Scientometric trend analyses of publications on the history of psychology: Is psychology becoming an unhistorical science?

Abstract

Examines scientometrically the trends in and the recent situation of research on and the teaching of the history of psychology in the German-speaking countries and compares the findings with the situation in other countries (mainly the United States) by means of the psychology databases PSYNDEX and PsycINFO. Declines of publications on the history of psychology are described scientometrically for both research communities since the 1990s. Some impulses are suggested for the future of research on and the teaching of the history of psychology. These include (1) the necessity and significance of an intensified use of quantitative, unobtrusive scientometric methods in historiography in times of digital “big data”, (2) the necessity and possibilities to integrate qualitative and quantitative methodologies in historical research and teaching, (3) the reasonableness of interdisciplinary cooperation of specialist historians, scientometricians, and psychologists, (4) the meaningfulness and necessity to explore, investigate, and teach more intensively the past and the problem history of psychology as well as the understanding of the subject matter of psychology in its historical development in cultural contexts. The outlook on the future of such a more up-to-date research on and teaching of the history of psychology is—with some caution—positive.

Reflexões Sobre a Disciplina De História Da Psicologia No Estado Do Mato Grosso Do Sul

“…Referências encontradas, simultaneamente, em duas IES Do transcurso dos resultados obtidos, pondera-se que a disciplina de História da Psicologia exerce um papel formativo importante para o esclarecimento da identidade e da diferença das correntes psicológicas e se configura como um recurso introdutório às questões conceituais e metodológicas da Psicologia, desde o seu surgimento, até suas implicações nos campos profissionais. A História da Psicologia, destarte, representa uma importante ferramenta para melhor compreender a Psicologia, assim como para contribuir com críticas ao presente (Fierro, 2014;Krampen, 2015;Merced, Stutman & Mann, 2017;Vaugh-Blount et al, 2009). Em um olhar para o passado, é possível identificar diferentes características dos campos teórico-metodológicos da Psicologia, aquilo que se mantém e poderia permanecer, assim como aquilo que deveria ser modificado.…”

On the Scientific Discourse Practice in Psychology: Professional Comments and Replies in Different Subdisciplines of Psychology up to 2015

“…The American Psychological Association (APA, Washington, DC) produces PsycINFO and features it as an international database of publications in psychology and the behavioral and social sciences, which dates back to 1806. The majority of publications recorded in PsycINFO are English-language publications from Anglo-American countries (>90 percent whereas less than 10% are from the "rest of the world" including 2-3% English-and German-language publications from the German-speaking countries [6,7]), and its coverage of psychological publications greatly improved but only after the emergence of digitalization in the late 1970s [7]. As in late 2016, there were more than 4 million documents recorded in PsycINFO (which can be retrieved, e.g., from http://www.apa.org/pubs/ databases/ psycinfo/index.aspx).…”

Critical Pluralism: History of Science and Debates on Education in Psychology

“…Por otro lado, posee una faz pedagógica, en la medida en que los resultados de la investigación fáctica referida impactan en los currículos universitarios como núcleos temáticos, contenidos e insumos formativos concretos (Ash, 1983;Capshew, 2014). Desde su profesionalización, iniciada hacia fines de los años '60 en Estados Unidos, hasta la actualidad, cuando cristaliza en un campo extremadamente heterogéneo en lo temático y geográfico, la Historia de la Psicología se ha constituido en múltiples naciones -especialmente en las anglosajonas-como un área de especialización académica y profesional (Barnes y Greer, 2016;Campos, Jacó-Vilela y Massimi, 2010;Carpintero et al, 2010;Fierro, en prensa-a;Freitas 2010; Gallegos, en prensa; Klappenbach y Jacó-Vilela, 2016; Krampen, 2016).…”

“…Más allá de los particularismos estructurales y dinámicos de las modalidades pedagógicas universitarias adoptadas, se ha defendido el sentido formativo de la Historia de la Psicología tanto en países europeos (Bartos y Banks, 2015;Brock y Harvey, 2015; Chisvert-Perales, Monteagudo-Soto y Mestre, 2016;Fierro y Di Doménico, 2015;Giménez, 2002;Krampen, 2016;Mestre, 2007;Nyatanga y Howard, 2015;Richards, 2005;Rosa, 2002;Rosa, Blanco y Huertas, 1991;Rosa, Huertas y Blanco, 1998;Samper, Mestre, Tur, Orero y Falgás, 2008;van Strien, 1993b;Vera Ferrán-diz, 2008) como en países norteamericanos (Baker, 2002;Bhatt y Tonks, 2002;Chamberlin, 2010;Milar, 1987;Raphelson, 1982;Rutherford y Pickren, 2015;Vaughn-Blount, Rutherford, Baker y Johnson, 2009) y asiáticos (Meng, 2006;Meng y Zhang, 2014;Tao y Li, 2014). Latinoamérica, si bien con una cadencia comparativamente menor, ha aportado trabajos tanto reflexionando conceptualmente sobre el sentido formativo de la subdisciplina (Arias, 2015;Fierro, 2015a;2015b;García, 2011;Moretti, 2016;Ostrovsky, 2015;Vezzetti, 2007;Vilanova, 1997a; como analizando empíricamente los contenidos y modalidad de dicha enseñanza en casos concretos (Arias, en prensa;Fierro, 2015c;Freitas Campos, Brozek, do Carmo Guedes, Massimi y Makino Antunes, 1996;…”