F. J. Turner, E. G. Boring, and the frontier historiography of psychology

In this work, the existence of a tradition within the historiography of North American history of psychology is identified and explained. This "frontier" historiographical tradition centers upon a peculiar interpretation of the origin of American functional psychology: American psychology "went functional" as a result of turn of the century American psychologist's inheritance of characteristics typical of the early American "pioneers," which resulted from their experiences in conquering the Western frontiers of America. Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier hypothesis was the inspiration for this tradition in historiography, with E. G. Boring and the frontier metaphors---"science-as-frontier," "scientist-as-frontiersman/pioneer"---its primary carriers into contemporary histories of psychology. The importance of metaphor in conveying narrative understandings in both historical and scientific psychological writing is highlighted, as is the notion of national character types and its use in historical explanation.