Psychology Reconstructed

Reviews the book, Psychology's Ghosts: The Crisis in the Profession and the Way Back by Jerome Kagan (see record 2011-29271-000). In his book, Kagan argues that psychology evolved from a discipline that in its earliest stages emulated physics, studying the nature of perception and emotion, as well as experiences outside the brain. Now, 140ish years later, psychology focuses on questionnaires to examine mental states. Kagan criticizes this approach for several reasons. Kagan’s book is not an easy read: It is an intellectual tour de force, a march of sorts, across the sea of psychology, history, and his own past. Kagan has written a provocative and challenging book. One of the more intriguing aspects of Psychology’s Ghosts is that it does provide a template for students and the profession to carefully consider whether our science matches our clinical practice. This consideration, in turn, provides a moment to determine whether we as psychologists feel a moral obligation to match science to practice for those we so zealously purport to serve. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)