Review of Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives, second edition.

Abstract

ROBERT W. RIEBER and KURT D. SALZINGER (Eds.) Psychology: Theoretical-Historical Perspectives, Second Edition Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1999, 509 pages (ISBN 1-5579&524-3, US$49.95, Hardcover) Reviewed by IAN NICHOLSON Historians of psychology frequently grumble about the marginal status of historical scholarship within the discipline of psychology. These circumstances are not likely to change radically in the foreseeable future; however there are plenty of signs to indicate that history remains a going concern in psychology. One measure of the field's health is the re-appearance of books like Robert Rieber and Kurt Salzinger's Psychology: Theoretical-Historical Perspectives (P:THP) - a work originally published in 1980 and now available in a revised second edition. As the editors indicate in their preface, the reappearance of P:THP speaks to the persistent appetite for historical work in the wider psychological community, and of the need to reevaluate history in light of changing socio-political circumstances and disciplinary trends. Like its predecessor, P:THP, 2nd ed. is a useful volume with a broad scope and any psychologist perusing even a portion of its 500 plus pages will likely come away convinced that there is more to history than a tedious collection of names and dates. Eugene Taylor's thoughtful essay William James on the Demise of Positivism in American Psychology is a case in point. Taylor engagingly describes ways in which James has been constructed in contemporary textbooks and journals, and he highlights several intriguing discrepancies between the described James and the James that emerges from a close reading of primary source material. Reminding his readers of the precarious and complex nature of historical interpretation, Taylor is also careful to link the historical question of James' scholarly outlook to contemporary theoretical questions concerning the appropriate subject matter of psychology. With Taylor as a guide, it is easy for all but the driest of dustbowl empiricists to see the relevance of historical study to the way we understand the boundaries of scientific psychology. In 1980, P:THP was warmly received by resource strapped psychologists tasked with teaching the history of psychology to undergraduate and graduate students. The history of psychology has grown enormously in the last 20 years and there is now a multitude of journals, websites, and textbooks available to assist the instructor. P:THP will be a helpful addition to this burgeoning historiographic stockpile. It contains highly readable accounts of historically significant figures such as Vygotsky (Carl Ratner), Francis Galton (Solomon Diamond), and Wilhelm Wundt (Solomon Diamond). The work also includes accessible, historically oriented essays on some of the major paradigms in psychology. Willard Day's essay on the Historical Antecedents of Contemporary Behaviorism is a notable example, carefully chronicling a diverse network of epistemological issues that led to and influence modern behaviourism. As a pedagogical supplement and general introduction to the history of psychology field, P:THP succeeds admirably. However, in publishing a second edition, Rieber and Salzinger set themselves a more ambitious agenda. One of the goals of the was to acknowledge the growth and vibrancy of recent scholarship in the history of psychology and to present some synthesis within the confines of one book (P. …