Psychology as Science

Abstract

I was one of the early psychologists to bring a background in the philosophy of science to bear on the analysis of methodological and theoretical problems (e.g., Koch, 1941a, 1941b). For good measure, during the initial ten years of my career I was a dauntless and virile rat-runner, concentrating on the differential testing of rival theories of learning and on the empirical determination of learning-motivation relationships. After that I directed, under the sponsorship of the American Psychological Association, a massive assessment of fundamental psychology at mid-century --- a study (cf. Psychology: A Study of a Science, 1959--1963) which brought me into contact with most of the influential psychological theorists of our times.