

Binet used Galton's work to examine a variety of famous and brilliant personalities, including writers, artists, mathematicians, and chessplayers. His work included studies of emotion, memory, attention, and problem solving.īinet became interested in Sir Francis Galton, an English psychologist who was attempting to quantify individual cognitive capacity by administering standardized tests. Much of Binet's work was published in this journal, and he received much acclaim for his innovative methodology. Also in 1895, Binet founded an annual publication called L'AnneePsychologique. In 1903, he published L'Etude Experimentale de l'Intelligence ("The Experimental Study ofIntelligence"), a well-respected work utilizing data from his work with his daughters. Here he established his study of the development of intelligence by examining his own young daughters, Armande and Margeurite. In 1895, Binet founded a laboratory at the Ecole de la Rue de la Grange aux Belles. He explored ways to measure such higher mental functions, attempting to do so utilizing paper, pencil, pictures, inkblots, and otherportable objects. Binet's publications from this time period included La Psychologie du Raisonnement ( The Psychology of Reason, 1886) Le Magnetisme Animal ( Animal Magnetism, 1887) and On Double Consciousness (1889).īored by the prevailing German research of this time period, which primarilystudied sensation and perception, Binet found himself captivated by the studyof higher reasoning. Later, he began branching out into studies of subconscious thought, personality, and experimental psychology.
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He remained director of this Laboratory of Physiological Psychology of the Ecole Pratique Des Hautes Etudes for the rest of his life (from 1895-1911).īinet's first work was on hypnosis and hysteria, the topics of his mentor, Charcot. Binet rose through theranks to become assistant director in 1892, and then director in 1895. Ultimately, he earned a doctorate in natural science, and began work as a research associate in a laboratory at the Sorbonne in 1891. Charcot's work inspired Binet to abandon his law career and enter into further study of medicine and science. Around 1878, Binet found himself grippedby the studies of hypnosis performed by Jean Charcot, a French neurologist working at Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. He went to Paris to study law, and began a career in law. Nationality French Gender Male Occupation psychologistĪlfred Binet was born in Nice, France, on July 8, 1857.
