Time and Psychological Explanation

Brent D. Slife is Director of Clinical Training and Associate Professor of Psychology at Baylor University. He is Senior Editor of Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Psychological Issues (now in its seventh edition), Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and on the Editorial Boards of Theory & Psychology and the Journal of Mind and Behavior.

"This is a top-notch, scholarly work. I believe that Slife took a very difficult, complex topic and brought considerable understanding to it for the reader. Books of this type raise the level of sophistication in psychology." — Joseph F. Rychlak, Loyola University"The book makes an effective case that questions of time lie at the very soul of psychology and how we try to understand and to explain.The type of analysis that Slife does in the course of the book is also important as a model for what should be going on with increasing frequency in the field. I believe the book will be a significant contribution to the emerging field of critical, theoretical psychology." — Richard N. Williams, Brigham Young University

• Preface Introduction Linear Time and Psychological ExplanationPurpose of the BookContent of the Book1 Newtonian Time and Psychological Explanation The Rise of Linear Time in Western CultureNewtonian TimeNewton's Temporal Framework for ExplanationCriticisms of Newton's FrameworkPsychology's Newtonian FrameworkConclusion2 Developmental Psychology The History of Time and Developmental StudiesThe Newtonian Framework and Developmental StagesNewtonian Explanations of Social DevelopmentAnomalies to the Newtonian Paradigm for DevelopmentConclusion3 Personality Theory The Conceptual Roots of Personality TheoryObjectivist and Subjectivist Models of TimeFreud as a Mixed Model TheoristThe Objectivist Tradition in PersonalityBandura's Social Cognitive TheoryThe Subjectivist Tradition—Newtonian AnomaliesKurt LewinCarl JungConclusion4 Psychological Method The History of Method and TimeThe Newtonian Framework of MethodObjectivityContinuityLinearityUniversalityReductivityAnomalous MethodsSystemic MethodHermeneutic MethodConclusion5 Cognitive Psychology Time and Associationism—A Brief HistoryRationalism Versus EmpiricismTime and Contemporary Cognitive PsychologyLanguage and Problem SolvingAnomalies to the Current ParadigmRationalistic ConstructivismHumanistic Learning TheoryThe Black Knight of Artificial IntelligenceConclusion6 Individual Therapy The History of Individual Therapy and TimeModern Individual Therapy and TimePsychoanalysisBehavior TherapyCognitive TherapyExistential Psychotherapy—Temporal AnomalyConclusion7 Group Therapy Linear Time and the Study of GroupsThe History of Group Therapy and TimeThe Current Status of Group TherapyPsychoanalytic Group TherapyEducative and Behavioral Group TherapyExperiential and Existential AnomaliesConclusion8 Family Therapy The History of Family Therapy and TimeThe Current Status of Family TherapyIndividual Models of Family TherapyMechanistic Systems TherapyOrganismic Systems Therapy—Linear AnomalyCybernetics of CyberneticsConclusion9 General Temporal Themes of Explanation General Themes of the Newtonian Temporal ParadigmThe Objectivity of TimeThe Continuity of TimeThe Universality of TimeThe Linearity of TimeThe Reductivity of TimeGeneral Anomalies to the Newtonian Temporal ParadigmThe Objectivity of TimeThe Continuity of TimeThe Universality of TimeThe Linearity of TimeThe Reductivity of TimeImplications of the Anomalies for Causation and ChangeSeparating Causality and Linear TimeSeparating Change and Linear TimeConclusion10 Alternative Assumptions of Time Organismic HolismConceptual RootsComparative DescriptionObjectivityLinearityContinuityUniversalityReductivityConclusionCriticismApplication to PsychologyDevelopmentPersonalityMethodCognitionIndividual TherapyGroup TherapyFamily TherapyHermeneutic TemporalityConceptual RootsTraditional MetaphysicsHermeneutic "Metaphysics"Comparative DescriptionObjectivityContinuityLinearityUniversalityReductivityConclusionCriticismApplication to PsychologyDevelopmentPersonalityMethodCognitionIndividual TherapyGroup TherapyFamily TherapyGeneral ConclusionNotes Bibliography Index