The Sage Handbook of Theoretical Psychology is a comprehensive resource that explores the foundational and evolving theories within the field of psychology. This handbook emerged from a conversation between the editors, recognizing the absence of a dedicated handbook on psychological theory that covered the wide range of theories. It addresses the implicit role of theory in all aspects of psychology, often overshadowed by the dominant emphasis on empiricism.
The handbook begins with foundational questions central to contemporary psychology, including chapters on cognitive representations, evolutionary theory, the extended mind thesis, mental causation, feminist psychology and cultural psychology. Each chapter provides an in-depth exploration of these topics, updated to reflect the latest developments and debates in the field.
Contributors to this volume come from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and nationalities, ensuring a rich and multifaceted perspective on psychological theory. They tackle complex issues such as the definition and role of mental representations, the adaptation of evolutionary psychology to criticism, the integration of machine learning into cognitive repertoires, the implications of mental causation for moral responsibility and free will, and the necessity of a truly cultural psychology.
The Sage Handbook of Theoretical Psychology is an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, and students seeking to deepen their understanding of psychological theory. It provides a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the field, equipping readers to engage with the theoretical underpinnings of psychology and contribute to its ongoing development.
Introduction - Henderikus Stam
Part A: Foundational Positions
Chapter 1: Foundations of Cognitive Science: Mental Representation - Michael
Rescorla
Chapter 2: Evolutionary Psychology - Annemie Ploeger
Chapter 3: Extended Mind, Agency, and Machine Learning - Mirko Farina, Andrea
Lavazza
Chapter 4: Mental Causation, Moral Responsibility, and Effective Intentions -
Alfred Mele
Chapter 5: Cultural Psychology: Capturing human meaning-making processes -
Jaan Valsiner
Chapter 6: Embodied and Embedded Cognition - Erik Myin, Jan Van Eemeren
Chapter 7: Psychology and Neuroscience: Autonomy Lost and Found - Fred
Keijzer, Peter Starreveld
Part B: Theoretical Tools and Approaches
Chapter 8: From Theory Construction to Deconstruction: The Many Modalities of
Theorising in Psychology - Huib Looren de Jong
Chapter 9: The Problem of Measurement in Psychology - Joel Michell
Chapter 10: Philosophy, Realism and Psychologys Disciplinary Fragmentation -
Fiona Hibberd, Agnes Petocz
Chapter 11: Reflective, Formative and Network Models: Causal Interpretations
of Three Different Psychometric models. - Lisa Wijsen, Riet Van Bork, Brian
Haig, Denny Borsboom
Chapter 12: Are Psychological Phenomena Historical Kinds? - Henderikus Stam
Chapter 13: Mechanistic explanation in psychology - Mark Povich
Part C: Socio-cultural and critical orientations to psychology
Chapter 14: The Psychology of Globalization: Rethinking Culture and Self -
Sunil Bhatia
Chapter 15: Dialogism, Bakhtin, and Beyond - Marie Cecile Bertau
Chapter 16: Wittgenstein and Psychology - Daniel Hutto
Chapter 17: Feminist Psychology - Mandy Morgan, Leigh Coombes, Geneva
Connor, Ann Rogerson
Chapter 18: Ecological Psychology: Theoretical Foundations and Philosophical
Commitments - Harry Heft
Chapter 19: German Critical Psychology As Theoretical Psychology - Wolfgang
Maiers, Katrin Reimer-Gordinskaya
Chapter 20: Social Construction - Ken Gergen
Part D: Recent developments in theory
Chapter 21: Subjectivity, Technology, and the Conduct of Everyday Life -
Ernst Schraub
Chapter 22: Reflexivity and the History of Psychology - Jill Morawski
Chapter 23: Concepts of Disorder for Psychopathology - Tim Thornton
Chapter 24: Psychosocial Studies with Psychoanalysis - Stephen Frosh
Chapter 25: Relational Theory - Ken Gergen
Chapter 26: Embodiment - Kevin Ryan, Shaun Gallagher.
Chapter 27: Affect, Emotion and Feeling - Martin Willis, John Cromby.
Henderikus Stam is Professor of Psychology at the University of Calgary. He is the founding and current editor of the journal Theory and Psychology and is a former President of Division 24 (Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology) of the American Psychological Association as well as a former President of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology. He has published widely and his research focuses mainly on the history of psychology and the theoretical foundations of psychology.
