Abstract: The authors discuss the history of research terminology in American psychology with respect to the various labels given to those upon whom we conduct research ("observer"-"subject"- "participant"-"client"). This history is supplemented with an analysis of participant terminology in APA manuals from four historical eras, from the 1950s to the present. The general trend in participant terminology reflects the overall trends in American psychology, beginning with a complex lexicon that admitted both the passive and the active research participant,...
(read more)
Topics: 
Epistemology
Social psychology
Linguistics