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Clinical psychology emerged in the United States during the first decades of the 20th century. Although they focused on intelligence tests, starting around 1905 certain clinical psychologists pursued personality assessment through a specific, nonintellectual kind of test: the word association test as devised by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) at the Burghölzli psychiatric clinic in Zurich. The test was a key device in the professionalization of North American psychiatry and psychology during the early 20th century: from 1905 onward it was acknowledged, discussed, and applied by experimental and clinical psychologists. However, Jung's original experiments and the development of the test itself have received only superficial or casual attention by historians of science. This article attempts to provide a critical, streamlined, and detailed account on the origin, development, and substance of the Zurich word association experiments. By drawing on heretofore overlooked primary sources, I offer a new, critical perspective on the emergence and development of Jung's test while engaging with its main theoretical and methodological aspects. I show that the test was neither Jung's sole creation nor did it consist of a simple, straightforward set of tasks. Contrarily, it was the result of a highly collaborative, multilayered institutionalized research program on linguistic and mental associations. The program, its data and its assumptions fueled several debates and data-driven discussions at Zurich, precluding the test from achieving a stable, standardized character. As a result, the history of Jung's program reflects both the advances and the limitations of early 20th-century personality testing.

This study is an empirical analysis of the field's current state in Argentinian universities. Bibliometric parameters were used to retrieve the total listed texts (N = 797) of eight undergraduate history courses' syllabi from Argentina's most populated public university psychology programs. Then, professors in charge of the selected courses (N = 7) were interviewed regarding the structure, procedure, and instructional strategies of their courses. Results showed predominance of works produced by Argentinian scholars and secondary sources. Syllabi showed limited incorporation of primary sources, recent research papers, and certain psychological schools. The pervasive presence of infrastructural constraints and lecture-based instruction are seen as limitations that should be collectively debated and addressed by courses' faculty.

Multiple studies have analyzed the aims, resources, and approaches to undergraduate and graduate history of psychology education in several countries. Argentina is one of the countries with the highest historiographical production in Latin America. However, to date, there are no published studies on the collective debates among professionals, institutions, and associations that were instrumental in the development of the historiography of science becoming a mandatory part of the curriculum in Argentinian psychology programs. This study describes and analyzes the role of undergraduate history of psychology courses in official debates that took place during the last 30 years regarding Argentinian psychologists' training and education, in the context of regional and international historiography. Data was retrieved from several primary sources, such as minutes and official dossiers, working documents on accreditation standards, and nationwide curricular diagnoses on undergraduate psychology education, as well as individual scholars' ideas. Our findings suggest that, in line with regional and international historiography, history of psychology courses in Argentina have repeatedly been considered as core content in debates and discussions about psychology education, from the restoration of democracy in 1983 to the present day, in which they are currently considered to be mandatory minimum curricular content. Although throughout its history Argentinian psychology has largely been reduced to the teaching of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, historical education has been perceived as a gateway toward a more plural and critical local psychology. We conclude by discussing some potential and actual concerns that pose a threat to Argentinian undergraduate history courses. (PsycINFO Database Record

This study is an empirical analysis of the recent past and current state of Argentinian undergraduate psychology education in the context of psychology programs’ ongoing evaluation and accreditation processes. We used six bibliometric parameters to retrieve the required listed readings ( N = 16,085) of the 452 compulsory undergraduate courses’ syllabi from Argentina’s 12 most populated psychology programs at public and prívate universities. We then compared our data with analyses from the 2000–2010 period and with official accreditation criteria. Results showed a marked obsolescence and a limited updating of required readings. Syllabi showed a clear hegemony of psychoanalytically-oriented authors and readings, dominance of books and faculty-written manuscripts over scholarly articles, and a very limited internationalization. Our findings suggest that accreditation processes have not modified Argentinian psychology’s main, historical characteristics.

During the first two decades of the 20th century, the expansion of private foundations and philanthropic initiatives in the United States converged with a comprehensive, nationwide agenda of progressive education and post-war social reconstruction that situated childhood at its core. From 1924 to 1928, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial was the main foundation behind the aggressive, systematic funding of the child development movement in North America. A pioneering institution, the Institute of Child Welfare Research, established in 1924 at Columbia's Teachers College, was the first Rockefeller-funded programme of its kind at an American university. The Institute was influential in helping set up a nationwide network of child welfare institutes at other universities. Twelve years later, it would also be the first of those institutes to close. Nonetheless, the Institute's context, emergence, and development have been overlooked or misrepresented by previous scholarship, which calls for a new, critical historical analysis. By drawing on a number of archival sources and unpublished materials, this paper offers a critical reconstruction of the Institute's internal, often unstable history, emphasizing its origins, members, and administrative changes. I argue that the demise of the Institute should be understood in the context of both the revision of philanthropic policies in the late 1920s and the Institute's singular emphasis on teaching and training over research. The resulting narrative allows for a deeper, more informed understanding of both the Institute's origins and its eventual folding.

Contemporary Argentinian psychology has a unique characteristic: it is identified with psychoanalysis. Nonpsychoanalytic theories and therapies are difficult to find. In addition, there is an overt antiscientific attitude within many psychology programs. How should this be explained? In this paper, we claim that a philosophical history of psychology can shed new light on the development of Argentinian psychology by showing that early Argentinian psychoanalysts held positions in the newborn psychology programs and a distinctive stance toward scientific research in general and psychology in particular. In the absence of an explicit and articulate philosophical position, psychoanalysts developed an implicit meta-theory that helped shape the context that led to the institutionalization and professionalization of psychology in Argentina. Although we do not establish or even suggest a monocausal link between their ideas and the current state of Argentinian psychology, we do claim that their impact should be explored. Finally, we discuss some limitations of our study and suggest future complementary investigations.

ResumenEl presente trabajo expone los resultados de un análisis empírico en perspectiva histórica sobre la valoración de psicólogos argentinos de la historia de la psicología como contenido curricular. Para aportar datos sobre los últimos 25 años, se realizó un análisis de contenido sobre fuentes primarias relevantes para la enseñanza de la psicología en Argentina: indagaciones sobre la formación de psicólogos en la región hacia 1990, documentos sobre los parámetros de acreditación de carreras de grado de psicología en Argentina, y reglamentaciones ministeriales rectoras de procesos de acreditación. Se pretendió caracterizar los contenidos curriculares históricos o historiográficos en tales fuentes. Se halló una presencia constante de tales contenidos en los documentos, con énfasis y caracterizaciones disímiles. Así, se concebiría a la historia de la ciencia como un contenido vital, introductorio y básico para promover una imagen pluralista y compleja de la disciplina. Se concluye sobre ciertos desafíos implicados en futuras revisiones curriculares.