of development of Vygotsky's research program from the perspective of dialectics, focusing on the dramatic process of building and rebuilding cultural historical theory. Vygotsky's creative and dramatic journey is no less important than the concrete results of his research. An epistemological and historical investigation of the formulation of cultural historical theory sheds light on the process of knowledge production and reveals hidden dimensions of creativity in science.

Intellectual Journeys in Ecological Psychology: Interviews and Reflections from Pioneers in the Field presents 12 in-depth interviews with prominent scientists associated with Ecological Psychology, rooted in James Gibson’s radical approach to perception. Featuring a mix of interviews conducted around the turn of the millennium with leading figures of Ecological Psychology, the book reveals discussions not previously found in publications and authentic personal perspectives about the early days of Ecological Psychology, a significant paradigm of post-cognitivist psychology. The interviews are supplemented by current reflections that bridge the past to the present. Each interview chapter also contains a brief biography of the interviewee and a list of their top ten most significant publications. An introductory chapter by Harry Heft provides an overview of Gibson’s theory and the post-Gibsonian theoretical landscape. A further chapter by the editors highlights lineages and patterns in the scientific careers and work of the interviewees. An epilogue by William Warren concludes the volume, addressing the current state and directions of Ecological Psychology. In the Appendix photographs taken by Sverker Runeson in the 1960s and 1970s show scenes and actors from scientific event in Ecological Psychology. This book will be beneficial to all researchers and students in the international community of Ecological Psychology. It will also serve as a starting point for those who wish to learn more about the movement and origins of Ecological Psychology.

This is the first volume providing a research platform to showcase research in the field of positive psychology and well-being science in African contexts. Next to enhancing context-sensitive theory and practice on the African continent, it also contributes to the global discourse in positive psychology and facilitates the development of a science that reflects and is relevant to complexity and diversity in a globalising society. This volume brings together work from African scholars, featuring research on theoretical perspectives on well-being in Africa, measurement of well-being in Africa, manifestations and dynamics of well-being in Africa, and well-being promotion in Africa. It stimulates further research in positive psychology and well-being science in the African context and globally, and emphasises the interconnectedness and situatedness of human functioning and well-being, contributing to a more balanced perspective on well-being in an international perspective. The volume benefits researchers, students and practitioners in Africa and other international contexts who study or apply the science of positive psychology and well-being in diverse contexts. Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The current work continues Volume 8's exploration of the contribution of history to theory in psychology.

For more than half of the 20* century, psychologists sought to locate the causes of behaviour in individuals and tended to neglect the possibility of locating the psy chological in the social. In the late 1960s, a reaction to that neglect brought about a "crisis" in social psychology. This "crisis" did not affect all social psychologists; some remained seemingly oblivious to its presence; others dismissed its signifi cance and continued much as before. But, in certain quarters, the psychological was re-conceptualised as the social, and the social was taken to be sui generis. Moreover, the possibility of developing general laws and theories to describe and explain social interaction was rejected on the grounds that, as social beings, our actions vary from occasion to occasion, and are, for many reasons, unrepeatable. There is, so it was thought, an inherent instability in the phenomena of interest. The nomothetic ideal was said to rest on individualistic cause-effect positivism of the kind which (arguably) characterised the natural sciences, but social psychology (so it was said) is an historical inquiry, and its conclusions are necessarily historically relative (Gergen, 1973). Events outside psychology converged to give impetus to the "crisis" within.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the third biennial conference of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology, held in Arnhem, the Netherlands, April 17-21, 1989. Fifty-six papers were presented during the four days of the conference, including an invited address by Professor A. D. de Groot, and seven papers composing two plenary sessions, four on the con tribution of history to theory, and three on theoretical alternatives for contem porary psychology. Of these, 46 papers are presented in the proceedings; all of which suffered editorial changes and, with the exception of the invited ad dress, were required to meet a 15 page restriction on length. The editors gratefully acknowledge John Mills, Leendert Mos, and Hank Starn for their invaluable editorial assistance. The papers included here are presented without discussants' commen taries. (Over 125 psychologists participated at the conference.) While the papers are representative of the scope of topics covered at the conference, the hours of formal and informal discussions must, unfortunately, be left to the reader's imagination. We encourage the reader to attend one of our next conferences, planned biennially, and alternately, in North America (1991) and Europe (1993).

Explores the use of George Gallup's opinion polling techniques by the film industry in the 1930's and '40's. Traces Gallup's intellectual and methodological developments, examining his comprehensive approach to market research from his early education in the advertising industry to his later work in Hollywood.