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In a recent essay (Moraglia 1991), I compared structure and function of the human psyche as outlined by analytical psychology with their portrayal in terms of the information-processing view of the mind, which orientates at present much of the research carried out by experimental psychologists. These two research paradigms differ considerably in theoretical outlook, methodology, and nature of supporting evidence; nevertheless, their comparison uncovered significant convergences on a number of crucial issues.
The affirmation of these commonalities should encourage a dialogue between these two traditions of psychological enquiry. The desirability of such a dialogue for analytical psychology stems from the assumption that its grounding on firm scientific foundations - a task in keeping with Jung's metatheoretic commitments - should include a creative exchange with the body of knowledge about mind and behaviour acquired in decades of research by academic psychology and allied disciplines. As the present paper will attempt to show, no less significant opportunities of interaction might materialize within a research domain of growing importance within the behavioural sciences: the study of adult development and ageing.
From the perspective adopted here, one positive difference between this area and the one examined in my earlier study is immediately apparent. While Jung's views on the psyche's epistemological functions have so far received little notice and played no role in the development of experimental research on human cognition, his insights into the personological aspects of adult development have been acknowledged in contemporary academic circles; but not necessarily,