Psychology Today: Still in Denial, Still Outdated

'I could never think of education without love'- Pedagogical love in the context of adult education

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the role of love as a constituent of pedagogical professionalism, here called pedagogical love, in andragogical contexts. A study was conducted in Germany with this specific aim in mind. The results are presented, and relevant scientific literature on pedagogical love in andragogical contexts is discussed. Likewise, critical implications of pedagogical love are highlighted and conceivable foci for future research projects are outlined.

Liberating Data: Politics of Reality in Interdisciplinary Social Psychology

This paper draws attention to the meaning of data, politics and reality in social psychology. Since social psychological data matters, critical reflection on data handling and interpretations expands the horizon of social psychology beyond the cause-effect nexus. Social psychological enterprise is a political field where the role of structure and power give meaning to the data, and hence construct the reality. This can be further situated in the institutions and the dominant paradigm which regulates the structuring of data and interpretations. The current paper debates the politics of data, human agency, and the way data in social psychology has the potential to be liberating and change-oriented.

Overcoming theoretical stagnation through cultural–historical neuropsychology: The case of dyslexia

In this article we argue that cultural–historical neuropsychology manages to escape the theoretical stagnation that characterises the field of dyslexia. To support our argumentation, we first define cultural–historical psychology and neuropsychology and determine their subject matter. Afterwards, we provide an outline of how reading and reading difficulties are perceived through the prism of cultural–historical neuropsychology. We then discuss several mainstream conceptualisations of dyslexia that contribute to the theoretical stagnation in the field. Finally, we explain how cultural–historical neuropsychology avoids each theoretical barrier imposed by mainstream conceptualisations.

Toward a Cultural Evolutionary Psychology: Why the Evolutionary Approach does not Imply Reductionism or Determinism

Does evolutionary psychology (EP) properly account for the sociocultural context? Does it underestimate both the developmental and the relational aspects of the human psyche? Is it instantiated in a mechanistic epistemology? Does it imply determinism or reductionism? The commentaries on our previous target article raised similar questions and we try to tackle them in the current response. Our "epistemological assessment" of Psychology and our consequent unification claim under the banner of the evolutionary approach (Zagaria et al., Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 54(3), 521-562, 2020 ) was deeply examined and discussed. The objections to our target article can be grouped into four main categories. We sum them up and argue why: 1) the pre-paradigmatic status of psychology is a problem rather than a richness of perspectives; 2) EP's criticisms stem from common misconceptions-furthermore, developmental and relational aspects of human psyche might find their natural explanation in EP; 3) EP does not wipe out the emergence of the sociocultural context as something qualitatively different; 4) evolutionary meta-theory is not incompatible with subjectivity. Evolutionary psychology might be approached with caution and curiosity, rather than with prejudicial concepts. Incorporating some legitimate cultural criticisms, it may aspire to become a "cultural evolutionary psychology", hence an integrative psychological meta-theory that tries to connect the biological "plane of existence" (Henriques, Review of General Psychology, 7(2), 150-182, 2003) to the cultural "plane of existence". However, a basic philosophical concern has yet to be answered, i.e. what ultimately constitutes mind and thus the "psycho-logical" science. We argue that when trying to find the answer we know where to look at.

From Clay Feet to New Psychology: Starting the Move

This Special Issue sets the stage for constructive integration of psychology with relevant phenomena it needs to study, and with its interdisciplinary collaboration possibilities. Based on a regular submission of an analysis of the conceptual network of psychology (Zagaria et al. 2020) an international constructive discussion ensued, with charting out three potential future pathways to psychology as science: (1) theoretical elaboration of the person-centered and idiographic approaches and move from "evidence-based" to experience-based research; (2) advancement of general developmental science perspective beyond the traditions of evolutionary psychology along the lines of the genetic logic of James Mark Baldwin, and (3) building interdisciplinary synthesis between psychology and semiotics in the domain of cultural psychology. The progress in contemporary biology (epigenetics) and qualitative mathematics can provide the epistemological support for this move.

Psychology: a Discipline in Need of Reflective Foundations

Zagaria, Andó and Zennaro (2020) provide a useful analysis of the current state of affairs in the discipline of psychology. They conclude that psychology is in a messy and unproductive pre-pragmatic state and suggest that evolutionary psychology can provide a needed metatheoretical perspective to enable psychology to move forward as a science. In my commentary I move to another direction and suggest that psychology does not need more solid foundations, but rather foundations characterized by reflective stance towards its phenomena, theories, methods and data production processes. I suggest that this kind of stance would be in accordance with the process ontological perspective that allows focusing on meaningful human experience as central object of study for psychology, together with an idiographic approach to research. I thus suggest that psychology will endure only by turning its reflective gaze towards oneself, by thinking about its past, imagining its future and constructing novelty from the creative assemblage of the two.