The Principles of Psychology, William James, 1897
The American Psychological
Association Thesaurus, 1979
Categories which emerged across the two indices are Historical/Theoretical Influences; Physiology; Experimental Psychology; Abnormal Psychology/Therapeutic Concerns; Sociological concerns.
Table 3 contains indexical lists by
category of items from the
APA sample indices; with the
exception of five items from the APA sample (Deer; Dogs;
Dolphins; Doves; Ducks)which form a
homogeneous grouping and which did not seem to belong in any of
the five categories. Each APA
entry is identified by a capital (A) following it, James entries
are all others.
The new index for the D's in Table 3 allows comparisons of the James and APA entries by category, or Topic Domain. Each Topic Domain reflects divergent of convergent patterns within that category.
The new index contains two hundred and twenty-four entries with none duplicate topic entries (c.f. Table 2). Table 4 shows the percentage of each sample index represented per Topic Domain; the total number of entries per category; and the percentage of items in a category represented from each sample index. Topic Domain I (Historical/Theoretical Concerns) has twenty-four entries in it. 42% of the items from the James sample appear here while the percent of the APA sample appears. This reflects a convergent pattern for this Topic Domain. James entries make up 87% of the category while APA entries constitute 13%, which supports the convergent pattern.
Topic Domain II (Physiology) has ninety-six items with 32% of James represented and 45% of the APA. Both sample indices have comparable amounts of references in this Topic Domain though 83% of the entries in the category are from the APA with 17% from James (giving the appearance that the James index does not have a comparable number of references in the Topic Domain). There is a marked divergent pattern for this category. Comparison of the percentage of entries from each index shows topic fragmentation, and a shift is topic focus from sensory perception and brain degenerations and functions (James:) to central nervous system functions and degenerations (including the brain); organic bodily functions; and a particular emphasis on drugs (25 entries for APA). This fragmentation shows technological advances and influences in the study of physiology in the field of psychology since the time of James.
Topic Domain IV (Abnormal Psychology/Therapeutic Concerns) shows a pattern analogous to that discussed in Topic Domain II. It is interesting to note that for this category only 4% of the James index and 9% of the APA are represented though 84% of the entries (c.f. Table 3) reflect Freud's influence in the development of personality theory, abnormal symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, while the two James entries are; Delusions, insane and Dissociation of one part of the mind from the other. These two entries mark early references in the topic of abnormal psychology which are further elaborated in the APA index items for this Topic Domain.
Topic Domain III (Experimental Psychology) and V (Sociological Concerns) reflect divergent patterns to varying degrees as well as topic fragmentation and shifts in topic focus which can be specified further in analysis of these categories (not discussed here).
Application of the five Topic Domain
categories to other
samples of the two indices yield similar
groupings (c.f. Winskowski on the A's) validating these
categories as meaningful and useful in
analysis of the topics for the James and APA indices.
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