Annals of Theoretical Psychology

This volume and its companion, to be published as Volume 9 in the Annals series, had their origin in a visit by the first editor to our Center in 1983, a year prior to our initiating publication of the Annals. Some three years later, Hans Rappard formally proposed to edit, together with the historian of psychology in the Netherlands, Pieter van Strien, an Annals volume devoted to history and theory. Rappard emphasized, however, that it was to be 'not just a volume on the relation between history of psychology and theoretical psychology, but rather a volume on the relevance of history to theory, or psychology in general. In other words, how and what could 'doing history' contribute to (theoretical) problems that face contemporary psychology. ' Another four years passed before commitments from the twenty-seven contributors were received. The plan was to publish a single volume devoted to history and theory, however, the length of six major papers, eighteen commentaries, and replies to commentaries, necessitated a decision to publish the manuscript in two volumes. It was not an easy decision especially as the contributors and editors had achieved an integrity of theme and content that is unusual for edited volumes. Moreover, in view of the manuscript's long past, we felt little inclination to extend its history.