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Dissonance theorists have speculated that people who have misattributed dissonance arousal to an external .source may come to question the appropriateness of this attribution. Moreover, they may then be motivated to alter their attitudes. The current study tested this latter notion by having an experimenter discredit the plausibility of an external source after misattribution had presumably occurred. Sixty-four female undergraduates were given a pill described as having either unpleasant side effects or no side effects. Subjects (Ss) then were committed to write counter-attitudinal essays under high-choice conditions. Some Ss were then told that a mistake had been made, and that they had actually been given the other form of the pill. As predicted, Ss who had initially been led to believe that the pill had aversive side effects but were later told that it did not, manifested behaviour-consistent attitude change. Resume Les tenants de la theorie de la dissonance supposent que si Ton associe a tort une cognition dissonante a une source externe, on peut en venir a s'interroger sur la pertinence de l'association. De plus, on peut etre motive par la suite a modifier ses attitudes. On a verifie s'il en etait ainsi avec l'aide d'un experimentateur qui devait nier la plausibilite d'une source externe une fois que l'association erronee aurait ete etablie. On a donne a 64 etudiantes du premier cycle une pilule qui devait occasionner des effets secondaires desagreables ou n'en occasionner aucun. Les etudiantes devaient ensuite rediger des essais dont 1'orientation £tait contraire a leurs attitudes, mais a l'egard desquels elles avaient vraiment l'impression d'exercer leur libre arbitre. On a ensuite avis£ certaines d'entre elles qu'une erreur avait ete conimise et qu'elles avaient en fait re<;u l'autre type de pilule. Comme predit, les etudiantes a qui on avait d'abord laiss£ croire aux effets desagreables pour ensuite les informer du contraire ont manifeste un changement d'attitude conforme au comportement. Research stimulated by Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory has demonstrated that people who behave in a counter-attitudinal manner

For those who are both scholars and teachers of the history of psychology, a dilemma arises concerning the historiographic versus pedagogic value of institutional genealogies. As part of the undergraduate History of Psychology course, faculty genealogies were constructed at five Canadian psychology departments (Calgary, Guelph, Toronto, Western Ontario and York); an operational definition of "Ph.D. supervisor" represented mentor-student "institutional" linkages. Seventy-five per cent of the 212 faculty were traceable to nine pioneer figures such as Wilhelm Wundt or William James. In contrasting historiographic pitfalls with pedagogic merits, we suggest that integrating a reflexive and critical examination of histriographic problems may tip the scales in favour of pedagogic reasons for conducting such genealogical research.History may be pursued along a variety of avenues using a wide range of tools.' Among these is the construction of genealogies, the search for one's roots. Amateur genealogists, in pursuing their family trees, often hope to uncover some illustrious ancestor who might add a measure of glamour to their lineage. Collective genealogies, like those of departments of psychology, may serve similar functions. The recognition that we have "descended," in a manner of speaking, from some celebrated figure in the history of psychology may infuse our circumscribed daily activities with some transcendental value, with the recognition that although we are ordinary workers in the fields of Kuhnian normal science, we are nonetheless part of an historical endeavour led by persons of some renown.Boring and Boring undertook an early survey of masters and pupils among American psychologists; they found that the ancestry of the psychologists of their day could be traced to a remarkably small number of "founding fathers" (sic) and to a few "selfstarters," psychologists who had no principle teachers of psychology in their graduate years.2 A more recent study produced the faculty genealogy for psychologists at Colorado State Uni~ersity.~ Later discussions emphasized the utility of the faculty genealogy exercise as a pedagogical tool for fostering student (and faculty) interest in the historical evolution of psy~hology.~ McGuire then suggested that this was also a potentially useful tool for historiographic research, capable of revealing social, institutional and intellectual influences in the initial career development of the individual psychologist . 5 Lubek and Herrmann began the study of Canadian departments of psychology at the UniversityLubek teaches psychology at the University of Guelph; his research interests are focused upon the history of social psychology of science and theoretical psychology.Nancy Innis teaches psychology at the University of Western Ontario, and conducts research on the history of psychology, with a special interest in the learning theory of E. C. Tolman.Rolf Kroger is professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His research interests include history of psychology, hypnosis, etho...