The Instrumental Role of Apparatus in the History of Psychology

Resumen

Apparatus has been, and continues to be, instrumental in the growth of psychological science. It has allowed both the control and measurement of things that otherwise could not be studied. Conceptually, it provides the basis for operational definitions of terms and constructs, and the data it generates is the impetus for both further experimentation and the articulation of organizing principles. Although its effects on a science are largely positive, it also can constrain scientific progress when it becomes simply a path of least resistance in generating data, or when it becomes an end for the activity of scientists, as opposed to the means to the end of advancing the science. Even when apparatus becomes obsolete, it remains a tangible reminder of the scientific practices and values of psychology of its time in the journey from 1879 to the present.