DOMINIC W. MASSARO, editor
University of California, Santa Cruz

Charting the Development of the History of Psychology

Evolving Perspectives on the History of Psychology
Edited by Wade E. Pickren and Donald A. Dewsbury. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2002. ix + 608 pp. Paper, $39.95.

For many, research and writing in the history of psychology involves the description of a chronology of events in the discipline. However, there has been signifi- cant change in the nature of work in the history of psychology in the last 30 years. This change can be characterized as a shift from listing events in order of occurrence to identifying the contexts in which the development of the discipline of psychology occurred and evaluating the effects of these contexts on psychology's development. In Evolving Perspectives on the History of Psychology, Wade Pickren and Donald Dewsbury attempt to demonstrate the shift through example by collecting a series of articles published between 1975 and 2000 that exemplify contemporary writing in the history of psychology. Before considering the book, however, it is necessary to outline the nature of contemporary work in the history of psychology.