Mainstream and its Critics

our concern is with mainstream (the main stream) psychology, the dominant approach within academic psychology. The term 'mainstream psychology' is often used in criticisms but goes undefined, so to be clear, to be mainstream is to hold a position of pre-eminent influence and command. In that sense, mainstream psychology is 'experimental psychology' (Much, 1995). There may be disagreement on other issues but there is broad consensus regarding the role of the experiment; the manipulation of independent variables to note the effect on dependent variables, while holding confounds constant (Winston and Blais, 1996). It is the basis of psychology's 'scientific method' as represented in textbooks since the 1970s.

Questions

What is missing for you in mainstream psychology that you would like to explore further?

What difference might it make to the process(es) and product(s) of psychology were to gain privilege in the science?