History and Systems of Psychology

Post-System Psychology

Some of those same forces that led to the intellectual ferment reflected in the existential and humanistic roots of the third force movement described in Chapter 18 also had an impact on the social changes that marked the second half of the twentieth century. Higher education in the United States became more accessible and expanded exponentially, a development that spread worldwide as the century ended. Greater career opportunities for women, in particular, brought both talent and creativity to psychology's research agenda. For obvious reasons, psychology was at the center of these changes within the university arena as well as in an increasingly broadened field of research. By the turn of the twentieth century, psychology was interacting with other disciplines as one of many perspectives contributing to the advancement of our understanding of ourselves; in turn, this fertile interaction has given rise to new areas of investigation, such as cognitive science and neuroscience.

As psychology moved into the twenty-first century, a transition was evident. Specifically, the psychology that emerged from the period of identifiable, contrasting systems of psychological inquiry evolved toward a greater emphasis on positivism through data collection, in an apparent return toward psychology's empirical roots. This transition did not occur all at once, with a universal rejection of strict adherence to particular systems or a retreat from the search for meta-theories. Rather, there was a trend toward investigation of particular issues, which indicated a specific research strategy; the systems themselves were less likely to dictate the issues of importance. Some limited influences from earlier systems of psychology remained and were represented by psychologists who placed varying emphases on the underlying philosophical bases of one or more of the systems. Contemporary American psychology may be described as eclectic and problem-oriented. In the applied sphere, clinical psychologists may value the techniques and research approach of behavior modification, cognitive psychology, and psychodynamic orientations, all in a mixture customized to address the problems of a given individual.

Contemporary psychology, then, is characterized as a discipline composed of various areas of study, which might include traditional psychological issues of learning, perception, development, social activity, and personality. Research efforts in certain of these areas sometimes reflect the earlier dominance of a given research strategy derived from one of the systems.