Silver bridge for a fruitful encounter between the new history and contemporary psychology. Pretexts for a necessary dialogue

The aim of the following pages is to introduce the present monographic issue, which is devoted to the functions played by the History of Psychology in current psychological research. Several topics are here discussed. Firstly, a general approach is made to the development of historiography of Psychology, as well as to the weak impact exerted by the new history of Psychology on the pychological community as a whole, and the causes that may explain it. Some strategies within the reach of the historian of psychology for making his work more attractive to researchers in psychology are then considered. Above all, an attempt is offered to meet the challenge of generating a common space allowing an easier communication between historians and psychologists. Finally, both the contributors and their papers are briefly presented.