Psychological Deficit as a Function of Stress and Constitution: A Proof of Pascal's Formula

Most psychologists are agreed that their interest is in some aspect of behavior on the part of the living organism. In this way psychologists appear to be alike. However, when defining the particular behavior, the particular organism, and the manifestations of the behavior to be observed or measured, the initial similarity seems to dissolve in a cloud of differing schools of psychology, and widely divergent ideas as to how the problem should be approached. The purpose of this study is to present and attempt to verify one theoretical approach to a problem in psychology, originally proposed by Pascal (39) and hereinafter to be called "Pascal's formula." This presentation will consist of a discussion of psychological theory in general, the relationship of Pascal's formula to the other theoretical approaches, a consideration of the nature and implications of the formula, and finally an experimental attempt to substantiate it.