Reviewed: one independent reader; copy check clear.
working backward
working backward In this historical psychological usage, working backward means reasoning from fully formed experience to an earlier, more undifferentiated mental whole from which later distinctions develop.
In this historical psychological usage, working backward means reasoning from fully formed experience to an earlier, more undifferentiated mental whole from which later distinctions develop. It refers to tracing mental development back to a theoretical objective continuum rather than explaining mind as built up from originally separate elements.