In this essay, it is suggested that the text of the history of psychology is an intertext, and the objective of the method of research of this discipline is the elucidation of this intertext. The historian of psychology deals with texts of psychologists, philosophers and historians of cultures and ideas. He begins by investigating a text of a psychologist, and deepens and widens his analysis with the study of philosophical texts and historical texts which frequently remain silent in the text of the psychologist. Following this method, the historian of psychology narrates the rational reconstructions (the conceptual analogies between the text of the psychologist and the philosophical pre-text) and the revolutions in psychology (by situating the rational reconstructions in their cultural and intellectual contexts) which constitute the memorial of psychology. Kurt Danziger's treatment of Wilhelm Wundt, and Laurence Smith's treatment of Edward C. Tolman are given as examples of our characterization of the history of psychology; and of how intertextual slips and oversights lead to surprising mistakes and simplifications, made by even the best of historians.
intertextual research; rational reconstructions; psychological revolutions; Kurt Danziger; Laurence Smith