In a journey to the theoretical roots of human psychology, Diane Gillespie defends the concept of contextualism in a field in which mechanism has prevailed. Gillespie explains both theories in a historical overview of cognitive psychology and then contrasts them in three chapters on visual perception, memory, and categorization. She clarifies the inadequacy of mechanism as the sole model of cognition by including narratives based on her own life that focus on the dynamic ways we interact with the world.
Providing a subtheme of contemporary concern, Gillespie argues that a psychological theory open to everyday contexts has important implications for women, whose perspectives have been underrepresented in the literature of cognitive psychology. She does not posit contextualism as the next exclusive viewpoint but suggests instead a pluralism with no one viewpoint overshadowing the others.