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A R Buss

Publications and source records attributed to A R Buss.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1977

In defense of a critical-presentist historiography: the fact-theory relationship and Marx's epistemology.

It is argued that mainstream social scientists made an "error" during the crucial formative years of the 1920s and 1930s. This historical error involved relinquishing, or at the very least ignoring, some of the epistemological views within the social sciences concerning the fact-theory relationship as developed by Marx and others in his tradition. The contemporary nature of some of Mark's epistemic views is demonstrated, where the case is made that some recent developments in the philosophy of science are converging with some of his original insights. The methodological approach of the article--judging the past in the context of the present--is defended on the basis of Marxian historiography, especially as developed by those noe-Marxists of the Frankfurt School. In the latter discussion "justificationist presentism" is criticized from the perspective of a "critical presentism."

Famous Persons↗
PubMed1976

Galton and the birth of differential psychology and eugenics: social, political, and economic forces.

The social, political, and economic forces operative in nineteenth-century Britain are briefly described. This permits tracing the birth of both the scientific study of individual differences and the field of eugenics to the infrastructure of society at that time. The distinction is made between the normative doctrine of individualism and the factual study of individual differences. It is argued that democratic--liberal--capitalistic--individualism, in part, conditioned the beginning of differential psychology and eugenics. In this process, Galton's liberal views concerning individual freedom and opportunity for full development became transformed into their dialectic--totalitarian--collectivism--a vision of an ideal state which did not come into being. It is paradoxically concluded that those same social forces which helped bring about the birth of differential psychology and the entailing eugenics ideology prevented the latter from being accepted and implemented.

Economics↗
PubMed1976

Galton and sex differences: an historical note.

The psychological study of sex differences is a special area of interest within differential psychology. Differential psychology was launched as a scientific field of research in the latter half of the nineteenth century by Sir Francis Galton. Galton's early research on sex differences in psychological traits gives him the distinction of being the "father" of the modern study of sex differences. Galton's empirical findings and his interpretation of sex differences were heavily influenced by his Victorian sexist attitudes. The early history of the modern study of sex differences exemplifies the intimate relation between facts and values.

England↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Methdological issues in life-span developmental psychology from a dialectical perspective.

In the last few years there have been several studies reported in the literature using bifactorial ANOVA designs for the description and/or explanation of developmental phenomena. As formulated by Schaie and Baltes, these bifactorial ANOVA designs consist of taking any two of age, cohort, or time of measurement as the independent variables. The logic of these designs is carefully considered with respect to answering descriptive and/or explanatory developmental questions. It is concluded that the employment of ANOVA in the manner recommended by Schaie and Baltes has led us down a blind alley with respect to addressing developmental phenomena. Much more reasonable data analysis designs are available for getting at the description and/or explanation of development, namely, regression techniques. The advantages of regression models as compared to ANOVA are discussed in the context of developmental data analysis. Disenagement theory is singled out for special attention in the context of the dialectic between the individual and the environment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗