ABSTRACT

The second model for combining science and practice features a two-way interaction between science and practice. In this model, individuals are trained to both generate and apply knowledge. Science informs practice by developing general principles that may apply to a particular situation. Practice informs science by identifying problems that need to be solved, as well as shortcomings in the current "solutions" that science has been able to provide in a particular situation. The scientist-practitioner functions somewhat like the Wright brothers did in inventing the airplane-by experimenting, by applying the results to a real problem, and by using the outcomes to generate new experimentation . As this example implies, the scientist-practioner model may be more appropriate for a young science like psychology than for the more established sciences. Although most of us would like to see the field move toward the status of a mature science, the division between relatively pure knowledge and technology is still not distinct in many areas of psychology, and the separation of scientific and practical roles in many areas of psychology is premature.