A semantic study of concepts of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.

Abstract

The 50 words appearing most frequently in psychological reports were investigated in terms of semantic difficulties. A quantitative analysis of definitions indicated that psychologists were more verbose and circuitous than psychiatrists whether the content of the term was psychological, psychiatric, or psychoanalytical. Wide variations occurred. Viewed qualitatively, the psychologists' definitions were more abstract, more highly conceptualized, more academic and technical. One of the most striking findings was the looseness and ambiguity of many of the definitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)