ABSTRACT
Ever since the formal study of social psychology began, it has included a special sub-field, generally misnamed “collective behavior” to which the Langs here address themselves. Insofar as the subject is distinct from the rest of social psychology, it is that it is based on communication through natural signs rather than significant symbols. However, except in the extreme stages of crowd excitement? the distinction is not absolute, because few concrete human behaviors are grounded on any abstraction formulated out of the social scientists heuristic interest. But crowds, panics, rumors, fads, and similar collective phenomena are characterized by a relatively large number of expressions and effects of natural signs. Since other animals than man also communicate by means of natural signs, a large part of this sub-field might logically be considered as part of general psychology. Nevertheless, practically all general psychologists eschew the field — indeed, many deny its existence. For this reason, and because 341students of “collective behavior” have actually studied it only in man’s behavior, it belongs historically with sociological social psychology.
