![]() For instance, Gergen (2001) argued that the “core tenets” of postmodernism are not at odds with those of scientific psychology but rather that they can enrich the discipline by opening up new possibilities. In fact, postmodern approaches are often rejected vehemently, sometimes even very vocally. ![]() However, there is resistance against suggestions to incorporate postmodern ideas into the methodology and the self-perception of psychology as academic-and scientific!-discipline. Postmodern thoughts have been taken up by several fringe areas of academic psychology, e.g., psychoanalysis ( Leffert, 2007 Jiménez, 2015 but see Holt, 2005), some forms of therapy and counseling ( Ramey and Grubb, 2009 Hansen, 2015), humanistic ( Krippner, 2001), feminist and gender ( Hare-Mustin and Marecek, 1988 Sinacore and Enns, 2005), or cultural psychology ( Gemignani and Peña, 2007). However, overall they were met with little response. In the 1990s and early 2000s, several attempts were made to introduce postmodern thought as potentially very fruitful ideas into general academic psychology ( Jager, 1991 Kvale, 1992 Holzman and Morss, 2000 Holzman, 2006). Psychology also studies the human mind and behavior, which indicates that psychology should dovetail with postmodern approaches. Postmodernism is, in essence, an attempt to achieve greater clarity in our perception, thinking, and behavior by scrutinizing their larger contexts and preconditions, based on the inextricably intertwined levels of both the individual and the society. Furthermore, we suggest that accepting the inherently fuzzy nature of theoretical constructs in psychology and thinking more along postmodern lines would actually clarify many theoretical problems in experimental psychology. The postmodern perspective reveals some pitfalls in the practice of experimental psychology. We illustrate this theoretical analysis with the help of two examples, namely experiments on free will and visual working memory. These aspects, analyzed by using postmodern concepts like hyperreality and simulacra, did not seep in gradually but have been present since the very inception of experimental psychology, and they are necessarily inherent in its philosophy of science. This ostensibly modern experimental approach is, however, per se riddled with postmodern elements: (re-)creating phenomena in an experimental setting, including the hermeneutic processes of generating hypotheses and interpreting results, is no carbon copy of “reality” but rather an active construction which reflects irrevocably the pre-existing ideas of the investigator. ![]() Analyzing experimental psychology along postmodern lines begins by discussing the implications of transferring the scientific method from fields with rather narrowly defined phenomena-the natural sciences-to a much broader and more heterogeneous class of complex phenomena, namely the human mind and behavior. Therefore, postmodernism offers both valuable insights into the very nature of experimental psychology and fruitful ideas on improving experimental practice to better reflect the complexities and ambiguities of human mind and behavior. Postmodernism as a philosophy emerged in the 20th century as a response to the perceived inadequacy of the modern approach and as a means to understand the complexities, ambiguities, and contradictions of the times. Many psychologists take pride in being “real natural scientists” because they conduct experiments, but it is particularly difficult for psychologists to evade certain elements of postmodern thinking in view of the specific nature of their subject matter. Despite this apparently stalwart adherence to modern principles, experimental psychology exhibits a number of aspects which can best be described as facets of postmodern thinking although they are hardly acknowledged as such. Experimental psychology is grounded in the scientific method and positivism, and these principles, which are characteristic for modern thinking, are still upheld. This dominance has shaped the whole discipline from the self-concept as an empirical science and its very epistemological and theoretical foundations, via research practice and the scientific discourse to teaching. In contemporary psychology, the method of choice to accomplish this incredibly complex endeavor is the experiment. The aim of psychology is to understand the human mind and behavior.
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