The theory distinguishes normal aging from pathological aging, neglecting the older adults with chronic illness.

Incentive theory distinguishes itself from other motivation theories, such as drive theory, in the direction of the motivation.

Ancient rhetorical theory distinguished between form and content.

The theory distinguishes itself from other theories of leadership by stating that:

This theory distinguishes between hopeless depression and circumscribed pessimism.

These issues turned out to be subtle and it was not clear how a theory could distinguish intrinsically hard on average problems.

One theory of immigration distinguishes between Push and Pull.

The revised theory distinguishes between fear and anxiety and proposes functionally related subsystems.

The theory distinguishes between fear and anxiety, and links reinforcement processes to personality.

This theory distinguishes between four types of rewards and costs.