ABSTRACT
In the last chapter the history of psychology was characterized as a quest for objective events on which to base a scientific system. Under the joint influences of behaviorism and logical positivism this quest culminated in the conception of objectivity determined as intersubjective agreement. According to this conception, an event is established as objective when agreement is obtained between the observational reports of a specified number of observers. Thus, by specifying the conditions under which the observational reports are to be made as well as the characteristics of a number of observers, the degree of objectivity of some event was held to be determined. Objectivity is, according to this conception, introduced by a convention, and can be determined empirically. A satisfactory degree of intersubjective agreement ascertains that the observations can be shared by other research workers and thus can form the basis for an adequate communication.
