AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE PSYCHOLEGAL LITERATURE INDICATES THAT, ALTHOUGH EMPHASES HAVE DIFFERED FROM PERIOD TO PERIOD, THE OVERRIDING THEMES THROUGHOUT THE 20TH CENTURY HAVE BEEN THAT THE UNION OF PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW CAN PROMOTE BOTH JUSTICE AND SCIENCE, THAT PSYCHOLOGY OFFERS WAYS OF SYSTEMATICALLY DOCUMENTING SOCIOLEGAL AND PSYCHOLEGAL EVENTS, AND THAT THE PHENOMENA OF BOTH PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW REQUIRE NEW VIEWS OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. THE MORE RECENT LITERATURE SUGGESTS THAT THE FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW HAVE BEGUN TO ADDRESS PSYCHOLEGAL ISSUES IN MORE INTELLECTUALLY SOPHISTICATED, LESS PAROCHICAL WAYS. INDICATORS OF GROWTH IN THE PSYCHOLOGY-LAW RELATION--CONFERENCES, INDEXING SYSTEMS, ORGANIZATIONAL TRENDS, ACADEMIC PROGRAMS, FEDERAL SUPPORT, PUBLICATIONS--ARE NOTED. THE GROWING INTEREST IN PSYCHOLEGAL RESEARCH IS SAID TO REFLECT CHANGES IN THE FUNCTION OF LAW IN THE CULTURE, AS WELL AS RECOGNITION THAT THE TWO DISCIPLINES ARE NOT DISCORDANT. WAYS IN WHICH LAWYERS AND PSYCHOLEGAL RESEARCHERS MUST BE MINDFUL OF EACH OTHER'S PERSPECTIVES IN ORDER TO CLARIFY PROBLEMS AND PROCEDURES IN SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS ARE NOTED. ISSUES IN NEED OF PSYCHOLEGAL RESEARCH--THE MEANING OF RIGHTS, THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF LAW, THE JUDICIAL PROCESS, THE ROLE OF THE PSYCHOLOGIST IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SETTINGS--ARE IDENTIFIED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT, ALTHOUGH THEORETICAL, METHODOLOGICAL, AND EMPIRICAL GAPS REMAIN, PSYCHOLEGAL RESEARCH REPRESENTS A GROWING WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF BOTH LAWYERS AND PSYCHOLOGISTS TO SEEK INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERIENCES, TO FRAME QUESTIONS IN A NUMBER OF WAYS, AND TO SEEK ANSWERS IN MORE THAN ONE SETTING. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (LKM)