Social psychology continues to be the meeting ground for specialists trained in many disciplines: clinicians, public opinion researchers, anthro-' pologists, perception psychologists, personnel technicians, sociologists. To the purist this means that social psychology has no field of its own and repre sents no distinctive branch of science; to the old-time social psychologist it means the belated recognition that many of the other disciplines are really branches of his own subject; to the educator it means a welcome fruition of the interdisciplinary approach he has long dreamed about. No matter what the interpretation, the facts are that the personality approach of the clinician and the social-structure approach of the sociologist are among the most important vitalizing influences for research and theory in social psychology.During the past year there has been a good balance between laboratory experimentation and field studies. Experiments upon group effects have become more sophisticated and more ingenious. They have also been more related to the variables operative in natural social situations and hence more meaningful for good social-psychological theory. The growth of laboratory experiments has not been at the expense of field studies. Surveys and field observations are more prolific than ever and a number of universities have set up cooperative arrangements for social psychologists and social scientists to conduct field research. In addition, surveys have become more theory oriented and more concerned with study design.Social psychology is enthusiastically taking over the paraphernalia of the older sciences in its rush for theoretical models, derivations, and hypotheses. This healthy development should prove fruitful, since it will foster rigor in methods and make possible generalization through theory testing. The objec tion can be made that social psychology is trying to jump an inductive stage in its development as a science since it still lacks adequate empirical and descriptive facts. Real growth, however, will come from the interaction of inductive and deductive procedures. Empiricism is a sufficiently strong part of the American culture to continue to provide the necessary correction tend encies for the model builders.Three major trends of the decade still dominate the field. (a) The phenom enological emphasis of Gestalt psychology has made itself felt in almost all areas of investigation. The environmental or stimulus-situation has been replaced by the psychological field. Prestige suggestion is now explained as cognitive restructuring; social norms are not statistical averages or modes but consciously shared beliefs and values; groups are not defined as common objective roles but as the mutual awareness of one another by group mem bers; leadership exists only when the leader is perceived by the follower as