Using the results from previous work in which eminence measures of 698 contributors to the development of psychology were obtained, the mathematical function relating their eminence and rank order was obtained. It was found that authors of history of psychology texts attribute a disproportionate amount of importance to a very small number of contributors. The situation is analogous to that described by Lotka in 1926 concerning the frequency distribution of scientific productivity.
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References
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LotkaA. J. (1926) The frequency distribution of scientific productivity. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 16, No. 12, 317–323.
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