ABSTRACT
One of the most edifying experiences in scientific life is to find surprising agreement on sophisticated theoretical issues by independent researchers who start from a different vantage point and rely on independent research methods. To a psychologist who explores invisible cognitive phenomena, such strong convergent validation creates or maintains the satisfactory feeling that he or she is building on firm ground and that studying the complex human mind is not a worthless endeavor. In my view, convergent validation (cf. Garner, Hake, & Eriksen, 1956) is a main criterion for judging the impact of psychological research. McGuire and McGuire’s theory of thought systems provides convergent validation for an impressive number of findings and phenomena that have intrigued psychologists in recent decades. Indeed, an entire textbook on social cognition could be filled with all the important effects and biases that now reappear as special cases within the McGuires’ systems approach. However, before I point out the diverse links between the systems approach and traditional approaches to local cognitive phenomena, I should briefly depict the outlines of the theory advocated and identify some silent assumptions that the authors did not treat explicitly.
