Allport first summarizes the many problems upon which current psychologists focus, and how these tend to represent age-old problems masquerading under new semantic wraps. Then he proceeds with the major topic of his address, arguing for the open-system conceptualization in personality theory, giving criteria for the open-system approach, and comparing open-system orientations in personality theory with versions which may be defined as closed systems. (30 ref.) From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2HA01A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)