TY - JOUR
T1 - Transcending common sense in psychological theorizing
T2 - A developmental perspective
AU - VALSINER, JAAN
PY - 1986/3
Y1 - 1986/3
N2 - The necessity for transcendence of any particular system of common sense in psychologists' theorizing is reiterated in the process of analyzing Smedslund's response to the author's previous (Valsiner, 1985) critical analysis of the role of common sense in psychology. It is emphasized that the ways of how personally unique construction of meaning in individuals' ontogenies proceed are directed by social canalization, which guarantees sufficient (but not absolute) similarity in persons' individual thinking and acting. Such similarity forms the basis for intelligibility of interpersonal communication. A developmental perspective can overcome two opposite traditions in non‐developmental psychologies which either disregard common sense, or make it the criterion of adequacy of thinking towards which psychological theories should strive. In contrast, it is suggested that common sense be studied in conjunction with research on psychological phenomena for which it serves as their context, and that generalizations about psychological phenomena retain information about the common‐sense frames of the phenomena.
AB - The necessity for transcendence of any particular system of common sense in psychologists' theorizing is reiterated in the process of analyzing Smedslund's response to the author's previous (Valsiner, 1985) critical analysis of the role of common sense in psychology. It is emphasized that the ways of how personally unique construction of meaning in individuals' ontogenies proceed are directed by social canalization, which guarantees sufficient (but not absolute) similarity in persons' individual thinking and acting. Such similarity forms the basis for intelligibility of interpersonal communication. A developmental perspective can overcome two opposite traditions in non‐developmental psychologies which either disregard common sense, or make it the criterion of adequacy of thinking towards which psychological theories should strive. In contrast, it is suggested that common sense be studied in conjunction with research on psychological phenomena for which it serves as their context, and that generalizations about psychological phenomena retain information about the common‐sense frames of the phenomena.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84984019192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1986.tb01196.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1986.tb01196.x
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84984019192
SN - 0036-5564
VL - 27
SP - 184
EP - 189
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
IS - 1
ER -