ABSTRACT
The term “behavioral sciences” was coined in the late 1940’s as one way of designating those disciplines whose root phenomena are behavioral events. One reason for the neologism in preference to the then current general designation, “social sciences,” was the anti- communist national political climate of the times in the United States, when “social” appeared to many people uncomfortably too close in sound-and therefore possibly in meaning-to “socialism.” The different perspectives may well imply different reference or peer groups deemed appropriate to judge competence and adequacy, as well as different bodies of relevant literature and publishing outlets. Dubos also concretizes the epistemological problem on the basis of his own laboratory work and emphasizes the need for flexibility in applying hierarchical frames of reference appropriate to the level of phenomena being investigated. In most medical practice, however, the functional - the processual - approach is usually considered a residual category.
