Paradigms in Theory Construction

Since his retirement in 1990, Luciano L'Abate, Ph.D. has been Professor Emeritus at Georgia State University where he was previously a Professor of Psychology beginning in 1965. L'Abate has been an editorial board member of many national and foreign professional and scientific journals, as well as a consultant to various publishing houses. He is the author and co-author of over 300 papers, chapters, and book reviews in professional journals in addition to authoring/editing 34 books. His work has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Finnish, Spanish, French, Polish, and German languages. Dr. L'Abate is the recipient of many awards including "Family Psychologist of the Year for 1994" by Division 43 of the American Psychological Association, "Outstanding Contribution" by the Georgia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and "Outstanding Citizen" by the House of Representatives in the State of Georgia. He has also held workshops and lectured extensively in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Dr. L'Abate has spent the last several years involved full-time in writing and research since his retirement from Georgia State University.

Within the field of psychology there is a proliferation of paradigms, theories, models, and dimensions without an underlying conceptual framework or theory. This conclusion has been reached by representatives of many different psychological specialties.In response to this inconsistency this book presents a hierarchical framework about important theoretical issues that are present in psychological thinking. These issues concern definitions of three major theoretical concepts in theory and practice: (a) paradigms, (b) theories, and (c) models. It focuses on defining, comparing, and contrasting these three conceptual terms.This framework clarifies differences among paradigms, theories, and models, terms which have become increasingly confused in the psychological literature. Paradigms are usually confused with theories or with models while theories are confused with models. Examples of misuses of these terms suggest the need for a hierarchical structure that views paradigms as conceptual constructions overseeing a variety of psychological theories and verifiable models.

The paradigm is a core concept in our understanding of scientific progress. Merging the philosophy of science with the history of scientific enquiry this book traces the development of theories and paradigms in psychology, 'hard', and social sciences.

Introduction. On the Nature of Psychological Paradigms. Section I. Meta-theoretical Paradigms: General-Integrative. Biopsychosocial. Information Processing. Ecological. Interbehaviorism. Levels of Analysis and Observations. Life-span Perspective. Systems. Section II. Meta-theoretical Paradigms: Particular-Specific. Behaviorism. Cognitivism. Contextualism. Empiricism. Existentialism. Rationalism. Section III. Operational Paradigms. Reductionism Proper. Organic Reductionism. Produced Emergent Interactionism. Spontaneous Emergent Interactionism. Synthetic Integration. Salience. Section IV. Conclusion. The Role of Specificity in Paradigm Selection.

Paradigms in Science and Theory Construction.- Paradigms in Science: A Historical Perspective.- Evolving Paradigms: Retrospective and Prospection.- Anthropology.- Parallel Paradigms of Artists and Authors.- Economics.- Education.- Sociology.- The Biopsychosocial Paradigm.- Interbehaviorism.- Reflections on Personality Systematics and an Unified Clinical Science.- The Intersubjective-narrative Approach versus the Relational-generational one.- Constructivism.- Materialism.- Explicating and Exemplifying Empicist and Cognitivist Paradigms in the study of Human Learning.- Humanism and Behaviorism.- Existentialism.- Information Processing.- Reductionism.- Produced and Spontaneous Emergent Interactionism.- The Emergence of Reason, Intelligence, and Language in Humans and Animals.- Essentialism.- Criteria and Processes in Paradigm Selection.