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Situated Psychology: A Sketch.

Rasmus Birk, Sarah Kirkegaard Jensen, Noomi Matthiesen, Bo Allesøe Christensen

Integrative psychological & behavioral science July 31, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s12124-025-09927-2 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Keywords Externalism Jean lave Situated learning William james
Citations 1
Key points Proposes that situated psychology understands situatedness as involving environment, culture, relations, and context, but also as something other than just a framework within which human behavior unfolds.

Abstract

This article-and this special issue-focuses on situated psychology. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief theoretical outline of what situated psychology is. If the reader wonders why they are not immediately familiar with the term 'situated psychology,' there is a simple explanation: it is a new concept (except for Phillip Cushman's argument that psychology should be "historically situated" (Cushman, 1990). However, despite the novelty of the name for the concept, it draws on a wide range of psychological traditions-ecological psychology, situated learning theory, 4E cognition, critical psychology, and more. The ambition of this article is thus to unfold a multifaceted theoretical perspective that understands situatedness as involving environment/culture/relations/context, but also as something other than just a framework within which human behavior unfolds.