Educational Psychology
Alfred Binet
Professor:
Lic: Rosa Palacios
Group n. 2:
Marlen Cecilia Torres 20070005602
Ana Meliza Zelaya 20061005745
Fernando Acosta
8812282
ALFRED
BINET
Alfred Binet was born on July, 11th 1857 in Nice
France. His father was a physician, and his
mother an artist. They divorced when he was
young. Binet moved to Paris with his mother.
After graduating from law school in 1878, Binet
followed his father's footsteps and enrolled in
medical school.
He began to study science at
Sorbonne, but soon began
educating himself in
psychology by reading
works by Charles Darwin and
John Stuart Mill.
CAREER
 Researcher, neurological clinic, Salpertriere
Hospital Paris. ( 1883-1889)
 Researcher and Associate Director, Laboratory
of Experimental Psichology , Sorbonne
University. (1891-1894)
 Member, Commission on the education of
retarded children, appointed by the french
Ministry of Public Instruction.(1904)
INFLUENCES
 Student of: Charcot
 Influenced by: Mill, Simon, Terman,
Goddard
 Time Period: The Great Schools’ Influence
History of the Stanford – Binet
Intelligence Scale
 It is a descendant of the Binet-Simon scale
which was developed in 1905 and became the
first intelligence test, it was developed in
1916.
 It was created by Alfred Binet with the help of
his assistant Theodore Simon.
 It takes 45 to 90 minutes to be applied, but can
take as long as two hours and 30 minutes
depending on how many areas of intelligence
are measured and with what depth.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS
The major work that he developed was The
Stanford- Binet Intelligence Scale:
 The scale is a standardized test that
measures intelligence and cognitive
abilities in children and adults, from age
two through mature adulthood.

It is used to provide educational
planning and placement,
neuropsychological assessment,
and research. “The Stanford
Binet Intelligence Scale” is
generally administered in a
school or clinical setting.
The scale’s area scores include:
Verbal Reasoning
Abstract/Visual Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning, and
Short-Term Memory.
In constrast to his contemporaries
who supported the measurement of
physical features or a single factor
as an assessment of intelligence,
Binet suported a functional,
multidimentional view of
intelligence that emphasized
reasoning and comprehension.
Because of his unique approach to
studying intelligence, the Paris school
system asked Binet to develop a test
that could be used to identify children
who would benefit from special
education classes. In 1905 Binet and his
collaborator, Theophile Simon,
responded to this request by creating
the first intelligence test, the BinetSimon Scale. Binet revised the scale in
1908 and again in 1911.
A second focus of Binet's research
was the cognitive development of
his two daughters, Alice and
Madeleine. His extensive
observations and experimental
studies of his daughters allowed him
to develop several theories about
cognitive development. Example
followed later by Jean Piaget.
An important milestone in Binet's career
was the creation of the first Laboratory
of Experimental Pedagogy. The purpose
of this lab was to develop a systematic
line of experimental research with
children and to provide training for
teachers on how to educate mentally
challenged children.
The establishment of his laboratory was
a major event in the formation of the
field of Child Psychology.
IMPORTANT WORKS AND PUBLICATIONS
 The psychology of reasoning, based on
experimental researches in hypnotism (Chicago,
Open court publishing company, 1899).
 Animal Magnetism (New York, D. Appleton and
company, 1888)
 Etudes de psychologie expérimentale (1888).
 Les altérations de la personnalité (Paris: F. Alcan,
1892).
 Perception intérieure (1887).
 La Suggestibilité (Paris: Schleicher, 1900).
 Etude expérimentale de l'intelligence (1903).
 The Mind and the Brain (London: Kegan Paul, Trench,
Trübner & co. ltd.).
 Les révélations de l'écriture d'après un contrôle
scientifique (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1906).
 Binet, A. & Simon, Mentaly defective children
(1907). (Paris, A. Colin, 1907).
Les idées modernes sur les enfants (Paris, E.
Flammarion, 1909).
L'intelligence des imbecile (L'année
psychologique, 15, 1–147, 1909).
Alfred Binet was one of the founding
editors of L'année psychologique, a yearly
volume comprising original articles and
reviews of the progress of psychology still
in print.
 1911 Binet died just after the third version of
Binet-Simon test was published.
 1917 Free Society for the Psychological Study
of the Child voted to change their name to La
Societe Alfred Binet.
 1984 Binet's development of the intelligence
test was named one of twenty of the 20th
century's most significant developments or
discoveries in the journal Science.
FAMOUS QUOTE:
“The scale, properly speaking, does
not permit the measure of the
intelligence, because intellectual
qualities are not superposable, and
therefore cannot be measured as
linear surfaces are measured.”
 The quote on the previous diapositive is a
clear enunciation of the modern
conception of intelligence measuring.
 Such conception asserts the fact that the
IQ is not enough basis for the measuring
of intelligence, but the ability to use
intrinsic skills and apply them in the
solution of problems and facing obstacles
make up that basis.
Bibliography
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References
Bergin, D. A., & Cizek, G. J. (2001). Alfred Binet. In J. A. Palmer (Ed.), Fifty
major thinkers on education: From Confucius to Dewey (pp. 160-164).
London: Routledge.
Fancher, R. E. (1985). The intelligence men: Makers of the IQ controversy.
New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Siegler, R. S. (1992). The other Alfred Binet. Developmental Psychology,
28, 179-190.
White, S. (2000). Conceptual foundations of IQ testing. Psychology,
Public Policy, and Law, 6(1), 33-43.
Wolf, T.H. (1973). Alfred Binet. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Image Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/binet.shtml
http://www.reference.com/browse/alfred+binet