Articles in encyclopedias represented 1 of several avenues that the new experimental psychologists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had to portray their science to the public, and as such, these entries are important documents in understanding the agenda of the psychologist authors and the bases for the public's understanding of psychology. This article describes a content analysis of the psychology entries from 174 American encyclopedias published between 1880 and 1940. The analysis focuses on the changes in this content over time and the correspondence of those changes to the evolution of American psychology. The data show that the encyclopedia entries were slow in reporting changes in psychology and often promoted a singular view of the subject matter of psychology.
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