What this book is about

What exactly constitutes a field like scientific psychology? Is it constituted by its most innovative and influential contributors; by the scientific findings that it has produced; by the theories it has elaborated; by its concepts, techniques, or professional associations? Obviously, all this and more goes into the making of a field, but most of us would probably see some of these components as playing a more essential role than others. Even if were fuse to commit ourselves explicitly we are likely to imply that certain components define the field more effectively than others by the way we organize our knowledge. For example, in the systematic presentation of information derived from the field of psychology or one of its parts, the material is most commonly organized in terms of prominent contributors, important findings, or influential theories. A perhaps unintended message of such communications is that psychology is its theories, is its findings, or is its individual contributors.

The way in which we organize a field will determine the way we organize its history. If we see the field of psychology as essentially an aggregate of individual contributors, we are likely to treat the history of the subject in terms of a succession of prominent figures. If psychology is its theories or its findings, then its history will become a history of psychological theories or psychological findings. Our organization of the history of the field will also serve as a subtle justification of the way we have characterized the field in the present.