Sinister Social Scientists?
Abstract
<p>HERE we have, in part, a history of industrial social science in America and, in part, a social critique of the work of industrial social scientists. Professor Baritz is a historian. His history is by and large good. His social criticism lacks a sure touch.</p><p>Beginning by giving a historical perspective on American business and industry in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Baritz then proceeds to a discussion of the origins of industrial psychology. He takes its roots back to the work of Darwin, Galton, Wundt, and finally to Cattell who did the "ganz Amerikanisch" thing of exploring the practical implications of the infant discipline. Baritz does a very detailed and informative job of tracing applied psychology from its birth through World War I and its continued application in the following decade.</p><p>There are two things of note in this early history of applied psychology. When the Psychological Corporation was formed in 1921, it numbered among its founders: Bingham, Cattell, G. Stanley Hall, Hollingworth, McDougall, Walter Dill Scott, Terman, Titchener, Watson, and Yerkes. This list shows that the application of psychology in business and industry was not an enterprise shunned by the prestigeful figures in the field. It