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Keyword frequencies in anglophone psychology

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  • John G. Benjafield

    (Brock University)

Abstract

A sample of the keywords belonging to the anglophone vocabulary of psychology was created using PsycINFO and the Oxford English Dictionary. Keyword frequencies were analyzed for four equal periods between 1887 and 2014. Keywords that entered psychology before 1919 (e.g., learning, perception) have the highest frequency of usage across all periods. This effect is consistent with the principle of an early mover advantage, whereby the earlier a keyword enters the vocabulary of psychology, the greater will be its subsequent frequency. The most frequently occurring keywords contain exemplars of a core lexicon made up largely of keywords that had ordinary language meanings before they acquired psychological senses (e.g., depression, stress). These keywords not only give rise to a feeling of understanding in most psychologists, but also in many laypersons as well. Low frequency keywords are exemplars of a technical lexicon, the meanings of which are more specialized than those of the core lexicon. Keywords in the vocabulary of psychology are used in ways that are consistent with the words-as-tools analogy derived from the approaches to language of Wittgenstein and Zipf. Members of the early vocabulary of anglophone psychology have many meanings and so are easy to use in many different contexts. However, the fact that they are habitually used does not mean that they are the best tools for the job. It is time to think seriously about which keywords may be bad habits and need replacing by better tools.

Suggested Citation

  • John G. Benjafield, 2019. "Keyword frequencies in anglophone psychology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(3), pages 1051-1064, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:118:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03021-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-019-03021-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Günter Krampen, 2016. "Scientometric trend analyses of publications on the history of psychology: Is psychology becoming an unhistorical science?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1217-1238, March.
    2. Allen N. Berger & Astrid A. Dick, 2007. "Entry into Banking Markets and the Early-Mover Advantage," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(4), pages 775-807, June.
    3. Kwan Yi & Jamshid Beheshti & Charles Cole & John E. Leide & Andrew Large, 2006. "User search behavior of domain‐specific information retrieval systems: An analysis of the query logs from PsycINFO and ABC‐Clio's Historical Abstracts/America: History and Life," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 57(9), pages 1208-1220, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. John G. Benjafield, 2020. "Vocabulary sharing among subjects belonging to the hierarchy of sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 1965-1982, December.
    2. Oliver Wieczorek & Saïd Unger & Jan Riebling & Lukas Erhard & Christian Koß & Raphael Heiberger, 2021. "Mapping the field of psychology: Trends in research topics 1995–2015," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9699-9731, December.

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