2004.01.24. The meeting of history of psychology

Paper prepared for the Meeting on
History of Psychology, Kyoto, in the
vicinity of Karasuma Kyoto Hotel
January, 24, 2004

GLORY AND MISERY OF FAME IN PSYCHOLOGY:
Hero-myths in the making of a social science

Jaan Valsiner
(JValsiner@clarku.edu)
Department of Psychology
Clark University
Worcester, Ma. 01610, USA

Abstract

Two processes are described that are claimed to be involved in making of the future-oriented discourse of history of psychology-the socio-moralistic sieve of the society (SMSS) and proximate utopian attractor (PUA). The SMSS is a selection device that rules out different idea systems in the given discipline at different times. What SMSS selects as viable idea systems would then be subjected to the projections into the future in terms of PUA. Long-term limited unavailability of the translated texts enables (rather than restricts) the work of SMSS/PUA system. Perhaps a general phenomenon similar to the Zeigarnik Effect is at work-until the information is available, the perspective is easily made appealing by the "unfinished" nature of the idea complex and lack of knowledge of its historical context. Lev Vygotsky's legacy is a good example-- the notions of method of double stimulation and historical nature of human psychological functions are left for future construction of ideas in psychology. Why was Vygotsky's theory so neglected, particularly in America from immediately after the 2nd World War to the early 1980's? Why has Vygotsky's idea complex become more popular in some scholarly communities during the last decade or so? This leads to a central issue-how do sciences in general (and social sciences in particular) use different re-writings of their own histories to guide their current development?

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