The Importance of Instrument Makers for the Development of Experimental Psychology: The Case of Alfred Binet at the Sorbonne Laboratory

Abstract

The importance of instrument firms in the development of psychology, and science in general, should not be underestimated since it would not have been possible for various leading psychologists at the turn of the twentieth century to conduct certain experiments without the assistance of instrument makers, as is often the case today. To illustrate the historical perspective introduced here, the example of Alfred Binet is taken, as he is an interesting case of a psychologist working in close collaboration with various French instrument designers of the time. The objective of this article is twofold: (1) to show the considerable activity carried out by early psychologists to finalize new laboratory instruments in order to develop their research projects; (2) to reassess the work of a major figure in French psychology through his activity as a designer of precision instruments. The development of these new instruments would certainly have been difficult without the presence in Paris of numerous precision instrument manufacturers such as Charles Verdin, Otto Lund, Henri Collin, and Lucien Korsten, on whom Binet successively called in order to develop his projects in the field of experimental psychology.

Scientific Study of Magic: Binet’s Pioneering Approach Based on Observations and Chronophotography

“…Binet thought psychology should use instrumentation to address psychological issues. In fact, he never stopped inventing, perfecting, or using certain technical devices (see Nicolas, 2016) to gain insight into specific questions (e.g., handwriting movements; see Nicolas & Sanitioso, 2012). Marey had a great influence on Binet's work concerning the application of technical instrumentation to psychological questions.…”

“…In his works on human psychophysiology, Binet used the graphic method (cf. Nicolas, 2016), and he resorted to several instruments invented by Marey, such as the sphygmograph (to record blood pressure) or the pneumograph (to record the velocity and the force of chest movements during respiration).…”

“…It comes from a particularly the Salpêtrière Hospital in the 1880s, joined the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at the Sorbonne, headed by Henry Beaunis . Although Binet had not yet become the psychologist that the world would celebrate as the inventor of intelligence tests (Binet & Simon, 1905, 1908; see Nicolas, Andrieu, Croizet, Sanitioso, & Burman, 2013), he was already regarded as the pioneer and ambassador of "new" psychology, notably through his ingenious use of new experimental instruments and his original method to investigate some psychological and psychophysiological issues (Nicolas, 2016).…”

Maurice Reuchlin et son histoire de la psychologie

“…Ainsi, la figure de Binet est-elle noyée dans une histoire dominée, aux yeux de Reuchlin, par les grands maîtres de la psychologie française que sont Ribot et Piéron. Reuchlin participera ainsi plus ou moins volontairement, mais il ne sera pas le seul jusqu'à récemment, à la méconnaissance de l'oeuvre incroyablement riche, diverse et novatrice de Binet que l'auteur de cet article et son groupe cherche aujourd'hui à réhabiliter (pour des publications récentes : Nicolas, 2015Nicolas, , 2016Nicolas & Guida, 2016 ;Nicolas & Makowski, 2016 ;Nicolas, Andrieu, Sanitioso, Vincent, & Murray, 2015 ;Thomas, Didierjean, & Nicolas, 2016).…”

Weber’s compass and the measurement of the threshold of tactile sensitivity: Alfred Binet’s critical approach to esthesiometry

“…In 1901, Binet decided to continue his research into esthesiometry and even invented a new esthesiometer (Binet, 1901a) (figure 7) which was intended to replace the other existing devices which, to his mind, exhibited too many deficiencies (see Nicolas, 2016). Through good fortune, Binet met an eminent physiologist, Dr X.…”