The concept of stages of development, as Beeby (1966, p. 51) acknowledged, "rouses the suspicion of any social scientist". This was particularly true in the 1960s because W.W. Rostow's book, The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non- Communist Manifesto, had been a major focus of debate since its appearance in 1960. Beeby's favourable citation of Rostow and use of the stages concept made him vulnerable to Vaizey's (1966, p. 535) charge that the educational stages were "dangerously adapted from a pseudo-theory once adumbrated by W.W. Rostow". Apart from favourable reference to Rostow's use of stages, Beeby did not make clear in his 1966 book the extent to which his work was based on Rostow's conception. Later, he denied the charge and stated that the main influence was Stanley Hall's earlier educational psychology on stages of growth in early childhood (Beeby 1980a, p. 439).