DOI
0.1002/1520-6696(198710)23:4<315::AID-JHBS2300230402>3.0.CO;2-V
Abstract
This is a story about the New Psychologists who strove at the turn of the century to institutionalize a new science and to create a new set of professional roles. More particularly, it is about the rhetorical fabric they wove around the nascent science of psychology. The article focuses, one by one, on different strands of this fabric – on (1) what persuaded the first generation of American psychologists to take an interest in the New Psychology; (2) the arguments these aspiring psychologists presented to presidents and trustees to insure that they could pursue their interest within particular institutional settings; (3) the arguments they put forth against the rights of other persons to engage in similar, competing pursuits; (4) the arguments they laid before various administrators, officials, interest groups, and the general public to guarantee continued and even increased support; and (5) the arguments they presented in the form of theories and practices developed between approximately 1880 and 1920. In this way, it attempts to construct a likely story about the establishment of the New Psychology in America.
Document Type
Restricted Article: Campus only access
Publication Date
10-1987
Publisher Statement
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Recommended Citation
Leary, David E. “Telling Likely Stories: The Rhetoric of the New Psychology, 1880‑1920.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 23 (1987): 315‑331.