Foreword to the First Edition

In the beginning, when there were only a few psychologists (in 1892 the new American Psychological Association had 31 charter members), there were some who could reasonably be described as possessing the whole, or at least a significant part, of psychology in their consciousness. However, the ability to speak with authority on the whole of the field of psychology is now no longer in the hands of any single person or source. The tradition of the comprehensive history of the whole field is still with us in the vast textbooks that now introduce the area to so many students—some of which have almost a thousand pages! But we must grant that the task is an impossible one, and anyone who attempts to carry it out will face serious problems. Someone smart enough to solve this problem is smart enough not to try. But if being smart is not enough and we do decide to take on the task, who will be selected to undertake it, and how will they be instructed to go about the actual work? What criteria of selection are in play? If your favorite topic is included, is something else that I really like going to be excluded? Psychology's history, even if confined to the United States since 1879, is so large and so various that it is probably beyond attempts to cover the whole field in any comprehensive manner. If psychology is too large and too variable to be totally inclusive, then we have a similar problem in the selection of the observers. There is no one today who would be so bold as to present him- or herself as having a complete grasp of the whole of the field, to be able to present the kind of detailed, thoughtful history that the readers may reasonably expect. The editor of the History of Psychology has found a solution to these problems in the judicious sampling of the content areas and the careful selection of authors to write about them, while also allowing the authors the intellectual freedom to deal with the content as their experience and consideration allow. History of Psychology is a unique volume. There is nothing quite like it available for the individual scholar or students, and so it fills a rather special and useful niche that would otherwise be vacant. Partly, this is done by using a team of experts in the many topic areas into which contemporary psychology may be compartmentalized. And this new account of an old program is broadened by the recognition that modern psychology acknowledges that it is an applied technology as well as an academic, "scientific" discipline, in which the preservation and acquisition of knowledge about the subject matter is an end in itself. History of Psychology is intended to be graduate-level text or even appropriate at an advanced undergraduate level. It may also serve as a resource for those seeking a historical overview of a number of the scientific and professional areas in the vast field of psychology. It is apparent to the editor and the authors that the division of pure versus applied, academic versus guild, and so forth, break down and that psychologists work in both an area of investigation and one of application. The selection of authors is worth noticing. Several of the authors are universally recognized as noted scientists and have been leaders in their respective fields for years. But a number are young and drawn from the pool of new historians by choice. Many psychologists are unaware that there is a whole cohort of (mostly young) psychologists whose involvement in the history of psychology is not just a hobby or peripheral interest. These people are committed to psychology as their major discipline but are also fully committed to the study and writing of good histories of psychology. The era when history was taught by the oldest or youngest member of the department by default is long past, and now there is a cadre of skilled, sophisticated scholars who are committed to creating a quality history of psychology. The authors have striven to present a text that may well serve as a milestone in the continuing quest to document our growing and diverse field of psychology. John A. Popplestone Director Emeritus Archives of the History of American Psychology

Charter · Consciousness · Face (sociological concept) · Field (mathematics) · Political science · Selection (genetic algorithm) · Social science · Sociology · Task (project management) · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Engineering · Law · Mathematics · Psychology