[...]... from a build-up of reactive inhibition, and so on and so forth The other possibility is to take the first theory, the one about *Unpublished talk for the Centre for Personal Construct Psychology in 1982 International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology Edited by Fay Fransella Copyright  2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd ISBN: 0-470-84727-1 34 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY the... out those aspects of the theory that he considered to be most important He particularly focuses on its reflexive nature, and reminds us vividly how revolutionary those views were in the mid-1950s International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology Edited by Fay Fransella Copyright  2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd ISBN: 0-470-84727-1 2 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY In the next... philosophy of constructive alternativism that runs through everything in the psychology of personal constructs, and show its importance in the movement of constructivism They also dwell on the still vexed issue of whether Kelly’s theory is a ‘cognitive’ theory or a theory of human experiencing Jack Adams-Webber then summarizes much of the research that has been carried out in relation to personal construct. .. work International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology Edited by Fay Fransella Copyright  2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd ISBN: 0-470-84727-1 22 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY GEORGE A KELLY, THE MAN His Education George Kelly was born on 28 April 1905 on a farm near Perth, Kansas, to Theodore Vincent Kelly and Elfleda Merriam Kelly He died on 6 March 1967, when he was Professor... complete coverage of personal construct work or of areas in which such work is relevant To give as wide a coverage as possible, Section X consists of two chapters, in one of which five authors give ‘tasters’ of their own area of expertise It was Kelly’s view that the validity of any theory was shown by its usefulness If that is so, then this book is evidence of the validity of personal construct theory... ‘value free’, orientation of the theory; the ambivalent relationship between personal construct theory and cognitive perspectives; the difficulty grasping the developmental implications of the theory; and the distinctive nature of its major methodologies FOUR ISSUES ARISING FROM PERSONAL CONSTRUCT THEORY Its ‘Value Free’ Orientation One of the remarkable features of personal construct theory—and one... attempt to promote their 28 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY development across a range of settings As Kelly (1955/1991, p 608/Vol 2, p 37) noted: In the broadest sense we are restating here the philosophy of constructive alternativism In a narrower sense we are describing the value system of the clinician [or psychologist more generally] as a kind of liberalism without paternalism... recognize the limits of consciousness in grasping the ‘metacognitive’ basis of much of human functioning Clearly, people ‘know’ much more than they can tell, in the sense that some of the bases on which we construe events in our lives can only be inferred, rather 30 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY than directly reported Much more will be said about the role of non-verbal construing,... behaviourism—the dominant psychology when Kelly created his theoretical perspective In particular, he focuses on the central feature underpinning personal construct theory—that of reflexivity CHAPTER 3 Kelly Versus Clockwork Psychology* Don Bannister if people find it of personal use, particularly if they find it extends their picture of their own possibilities, then that is the best test of personal construct theory,...List of Contributors Professor Jack Adams-Webber, Department of Psychology, Brock University, St Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1 E-mail: jadams@spartan.ac.brocku.ca Scott A Baldwin, Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA Don Bannister, Deceased Associate Professor Richard C Bell, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, . class="bi x0 y0 w0 h0" alt="" International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology. Edited by Fay. 0-470-84727-1 International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology Edited by Fay Fransella Centre for Personal Construct Psychology and University of Hertfordshire,