The Principle of specificity in psychology and science in general
El principio de especificidad en la psicología y en la ciencia en general
J.R. Kantor
University of Chicago
ABSTRACT
In general, scientific work consists of ascertaining the peculiarities of objects and events under specific conditions. This article describes the consequences and advantages of the use of the specificity principle in psychology and in other sciences.
DESCRIPTORS: specificity, scientific principles, scientific constructions, recurrence, complexity, functionality, causation, models, observation, operations.
RESUMEN
In general, el trabajo científico consiste en describir las peculiaridades de los objectos y eventos bajo condiciones específicas. El presente artículo describe las consecuencias y ventajas del uso el principio de especificidad en psicología y en otras ciencias.
DESCRIPTORES: especificidad, principios científicos, consructos científicos, recurrencia, complejidad, funcionalidad, causalidad, modelos, observación, operaciones.
I
Specificity in Events and in Science
Many centuries of observation afforded by the inevitable presence of innumerable diverse things and events have enriched the general intellectual armament with an important bit of methodological wisdom, namely "The Principle of Specificity." This principle has been constructed upon the awareness and manipulation of particular events, and has become, wherever it has been appreciated and employed, a useful intellectual tool for constructing propositions concerning events and their conditions.
That specificity of occurrences is paramount has long been a theme in the reflections of thinkers. For example, Heracleitus emphasized that no two things could be alike, and what is usually called the same thing is ever changing. Later the Scholastics contended, though only verbally, about their "Principle of Individuation." In more recent times, the eminent Leibniz found it important to propose his "Principle of Indiscernibles." Although he employed this principle in the interest of esoteric Theodicy he did recognize the continuity of his theological speculations with the failure of actual persons to find two leaves of the same plant perfectly alike.1 Our interest in this article is, of course, exclusively concerned with the specificity of scientific data and their interpretation.
II
Specificity in General Science
General Scientific Methodology. The power and utility of the principle of specificity is clearly observable in the general methodology of science. it is this principle that encourages scientists to achieve actuality and precision. To be actually and precisely in contact with observed events it is essential that the observer be cognizant of the peculiarities of things under specific conditions. Also, the principle of specificity is intimately related to the principle of relativity in the sense that the components of scientific systems are dependent upon each other. In consequence, observers must take into account the unique characteristics of the various components of any system and the interrelationship of the components in their complexity with other factors in specific fields.
Specificity in Events and Constructions. The reader is asked to notice that the principle of specificity or individuality is of importance for both of the interrelated factors of every scientific enterprise. On one side are the specificities of events in all their compositions, interrelations, and modifications that the scientist needs to ascertain, and on the other the constructive activities of scientists, that is the reactions of observing, analyzing, calculating, measuring, and interpreting the similarities and diversities of events.
III
Specificity in the Special Sciences
In order to elucidate the principle of specificity we indicate with plain illustration how it functions in the various sciences.
1. Specificity in Mathematics
In this domain one frequently runs across the revealing anecdote concerning two mathematicians in heated discussion. One asks the other, "You will agree that two plus two makes four?" The other replies, "No. Not until I know what you are going to do about it." Of course, whether or not the relation is valid depends upon whether it is a part of a scalar or a vector situation. Such is the case in many mathematical circumstances so that the students are often told to check the symbols and the operations performed with them against the frame of reference in order to make sure that the equations make sense.
On a higher level it is the specificity principle which enabled Maxwell to achieve the accepted equations for the electromagnetic theory of light despite the unsuccessful attempts of the eminent mathematicians, Gauss, Riemann, and Cauchy. It was because he did not dwell entirely in the realm of pure mathematicians but built upon Faraday's particularities and the generalizations derived from them.2
The Maxwell incident may be taken as one example among many that illustrate the authority and power of mathematics. Evidence in abundance of the advancement of mathematics, especially in its calculative aspects, has been shown by Bell in his chapter entitled, Through Physics to General Analysis.3
It is no idle reflection that all quantification and calculation in mathematics represents an attempt to ascertain the specificities and concrete patterning of things and events. Such quantification and calculation contrasts greatly with so-called logical and esthetic aspects of mathematics which consists of abstract patternings of various sorts such as the puzzles of Zeno the Eleatic and the more recent devotees of mathematical logic. It may be noticed, however, that the existence of the various attitudes toward mathematics affords a telling example of the specificities to be analyzed out of the demesne of mathematics.
2. Specificity in Physics
Since all knowledge consists of a continuum of observable contacts of organisms with things and events, or the propositional products of such encounters, science itself constitutes a specialization within the observational rhelm. It is safe to say that science in general consists of ascertaining the specifities of observed things and events. Physicists observe the movements and relationships of objects and events to each other as in the case of gravitation, electrical attraction and repulsion, as well as the results of analytic and synthetic operations. The orders and regularities of inorganic events are ascertained by discovering the particular combinations and behavior of objects and event fields.
The omnipresence of fields in all scientific situations is in itself evidence of the quest of specificity in science. Because events are functions of particular conditions, specification must be made of the intricate relationships between the various components of fields. Examples from Newtonian gravitational fields cover the special features of body, masses, distances, and times. In Einsteinian gravitation theory even more attention is paid to the components of the fields, since the very nature and influence of the spatiotemporal factors play their part.
Electrical phenomena corroborate the importance of specificity. The entire systematics of circuitry, forces to the front the problem of identification of positive and negative electricity. Similarly problems of induction, flow, and storage of electrical energy demand the greatest precision in the treatment of variables. The profusion of instruments and the enlargement of numbers amplify the importance of specifying the variables concerned in electrical situations.
The quest for specificity in physics is conclusively demonstrated in the subatomic branch of this scientific specialty. When in the early period of analyzing the constituents of atoms only protons, neutrons, and electrons were made available. Later high energy research revealed that electrons were only components of a class of particles along with muons and two kinds of neutrinos. The class name is leptons. Similarly, protons and neutrons, the constituents of atomic nuclei, are components of composite entities called hadrons. Hadrons of which there are above 100 kinds are presumed to be made of subparticles named quarks. The quark specification brings to light the additional properties of what the physicist calls matter, namely strangeness and charm.4
3. Specificity in chemistry
It is probably chemistry of all the special sciences that is most characteristically involved with the principle of specificity in all its data, operations, and theories. In the first place this science is concerned with the existence and behavior of 92+ elements or units making up all objects. This very multiplicity of elements constitutes eloquent testimony to the specificities of analyses and selections in chemistry. As early as Robert Boyle (1627-1691) the suggestion was voiced that existing substances must be differentiated as to elements, compounds, and mixtures. Such analyses were early made effective by the employment of balances by Lavoisier (1743-1794) while decomposing materials to ascertain the components of compounds and mixtures. It may well be said in view of the enormous number of inorganic and organic compounds referred to in chemical treatises that chemistry consists mainly of an indefinite process of specifications involved in the analysis and production operations.
The specificity principle is strikingly conspicuous in chemistry since it is the primary function of chemists to know which reagents are or are not compatible with what other elemental or compound reagents. On the complex levels of industrial and medical practice questions constantly arise as to what compounds will accomplish what results, as also what drugs and what doses will kill or cure in pathological situations. The importance of detailed conditions in chemical operations also calls for precise discernment and specification. Specific changes in temperature influence the magnitude and the speed of the interactions of reagents. The phenomena of valence and catalysis illustrate the importance of specificity among other principles in this discipline.
4. Specificity in Biology
In full view of the importance of classification and taxonomy for biological science one must acknowledge the facts of specificity and the importance of the specificity principle. Happily time is past when some biologist both in the specialty of botany and zoology minimized the investigation of similarities and divergences in living things. Today it is widely realized that the differentiation and specificity of form and function cannot he overlooked or taken for granted. To be indifferent to organic specificities is tantamount to the neglect of variations in organisms and their environments during the evolution and devolution of individuals, species, and genera with the procession of time.
How important specificity is when dealing with organic beings in the department of genetics appears when one reflects about the current discussion and agitation about DNA and its possible dangers when recombined genes are transferred from one chromosome to another. But even the grosser specificities display outstanding divergences as when we consider that the primary difference between haemoglobin and chlorophyll is that the iron of the former is replaced by magnesium in the latter. Also to be considered here is the male-female development as correlated with the presence of either XX or XY genes.
The grand role played by specificity in biology is amply demostrated when it is necessary to induce certain particular antibodies to combat the ill effect of particular antigens. In medicine there is the question of discovering specific drugs to combat particular kinds of infections. In all the important and devoted work of specialists in cancer studies it may be that a necessary factor in the control of cancer requires the recognition of specific reagents to inhibit the growth of different neoplasms.
As a final illustration of specificity in biology consider the multiplication of problems within the branch of evolution. Following the establishment of evolutionary events and the consequent acceptance of evolutionary doctrine there arise numerous detailed inquiries into specific data and processes. To begin with there is the division of labors by biological evolutionists or ecologists and paleontologists. Variations in interest serve to bring forward specific problems and interpretations. Examples of such problems are, (a) are there directional changes in organisms or only morphological variations owing to particular copresent circumstances? (b) Are all changes accounted for by internal organismic conditions or exclusively by factors external to organisms? Again, (c) are evolutionary changes gradual, incremental variations or more or less sudden mutations?
5. Specificity in Psychology
The specificity principle, though conspicuous in all the sciences, inasmuch as all event are invariably constituted of specific things and events in their various conditions, is perhaps of even greater significance in the science of psychology. Probably this is owing to the fact that the interbehaving of organisms includes human behavior, and therefore is complicated with cultural factors in addition to organic and nonorganic components. This fact introduces additional occasions for specialization and uniqueness of field conditions. The uniqueness of psychological events is intensified since psychological behaviors are at the same time biological and physiochemical. Thus psychological fields include but cannot be limited to mass, space, and time of macrophysics or even to those metabolic energy transformations and storage of biology, but must be enlarged to take account of the endowed properties of cultural entities. Of the many ways of analyzing and describing the individuality of psychological fields we consider three.
a. Relative Complexity. As compared with the fields of macroscopic physics and biology, psychological interactions are much more complex. They cannot for example be specified in the simple terms of form, mass, motion, and spacetime. While psychological fields are subject to the energy laws of physics they hardly are identified in the reciprocal terms of mass and energy.
As complex as organic interbehaviors are, with all the variety of organs, cellular structures, and tissues they do not match the intricacies of psycho- logical fields. Biological behavior is much more regular and dependent upon the characteristics of the external stimulations as well as the cellular organization of the plant or animal.
By contrast with inorganic and organic fields psychological interbehavior is much more sensitive to things and events. To a great extent psychological behavior is less dependent upon morphological organization than on prior behavioral history plus the momentary exigencies of immediate situations. Moreover, in the most complex psychological fields there is a complicating factor of self-identification.
b. Recurrence. The repeated performance of similar and dissimilar behavior marks off psychological fields. They recur constantly since the specific organisms and particular fields must be taken into account. In a negative sense it is the case that psychological behavior cannot be performed twice in all details in recurrent situations. For example, individuals cannot pronounce words in exactly the same way in recurrent situations.
On the positive side, psychologists must take account of the organisms that perform behavior and which participate in the specific fields of interaction which is the hallmark of psychological events. Also the stimulus objects must be specified as well as its prior operation in specific prior fields. Another way of describing the uniqueness and individuality of psychological events is that organisms or persons are constantly changing, that is, they are constantly performing psychological actions and so there is a cumulative effect since earlier behavior influences later behavior in some way, sometimes in many ways. It may be said that in many cases the prior interactions of persons affect later behavior because the individual may be better equipped or wiser than formerly. It is commonly thought that physics, for example, is primarily a regularity science, that is it is very simple for a physicist to integrate actions in physics so that laws, rules, or regularities are easily constructed.
c. Functionality. As compared with physiological fields, psychological fields display an intense functionality. Psychological organisms dot not simply react to objects on the basis of their physiochemical properties but also on the basis of their functions developed in previous interbehavior. There is always an historical factor based on the prior performances of particular organisms and also on the cultural imposition of qualities.5
IV. Specificity in Psychological Continuua
The extreme specificity in psychology is strikingly manifest in the various continuua in this discipline. Not only is the discipline as a whole a unit item in the general scientific continuum, but it also comprises series of specific continuua as particular types of behavior within its own boundaries. For example, there is the continuum which connects the relatively simple overt adjustments that are close to the physiological reflexes at one pole, to the more complex and subtle interactions such as thinking and reasoning at the other pole. Within this series there are innumerable variants of interactional behavior such that the ever present specificities must be differentiated, and provided for by observers and their scientific descriptions.
Another type of continuum consists of the specific variations of persons and behavior which at one end consist of retarded and insufficient adjustmental performances and at the other include such superior performances as are usually called genius.
In both continuua there are series of variations and specificities, along with the similarity factors of complexity, recurrence, and functionality. In the so-called normal continuum the simplest adjustments are close to biological interactions which stress the anatomical structures while the stimuli's objects are primarily physiochemical in composition. In the abnormal series the interbehaviors partake of cultural factors. The structural composition of the organisms involved are fairly neutral while the stimulus objects represent culturally endowed properties. In the subsequent paragraphs are suggested samples of singularities in both continuua.
I. Normal Individual Differences. Throughout the entire series of interbehaviors the adjustments vary on the basis of definite conditions. As we have indicated no two individuals are alike nor perform any type of adjustmental action the same way in recurrent situations. It is these invariable specific differences of behavior which when exaggerated lie at the basis of the conventional distinction between (a) abnormal and pathological behavior, (b) acceptable or normal behavior and personality, and (c) exalted creativity and genius. Samples of deviant persons and their behavior punctuate the importance for psychology of the specificity principle.
The specificities of psychology manifest themselves in the consideration of the problem of personality. Scientific psychology finds no evidence of a permanent and unvarying unit. Every person is a multiple and constantly changing individuality. Personality is not only subject to the exigencies of maturation but also to the exigencies of behavioral circumstances. In some situations the person is a introvert, in others an extravert, in some circumstances a calm self-controlled person, in others an excitable and even violent individual. It is well to notice that the particular actions performed by individuals may be categorized in many ways. Thus depending upon particular circumstances any person's actions may be loving, hating, considerate, inconsiderate, reflective, reflexive, selfish, unselfish, dominering, submissive, compassionate, pitiless, and so on throughout the dictionary of adjectives and their accordance with specific circumstances and conditions.
Consonant with the specification of a continuum as a series in which items are interposed between any two others, the normal psychological series comprises behaviors and personalities extremely different from others in the series. Excellent examples of extreme behavior and unusual personalities are the actions of individuals who adapt themselves to their living conditions primarily by verbological means instead of the more desirable processes of constructing things, acquiring knowledge, or simply moving out of undesirable situations. Such individuals are often equipped with the fatal fluency of verbal articulation and undertake to talk on subjects of little or no acquaintance.
2. Insufficiencies of Behavioral Adjustments As adaptational performances constitute the basic feature of psychological behavior careful analysis reveals specific imperfections, truncations, and even absence of required or appropriate action. Psychologists, physicians, social workers, and the public in general are greatly preoccupied with the insufficiencies of individuals to perform needed or required behavior. This problem is extremely acute with school officers and employers. In schools the complaints touch upon inabilities to perform adequately the so-called basic skills, such as reading, writing, and mathematics. School problems are not so acute as the problems of insufficiencies of public support for persons unable to adapt themselves to their life conditions, and also problems of demographic decline so that laws are enacted and invoked to sterilize individuals to prevent retardates from reproducing their kind. Such retardation we may regard as nondevelopmental because of deprivations, organic insufficiencies, and the results of poverty which prevent individuals from developing skills, language, and intellectual behavior.
A very interesting type of behavioral specificity is represented by Idiots Savants. The latter type of variability may be described as extremely specialized over-development. Students of this type of person report that an individual who may be severely retarded otherwise, may perform tremendous feats such as calculations beyond the capacities of most people who are classified as normal. A telling example is the individual who can stand at a railway crossing and later report the numbers of the large number of railways cars that have passed in the freight train.
3. Adjustmental Superiorities. At the opposite pole from the insufficiencies of adjustments are placed individuals and behavior because they are superbly capable of performances that are impossible for most people. In this group are included artists, inventors, mathematicians, scientists, and literateurs. Such persons are admired as the most efficient and most useful of individuals. An interesting variability among such superior personalities is that some are extremely proficient in other than their primary capability. For example, a great physicist may at the same time be an accomplished musician or painter. In no case, however, may one overlook the variabilities and specificities in the total behavior of prodigies or geniuses. To do so is to become ignorant of the lacks and insufficiencies of such persons. It is wise to abide by the results of observing actual behavior rather than to be swayed by social and professional rumors and reputations.
V
The Specificity Principle: Scientific Advantages
Since all complexes,. combinations, objects, groups, and Systems are analyzable into detailed events and cognate items, it follows that the increase of knowledge about and the control of the compounds gains from an analysis and specification of the components of objects and events. This circumstance can be effectively illuminated by the consideration of a random sampling of general intellectual situations, scientific hypotheses, and psychological issues.
1. Analogies and Models in Science. Generally speaking, it is difficult not impossible to avoid constructing analogies and models in science.
Scientific work and description gains much from an alert appreciation of the specificity principle in that it prevents the impropriety of constructing false analogues, and models. This is especially the case in psychology and physiology. For many centuries biologists and psychologists have constructed invalid models of the brain. The cerebrum has been made into a master organ and controller of the "body" though it is actually a specialized organ of the organism. The brain and the nervous system have been made into a telephone switching board, a seat of the soul and consciousness, and most recently into a super intelligent computer.
2. Relation of Science and Philosophy. The history of science records numerous periods in which scientists of various persuasions at one time accept philosophical presuppositions while at other times they reject them. In one period scientists claim that only since they have thrown off their philosophical fetters have the sciences existed and prospered. At other times as the recent events in science indicate, writers declare that science can only be well built when constructed on metaphysical foundations. This paradoxical situation can be improved by a needed attention to the specificity principle. It is implied that a valid analysis of both science and philosophy will elicit the merits and demerits of both disciplines. In the case of philosophy the differentiation is made between a) invalid traditional verbalism and b) generalizations from observation and experimentation. The latter type of philosophy may be of service to science, while the metaphysical type bears no relation to science. For science the gain is clear when only a type of philosophy is tolerated that is based on observation and validation.
3. Priority and Causation in Science. An outstanding service of the specificity principle is the solution of puzzles of priority and cause in science. Many puzzles have been formulated as to what things and events preceded the advent of some other thing or event. The prior object or event is then presumed to be the cause of the posterior thing or event. Instances of such puzzles are too constant and too numerous to mention. From the domain of biology there has seeped into various other disciplines the paradox of the hen and the egg. Manifest in such puzzlements is the lack of specific and detailed observation of field processes in evolution and later recurrence. By attending to the exact analysis of event fields all problems of priorities and causes can be eliminated from scientific operations and theories.
4. Relation of Science and Technology. In every science there are specificities bordering on the problem of the interrelationship between operations and theories embracing hypotheses and investigational designs. Essentially the problem is well represented by the claim of preeminence of (a) the expertness of the scientist or (b) the technological details for the success of the investigations. Although scientific investigations consist of active reciprocations of both phases it is still true that in particular situations one may contribute somewhat more than the other to a unique result as for example when the work depends on the availability of a unique tool or apparatus. However, to abide by the principles of specificity, it is not difficult to analyze sufficient specific particulars to establish the complete interdependence of theories and operations in the successful prosecution of a project.
5. Stimuli and Responses in Psychology. One of the essentials of scientific psychology is clarity concerning the stimuli and responses as the primary Phases of psychological fields. Yet it is a rare event to come across psychologists who do not regard stimulus objects as causes, inciters, arousers, of reactions. Similarly few psychologists realize the difference between acts or movements, and psychological adjustments. Woefully lacking in psychological literature is the appreciation that what differentiates psychology from physics and biology is that in the former what constitutes the essential data are the functions of acts and their stimulus counterparts. Specificity analysis strikingly affirms that no psychological event occurs without the response and stimulus functions that are built up in historical contacts of organisms with the objects, organisms and conditions surrounding them.
VI
Specificity in General Life Situations
To account for the scientific importance of the specificity principle is to observe that scientific situations are particular events in the all embracing framework of the homocultural plenum. It is the continuity throughout modifications of events that guarantee the validity of scientific investigations. The scientific search for and analysis of specifics is a cognate pursuit with similar adjustments in human living.
School teachers who pass out note paper to their pupils must guard against sheets that are contaminated with harmful ingredients. The more complex the life conditions of persons and groups the more constant and significant are the essential and customary differentiations that must be made. Food products and other items of personal and medical consumption exhibit the list of ingredients. The entire processes of appointments and correspondences are based on the punctual observance of the specificities of time and place.
Every department of human and cultural living is organized on a specificity basis, in legal situations alibis are constructed to prove that one's
presence in one locus precludes the presence in another. Criminal sentences are presumed to be graded on particular circumstances. Commercial affairs make it necessary to balance exact transactions in specific detail. Merchants make use of such minute specificities as mark the difference between $999.99 and $ 1000.00 for purposes of prices and profits.
The entire series of events named accidents and coincidences may well be described in terms of specificities. Of collisions it may be said that they consist of the copresence of harmful, unnecessary, and often preventable specificities of control, and comixture of incongruous events. Alertness to the constant movements of things and their timing might prevent all coincidences from being translated into mythical powers and forces.
As an example to illustrate the operation of the specificity principle in esthetic situations we consider the van Meeringen case of imitating and reproducing the paintings of the eminent Dutch painter Vermeer. Persons involved with the problem are puzzled as to what difference it makes between the work of the two painters -the original one and the forger. This puzzle is soon resolved by becoming aware of the specificities of the situation. No doubt van Meeringen could match colors and perhaps even to apply colors to canvas as well as Vermeer. But he lacks the capacities of Vermeer to project such scenes as the latter commanded. Van Meeringen is a craftsman only and not an artist. It is the originality, the expertness of perception, the master of design and the conceiver of subjects that marks the artist as over against the copier, the imitator, the counterfeiter.
VII
Scientific Specificity Summarized
When we inquire systematically into the specificity principle and its role in scientific work, we are able to enumerate a series of its consequences and advantages for the conduct of scientific pursuits. We propose examples from the various aspects of psychological and other scientific disciplines.
1. Specificity in Events. An early preoccupation with events consists of the selection of a field of work. The primary consideration is a general acquaintance with various things and events concluding with a definite preference for one type. Guaranteed then is contact with actual events leading to the ascertainment of the particularities including their relation to other proximate and distal objects and conditions. In physics the history of the electron provides an excellent example of the manipulations neces
sary for successfull knowledge of the events one has chosen to study. A quotation from the autobiography of the eminent J. J. Thomson is pertinent at this point. After long consideration of the experiments that have initiated
the early development of subatomic physics he offers the conclusions.
a) That atoms are not indivisible, for negatively electrified particles can be torn from them by the action of electrical forces, impact of rapidly moving atoms, ultraviolet light or heat.
b) That these particles are all of the same mass, and carry the same charge of negative electricity from whatever kind of atom they may be derived, and are a constituent of all atoms.
c) That the mass of these particles is less than one-thousandth part of the mass of hydrogen.6
Now an example from visual perceiving is in point. Scientific perceiving work begins with an interest in an organism's discrimination of objects with a stress perhaps of their color, shape, size, or other property as compared with other similar or dissimilar objects. This primary contact with objects is followed by whatever means and efforts are available for dealing with such discriminative behavior or fields. Throughout the various encounters the scientist must keep free from presuppositions derived from irrelevant sources even those derived from contacts with other objects or fields, and certainly those derived from no contacts with events of any sort.
Comparable procedures and advantages may be enumerated when we look into the more complex and more subtle psychological events as thinking, problem solving, and reasoning. While it is possible to plan, judge, admire, or criticize something without direct analysis of the object or event in question, but rather upon indirect sources, it is obviously preferable to be acquainted with the details and particularities of the events interacted with.
2. Specificity in Observation. The primary aspect of specificity in
observation is keeping in constant intimate contact with the objects and events studied. The goal of investigation is to analyze and synthesize the
specific components and their interrelations in things and events. An outstanding gain from doing so is to remain clear of such infelicities as that qualities of objects, or subtle actions such as thinking or reasoning consist of "sensations" or "ideas" in the head.
As early as 1785 the eminent Cavendish observed that while he attempted to investigate the properties of nitrogen he could not exhaust the gas by passing electric sparks through it as the container he used continued to show a small bubble of gas. He questioned "whether there are not in reality many different substances compounded together under the name of dephlogisticated air." That his conjecture was correct became evident a century later.
In 1892 Lord Rayleigh observed that nitrogen prepared from the atmosphere was heavier volume for volume', than samples prepared from different chemicals. lord Rayleigh then attempted by the method used by Cavendish to remove the nitrogen but to no avail as a residual gas remained in the containing tube. As is generally known with the aid of the famous chemist Ramsay (1852-1916) the discovery of the element Argon was announced in 1894. The great feat was accomplished of bringing forth a specific element form the compound air, one that differed from other elements in being alert, that is relatively resistant to chemical combinations. The remainder of the story includes the discovery of helium, neon, krypton, and zenon.
The specificity phase of observation in psychology by contrast with that in physics reveals negative results. Looking at psychological behavior as holistic leaves the discipline greatly in arrears. Examples are numerous. Consider first the case of memory. The influence of traditional soul doctrine crops up in psychology by making "memory" a general faculty. One of the glaring consequences is the failure to differentiate between remembering and memorizing. Especially in experimenting upon "memory" remembering is reduced to the memorization of digits, words, and even nonsense syllables. Again psychologists fail to specify that the term "memory" that they use includes also fields like reminiscing, and recollection.
A no less informing illustration of the need for specificity in psychological observation and its ignorance is to notice that distinctive fields of interbehavior earn the name volition behavior as over against voluntary behavior. Still more glaring is the neglect to specify that under the heading of thinking there are unique performances such as planning, judging, evaluating, opining, and a number of others. It is only looking through the spectacles of historical mentalism that makes superfluous the recognition of particular modes of adaptation by individuals to specific things and circumstances.
3. Specificity in Operation. An obvious operational consideration in scientific work is that manipulation or experimentation must conform to or be compatible with the fields in which the problems arise. This point is especially cogent with respect to the methods and techniques employed. Investigative methods must vary when studying events in situ from those in a laboratory.
Interesting illustrations may be located in every specific branch of science. For example, it may have been an accident that astronomers became interested in telescopes after discovering the power of the instrument which was designed and produced for other purposes. However, it is a general rule that the development of apparatus is in a sense dictated by the need for searching out the particularities of events. Recent developments in physics demonstrate in large numbers the great power of hypothesized events to stimulate the building of new apparatus. The advent of nuclear physics has brought about an urgent need for developing cyclotrons, betatrons, synchrotons, and other particle accelerators all of which undoubtedly prove valuable for purposes of amplifying the knowledge about nuclear events.
Chemistry provides the most shining example of an instrument that reveals the specificities that can be analyzed out of substances, and which may be employed to enrich knowledge concerning hitherto unknown elements. This instrument is the spectroscope which as the history of chemistry indicates developed from the early discovery by Newton that light can be dispersed by means of a glass prism to yield a spectrum of colors. Through the work of Wallaston (1766-1828), Franenhofer (17871826), Bunsen (1811-1899), and Kirchhoff (1824-1887) the development of spectroscopy made possible the analysis of the invisible and inactive gases helium, neon, krypton, zenon, and argon. The history of biological advancement also illustrates admirably the necessity to develop new tools and apparatus for increasing knowledge. A striking illustration is the development of the electronic microscopes following the use of light microscopes plus the discovery of how insufficient the light microscopes are for purposes of furthering knowledge about cellular structures and correlated functions.
To be added here is the effective use psychologists have been able to make of electronic and especially of computers in connection with various experiments on psychological behavior.
4. Specificity in Construction. Descriptions and interpretations of scientific events of all types find appropriate guide lines in the principle of specificity. This is because the principle is itself derived from the perennial search by scientists for variations, modifications, and changes in events with which they interact. Above all the specificity principle shows the way to eschew descriptions and interpretations whether of general methodology or particular investigations that are not derived from the observation of specific types of events and the circumstances under which they exist and interact. In may well be said that descriptions and interpretations in science are generalizations born of specificities.
As a guide to practice the specificity principle operates as a reliable intellectual tool to keep investigators or general observers dose to realistic interactions with things and events. Generalizations that are made on the basis of observations no matter how intricate the statistics may be, are well founded when they are based upon the particularities of events and the specificities of observation, that is the observer or investigator takes special account of events or happenings and is bound then not to minimize or exaggerate his descriptions and interpretations.
One of the most valuable features of being strictly alert to particularities or specificities is that absolute and a priori generalizations as well as false traditional interpretations are excluded from consideration. The principle of specificity then operates as a sieve to strain out everything that is not directly concerned with contacts of the observer or investigator with events. It is implied that the emphasis upon the particularities of events will bring to the most intense light the need for observational tools and apparatus that not only are good for immediate purposes but which will enable the observer or investigators to be well-equipped when circumstances bring about new conditions and new objects.
5. Specificity in Interdisciplinary Relations. Throughout this article we have stressed the importance of the specification of data in particular disciplines. The merits of the specificity principle, however, extend also to the interrelationship of different sciences. Developments in certain particular sciences very often can be carried over and put to use in other related disciplines. It is hardly necessary to retail the advantages to psychology of the developments in physics, chemistry, and biology. What the specificity principle warns against is to reduce psychological events to statistical numbers, physiological reflexes, neurological functions, biochemical reactions and other scientific data. The following list of suggestions is proposed for honoring the specificity principle in scientific study.
a) Importance of ascertaining the identity and development of organisms in experimentations with animals.
b) Observing comparative structures and functions in genera, species and individuals.
c) Limits of applications of behavior data of subhuman organisms to human individuals.
d) Importance of blood types for transfusions, and other tissue types for organ transplantation.
e) Caution in blanket usage of tests or remedies as universal probes.
f) Appreciation of differences between chemical composition, and superficial appearance as in graphite and diamond.
g) Locus of cerebral lesion or malfunction with behavior loss or insufficiency not the same as center or cause for normal behavior.
h) Superiority or inferiority in some behavior usually associated with opposite quality of behavior in other fields of action.
VIII
Specificity: Potentialities and limitations
While describing and evaluating specificities in science it must not be overlooked that the principle of specificity is itself subject to analytical particularization; it has its scope and limits. The particular manner of its application is regulated by the situations in which it is applied. How compelling the principle is varies with the particular discipline and also with the available and relevant conditions for investigating confrontable objects and events. Most important it is to notice that the efficient and effective analysis of events and techniques of investigation can only bring about advances in scientific judgment and thinking when it is accompanied by proper postulations and hypotheses within a framework of naturalistic adjustments.
Footnotes
1 Leibnez, G.W., New Essays Concerning Human Understanding, Langley tr., Chicago Open Court, 1916.
2 Cf. Hoyle, F., Astronomy, London, Rathbone Books, 1962, p.191.
3 Bell, E.T., The Development of Mathematics, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1940.
4 Cf. Schwitters, R.F., Fundamental Particles with Charm, Scientific American, 1977, 237, 56-70.
5 Cf. Kantor Smith, The Science of Psychology; An Interbehavioral Survey, Chicago, Principia, 1975.
6 J.J. Thompson. Recollections and Reflections, New York, Macmillan, 1937.