Simon Fraser University
Dr Jeff Sugarman
Jeff Sugarman Professor

Educational Psychology

My scholarship is concerned with the psychology of personhood, selfhood, and human agency; the sociocultural dimensions of psychological development and education; the influence of psychology in educational institutions and practices; and the application of hermeneutics and historical ontology to psychological inquiry. I am Fellow of the American Psychological Association and American Educational Research Association, past President of Division 24 of the American Psychological Association, past recipient (with Jack Martin) of the American Psychological Association George Miller Award for Outstanding Recent Article in General Psychology, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.

Email: sugarman@sfu.ca

1995 Ph.D. (Psychology of Education) Simon Fraser University
1990 M.A. (Counselling Psychology) Simon Fraser University
1979 B.A. (Psychology) University of Waterloo

Selected Publications

Scholarly Books

Martin, J., Sugarman, J., & Hickinbottom, S. (in press). Persons: Understanding psychological selfhood and agency. New York: Springer

Martin, J., Sugarman, J. H., & Thompson, J. (2003). Psychology and the question of agency. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (1999). The psychology of human possibility and constraint. New York: SUNY Press.

Textbooks

Martin, J., Sugarman, J. H., & McNamara, J. (2000). Models of classroom management III: Principles, practices, and critical considerations (3rd ed.). Calgary, AB: Detselig.

Book Chapters

Sugarman, J., & Martin, J. (in press). Agentic hermeneutics. In S. Kirschner & J. Martin (Eds.), The sociocultural turn in psychology: Contemporary perspectives on the contextual emergence of mind and self. New York: Columbia University Press.

Sugarman, J. (2008). Understanding persons as relational agents: The philosophy of John Macmurray and its implications for psychology. In R. Frie (Ed.), Authoring the self: Psychological agency across contexts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Sugarman, J. H., & Martin, J. (2005). Toward an alternative psychology. In Slife, B., Reber, J., & Richardson, F. (Eds.), Developing critical thinking in psychology (pp. 251-266). Washington, DC: APA Books.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. H. (2004). The political disposition of self as a kind of understanding. In W.W. Smythe & A. Baydala (Eds.), Studies of how the mind publicly enfolds into being (pp. 145-198). Lewiston. NY: Edwin Mellen Press.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. H. (2003). A theory of personhood for psychology. In Hill, D. & Kral, M. (Eds.), About psychology: Essays at the crossroads of history, theory, and philosophy (pp. 73-87). Albany, NY: SUNY.

Martin, J., Sugarman, J. H., & Hickinbottomm, S. (2003). The education of persons in multicultural Canada. In F. Pajares & T. Urndan (Eds.), Adolescence and education, Vol. 3: International perspectives on adolescence (pp. 1-24). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. (2002). Agency and soft determinism in psychology. In H. Atmanspacher & R. Bishop (eds.), Between chance and choice: Interdisciplinary perspectives on determinism (pp. 407-424). London: Imprints Academic.

Martin, J., Prupas, L., & Sugarman, J. H. (1998). Test interpretation as the social-cognitive construction of therapeutic change. In R. K. Goodyear & J. W. Lichtenberg (Eds.), Test interpretation: Integrating science and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Articles in Refereed Journals

Sugarman, J. (in press). Human agency and development: An introduction and theoretical sketch. New Ideas in Psychology [Special Issue, J. Sugarman & B. Sokol (Eds.)].

Sugarman, J. (2009). Historical ontology and psychological description. Journal of Theorectical and Philosophical Psychology. 29, 5-15.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (2009). Does Interpretation in psychology differ from interpretation in natural science? Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 39, 19-37.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. (2009). Middle ground theorizing, realism, and objectivity in psychology. Theory and Psychology. 19, 123-129.

Sugarman, J. (2007). Agency, ontology, and deliberative self-determination. Current Anthropology, 48, 393-394. [invited comment]

Sugarman, J. (2007). Practical rationality and the questionable promise of positive psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 47, 175-197.

Sugarman, J. (2006). John Macmurray’s philosophy of the personal and the irreducibility of psychological persons. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 26, 172-188.

Sugarman, J. (2005). Persons and moral agency. Theory and Psychology, 15, 793-811.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (2001). Interpreting Human Kinds: Beginnings of a Hermeneutic Psychology. Theory & Psychology, 11, 193-207.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (2001). Is the self a kind of understanding? Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 31, 103-114.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (2001). Modernity, postmodernity, and psychology: Reactions to comments. American Psychologist, 56, 370-371.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (2000). Between the modern and the postmodern: The possibility of self and progressive understanding in psychology. American Psychologist, 55, 397-406.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (1999). Psychology’s reality debate: A “levels of reality” approach. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 19, 177-194.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (1998). Dynamic interactionism:  Elaborating a psychology of human possibility and constraint. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 19, 195-214.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (1997). Societal-psychological constructionism:  Societies, selves, traditions, and fusions. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 17, 120-136.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (1997). The social-cognitive construction of psychotherapeutic change: Bridging social constructionism and cognitive constructivism. Journal of General Psychology, 1, 375-388.

Martin, J. & Sugarman, J. H. (1996). Bridging social constructionism and cognitive constructivism. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 17, 291-320.

Sugarman, J. H. (1996). Transcendental interpretation: Approaching ontological questions in psychological research. Methods:  A Journal for Human Science, Annual Issue, 28-41.

Sugarman, J. H. (1995). Transcendental interpretation: An alternative approach to psychological inquiry. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 15(1), 16-40.

Sugarman, J. H., & Martin, J. (1995). The moral dimension: A conceptualization and empirical demonstration of the moral nature of psychotherapeutic conversation. The Counseling Psychologist, 23(2), 324-347.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. H. (1993). Beyond methodolatry: Two conceptions of relations between theory and research in research on teaching. Educational Researcher, 22(8), 17-24.

Sugarman, J. H. (1992). Round the epistemological bend: A comment on levels of analysis and the received-view hermeneutics controversy. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 12, 27-37.

Encyclopedia Entry

Sugarman, J. (in press). The Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (4th Edition). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Conference Proceedings

Sugarman, J. (2009). Constitutive interactivity and the ontology of psychological kinds. In T. Teo, P. Stenner, A. Rutherford, I. Park, & C. Baerveldt (Eds.), Variations in theoretical psychology: Ontological, epistemological, practical-ethical, and metatheoretical concerns. Proceedings of the 13th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. Toronto, Canada. Concord, ON: Captus Press.

Sugarman, J. (2007). John Macmurray’s philosophy of the personal and psychological reality. In V. van Deventer, M. Terre Blanche, E. Fourie, & P. Segalo (Eds.), Citizen city: Between constructing agent and constructed agency. Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (pp. 289-297). Cape Town, Republic of South Africa. Concord, ON: Captus Press.

Winne, P. H., Butler, K. L., McGinn, M., Sugarman, J., Jones, M., Mark, M., & Field, D. (1992). STUDY: A tool for authoring adaptive learning environments for advancing instructional research. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (pp. 104-108). Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Conference Presentations (since 1997)

Sugarman, J. (2009, June). Constitutive interactivity and the ontology of psychological kinds. Paper presented at the Interactivism Summer Institute. Vancouver, BC.

Sugarman, J. (2008 August). Historical Ontology and Psychological Description. President’s Address to The Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology: Division 23 of the American Psychological Association. Boston, MA.

Martin, J.  Sugarman, J. (2008, August). Middle ground theorizing, realism, and objectivity in psychology. In A. Tjeltveit (Chair), Author meets critics: Dialogue regarding Barbara Held’s Psychology’s Interpretive Turn. Symposium accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (2007, August). Interpretation in psychology: Its necessity, its potential, and its limits. In R. Josselson (Chair), The interpretive turn: Horizons in theory, inquiry, and practice. Symposium accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.

Hickinbottom, S., & Sugarman, J. (2007, August). Psychology’s naturalized ethics and moral agency: A critique of psychology in education. In, J. Martin (Chair), Theoretical studies of research on psychopathology, self-regulation, and moral agency. Symposium accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

Sugarman, J. (2007, June). Constitutive interactivity and the ontology of psychological kinds. In M. Morf (Chair), Uses and abuses of categories. Symposium accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the International Society of Theory and Psychology, Toronto, ON.

Sugarman, J. (2006, March). The form of the personal and the irreducibility of psychological reality. Invited paper presented at the annual conference of the American Philosophical Association, Portland, OR.

Sugarman, J. (2005, August). Practical rationality and the questionable promise of positive psychology. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Sugarman, J. (2005, August). Human relations and the form of the personal in the philosophy of John Macmurray. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Sugarman, J. (2005, June). John Macmurray’s philosophy of the personal and psychological reality. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology. Capetown, South Africa.

Sugarman, J. (2005, June). John Macmurray’s philosophy of the personal and the irreducibility of psychological reality. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society. Vancouver, Canada

Sugarman, J., & Martin, J. (2004, September). Persons as agents in sociocultural context: An alternative to mechanistic accounts of executive functioning and self-regulation. Paper presented at Executive Functioning and Social Interaction: A Conference on the Developmental Relations Between Executive functioning, Social Understanding, and Social Interaction. Vancouver, Canada.

Sugarman, J. (2004, August). Persons and moral agency. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.

Sugarman, J., & Martin, J. (2002, August). The political disposition of psychological persons. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Sugarman, J., & Martin, J. (2002, May). The political disposition of self as a kind of understanding. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Psychological Association, Vancouver, BC.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (2001, September). Psychology and the question of agency. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Canadian Theoretical Psychologists, Lumsden, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (2001, August). Agency, compatibilism and psychology. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (2001, August). Psychology’s reality debate: A “levels of reality” approach. George Miller Award Lecture, given at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (2001, June). Agency and soft determinism in psychology. Paper presented at an interdisciplinary conference on Determinism, Max Planck Institute, Ringberg Castle, Germany.

Sugarman, J. & Martin, J. (2000, August). Is the self a kind of understanding? Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Martin, J., & Sugarman, J. (1999, August). The possibility of progressive understanding in psychology. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Sugarman, J., & Martin, J. (1998, August). The metaphysics of understanding. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

Sugarman, J. (1997, August). The social embeddedness of theory. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Research Grants

Principal Investigator (2004 – 2007). The psychology of moral agency. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. $82,290

Principal Investigator (1999 – 2002). Implications of a psychology of human possibility and constraint. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. $71,105

Principal Investigator (1999). A psychology of human possibility and constraint: Implications for education. Simon Fraser University President’s Research Grant. $9,232

Awards

Fellow, American Educational Research Association (2008)

Distinguished Service Award, American Psychological Association, Division 24 (2005)

Fellow, American Psychological Association (2003)

American Psychological Association George Miller Award (2001)

Service (since 1999)

Faculty

Coordinator, Educational Psychology Graduate Programs

Faculty Tenure Committee (5 terms)

Faculty of Education Undergraduate Programs Committee

University

University Committee for Excellence in Teaching Award

Faculty of Education Dean’s Search Committee

University Librarian Search Committee

University Counseling and Health Services, External Review Steering Committee

Advisory Board Member, Centre for Students with Disabilities

Scholarly Community

Associate Editor, Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

Theodore Sarbin Award Committee

President, Division 24, American Psychological Association (2007-2008)

Reviewer: Academy of Management Review; Alberta Journal of Educational Research; American Psychological Association (Division 24); City and Society; Current Anthropology, British Journal of Educational Psychology; Educational Psychologist; Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology; New Ideas in Psychology; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; Theory and Psychology

Graduate Student Supervision

One PhD competed; two MA completed; two PhD in progress, four MA in progress

Last Updated
March 5, 2009
FOE