BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 7 – The Cat’s Cradle: Untangling the Psychological Complex

Chapter Summary

This chapter explores how psychological knowledge was shaped by the institutional and spatial contexts in which it was produced by the first generation of people who called themselves ‘psychologists’. Focusing on four key settings—laboratory, clinic, factory, and school—the chapter reveals how each space gave rise to distinct psychological methods, concepts, and subjects. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s concept of situated knowledge, it challenges the idea that psychology discovers universal truths, showing instead how the production of knowledge is contingent on social context, institutional purpose, and power relations. In the history of psychology, the concept of situated knowledge helps us think critically about claims of universality, objectivity, and scientific neutrality. It remains vital for understanding how context shapes everything from identity to behaviour. The chapter traces the work of key figures such as W. H. R. Rivers, Hugo Münsterberg, Lightner Witmer, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Binet, and Cyril Burt, and connects their contributions to broader epistemological and ontological shifts. Each setting, whether producing introspective data, confessional narratives, efficiency metrics, or intelligence test scores, constructed the psychological subject differently and served different ‘clients’ of knowledge. The chapter aims to inspire critical thinking about how context continues to shape what psychology conceptualises, studies, and claims to know. It reveals that psychology is a flexible, powerful, and deeply situated field of knowledge, a ‘complex’ tangled up like a cat’s cradle with governance, identity, and the social order.

Chapter 7 – Quiz

  • Chapter 7 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 7 – Key Readings

    Colombo, M. (2020). Who is the “other”? Epistemic violence and discursive practices. Theory & Psychology, 30(3), 399-404. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354320923758 

    Elgaard Jensen, T. (2019). Exploring the knowledge practices of psychology: Reflections on a field study. Theory & Psychology, 29(4), 466-483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354319853630 

    Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599. 

    Held, B. S. (2019). Epistemic violence in psychological science: Can knowledge of, from, and for the (othered) people solve the problem? Theory & Psychology, 30(3), 349-370. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354319883943 

    Herle, A., and Rowse, S. Eds. (1998). Cambridge and the Torres Strait: centenary essays on the 1898 anthropological expedition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

    Kontopodis, M., & Jackowska, M. (2019). De-centring the psychology curriculum: Diversity, social justice, and psychological knowledge. Theory & Psychology, 29(4), 506-520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354319858419 

    Kvale, S. (2003). The church, the factory and the market: Scenarios for psychology in a postmodern age. Theory & Psychology, 13(5), 579–603. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543030135005 

    Lehmbrock, V. (2025). From intellectual imperialism to open system: Reassessing the “Americanization” of social psychology through Festinger’s frustration with the SSRC’s project on transnational social psychology. History of Psychology, 28(2), 73–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000274 

    Pouw, W. T. J. L., & Looren de Jong, H. (2015). Rethinking situated and embodied social psychology. Theory & Psychology, 25(4), 411-433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354315585661 

    Rose, N. (1985). The psychological complex: Psychology, politics and society in England, 1869–1939. Routledge & Kegan Paul. 

    Shephard, B. (2014). Headhunters: The search for a science of the mind. London: the Bodley Head.  Ward, T., Sullivan, J., & Durrant, R. (2024). Epistemic disagreement in psychopathology research and practice: A procedural model. Theory & Psychology, 34(4), 484-507. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543241263806

  • Chapter 7 – Reflective Questions

    1. How does the concept of situated knowledge challenge the idea that psychology is a universal science?
    2. What ethical tensions are revealed by the Torres Straits expedition, and how does it illustrate the problem of applying laboratory methods in the field? 
    3. In what ways did psychology contribute to social sorting and classification in schools and factories during the early 20th century? 
    4. What kind of subject (or ‘self’) is constructed in each of the psychological spaces explored in this chapter? 
    5. Why is this history relevant for social psychology today? 

  • Chapter 7 – Weblinks

    Freud Museum Education and Outreach – Educational Resource

    https://www.freud.org.uk/education

    This site includes many resources and documents covering Freud’s studies throughout his career, with a variety of discussions on the work at the beginning of his career during the development of different fields in Psychology.

    The British Psychological Society; History of Psychology Centre – Educational Resource

    https://www.bps.org.uk/history-psychology-centre

    This page contains various timelines, archived documentation and resources for those interested in the development of the psychological field in Britain, including citations for the information shared.

    Situated Knowledges – Critical Social Psychology

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bviRiZRzwV4

    This 3-minute video gives a clear and easy-to-understand explanation of the concept of situated knowledge and gives a brief discussion of its impacts on the fields of study in which it appears.

    Alfred Binet’s Works (Internet Archive) – Archival Resources

    https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A”Binet%2C+Alfred%2C+1857-1911″

    This site contains multiple archived works by Alfred Binet published between 1857-1911, giving access to them all via the host site. These works give excellent contextual information for the development of techniques of manual testing.

    The Centre for the History of the Emotions (Queen Mary’s University of London) – Educational Resource

    https://projects.history.qmul.ac.uk/emotions

    This site provides access to research and documentation on a variety of theoretical categories and different facets of the development and history of the study of emotions, giving students a wide range of topics to learn about and read further into.

    Discovering Psychology: Updated Edition – Educational Resource

    https://www.learner.org/series/discovering-psychology/explorations/history-of-psychology-contemporary-foundations/

    This page gives a clear and easy to understand timeline of the history and development of psychology as a field of study and experimentation and provides useful resources for further reading on the topic.