Alfred Binet

"... Notre but n'est point de suivre l' volution de la psychologie dans ces derni res ann es, ni de marquer l'influence des hommes et des id es sur cet important mouvement scientifique. Nous d sirons simplement, dans ces courtes pages, indiquer et faire comprendre le caract re de la psychologie nouvelle, d finir les m thodes principales qu'elle emploie, le domaine o elle exerce ses recherches. Il existe deux genres de psychologie la psychologie exp rimentale proprement dite, et la psychologie morbide; cette derni re tudie l'hypnotisme, l'hyst rie, l'ali nation mentale, et les diverses esp ces de troubles sensitifs et moteurs qu'on rencontre dans les maladies. Malgr le grand int r t que pr sente cette branche de psychologie, nous ne devons point en parler ici parce qu'elle n'entre pas dans le cadre des recherches de notre laboratoire. Un enseignement et des recherches sur la psychologie pathologique ne peuvent se faire avec fruit qu' la Facult de m decine, dans les h pitaux et hospices, en un mot dans les milieux o se trouvent les malades pouvant tre pr sent s aux le ons, et soumis aux exp riences. Nous nous bornerons exposer ici ce qui concerne la psychologie exp rimentale de l'individu sain..."

"... Mon intention, en crivant ce livre, n'est point de continuer la tradition des discussions d' cole; au lieu d'opposer mes exp riences celles des autres auteurs, je vais prendre dans leur ensemble tous les r sultats qui ont t obtenus dans l' tude d'une question, pour rechercher quels sont, parmi ces r sultats, ceux qui s'accordent et peuvent tre group s dans une m me synth se. Je retiendrai seulement les exp riences qui se r p tent entre toutes les mains, et qui donnent toujours la m me conclusion, quelle que soit la fin cherch e; je mettrai au contraire en r serve, sans les juger, tous les ph nom nes qui n'ont encore t observ s que par une seule personne, et qui ne se rattachent pas logiquement un ensemble de faits connus et acquis; et bien entendu je ferai subir cette puration mes propres travaux comme ceux des autres auteurs..."

"... Une tr s forte suggestibilit est naturelle l'enfant, elle fait partie de sa psychologie normale, au m me titre que le sentiment de la peur; et le d veloppement r gulier des fonctions intellectuelles et morales diminue progressivement cette suggestibilit enfantine, sans qu'il soit le plus souvent n cessaire d'aider l'oeuvre de la nature. Du reste, la suggestibilit est, pour l'enfant, qui ne sait rien encore et qui est incapable de raisonner, une forme de la confiance, et sans la confiance de l' l ve, sans l'autorit du ma tre, il n'y a pas d' ducation possible. Le p dagogue doit surtout surveiller les carts, les anomalies de suggestibilit , de m me qu'il doit r primer chez ses l ves l'esprit de contradiction et d'ergoterie, qui peut devenir un d faut intellectuel, aussi dangereux que la servilit . C'est sa t che; il ne me convient pas d'en parler; elle est en dehors de mon sujet; dans ce livre, je l'ai dit et je le r p te, je me contente d'avoir expos , d'apr s les exp riences r centes, les m thodes qui permettent d' valuer la suggestibilit individuelle sans avoir recours l'hypnotisme."

Dans ce dernier livre, Alfred Binet s'int resse aux causes de l' chec scolaire qui peuvent tre psychologiques. Il tablit une tude brillante de l'intelligence, de la m moire, des aptitudes et du caract re des enfants en proposant des preuves de mesure appropri es.

Originally published in 1907, this book explores the distinction between mind and matter. Although Alfred Binet is best known for his contributions to the study of intelligence he had other extensive research interests and published widely in many areas of psychology. This reissue is an opportunity to explore some of that work, which includes consciousness and cognition as well as definitions of psychology.

"La Suggestibilite" de Alfred Binet. P dagogue et psychologue fran ais (1857-1911).

The Mind and the Brain is an Alfred Binet psychology classic and a prolonged effort to establish a distinction between what is called mind and what is called matter. Nothing is more simple than to realise this distinction when you do not go deeply into it; nothing is more difficult when you analyse it a little. At first sight, it seems impossible to confuse things so far apart as a thought and a block of stone; but on reflection this great contrast vanishes, and other differences have to be sought which are less apparent and of which one has not hitherto dreamed. Alfred Binet ( July 8, 1857 - October 18, 1911) was a French psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test, the Binet-Simon test. 2] In 1904, the French Ministry of Education asked psychologist Alfred Binet to devise a method that would determine which students did not learn effectively from regular classroom instruction so they could be given remedial work. Along with his collaborator Th odore Simon, Binet published revisions of his test in 1908 and 1911, the last of which appeared just before his death. In 1899, Binet was asked to be a member of the Free Society for the Psychological Study of the Child. French education changed greatly during the end of the nineteenth century, because of a law that passed which made it mandatory for children ages six to fourteen to attend school. This group to which Binet became a member hoped to begin studying children in a scientific manner. Binet and many other members of the society were appointed to the Commission for the Retarded. The question became "What should be the test given to children thought to possibly have learning disabilities, that might place them in a special classroom?" Binet made it his problem to establish the differences that separate the normal child from the abnormal, and to measure such differences. L'Etude experimentale de l'intelligence (Experimental Studies of Intelligence) was the book he used to describe his methods and it was published in 1903. Development of more tests and investigations began soon after the book, with the help of a young medical student named Theodore Simon. Simon had nominated himself a few years before as Binet's research assistant and worked with him on the intelligence tests that Binet is known for, which share Simon's name as well. In 1905, a new test for measuring intelligence was introduced and simply called the Binet-Simon scale. In 1908, they revised the scale, dropping, modifying, and adding tests and also arranging them according to age levels from three to thirteen. In 1904 a French professional group for child psychology, La Soci t Libre pour l'Etude Psychologique de l'Enfant, was called upon by the French government to appoint a commission on the education of retarded children. The commission was asked to create a mechanism for identifying students in need of alternative education. Binet, being an active member of this group, found the impetus for the development of his mental scale. Binet and Simon, in creating what historically is known as the Binet-Simon Scale, comprised a variety of tasks they thought were representative of typical children's abilities at various ages. This task-selection process was based on their many years of observing children in natural settings. They then tested their measurement on a sample of fifty children, ten children per five age groups. The children selected for their study were identified by their school teachers as being average for their age. The purpose of this scale of normal functioning, which would later be revised twice using more stringent standards, was to compare children's mental abilities relative to those of their normal peers (Siegler, 1992).

Les idees modernes sur les enfants / par Alfred Binet, ... Date de l'edition originale: 1909Sujet de l'ouvrage: Enfants -- Psychologie -- 1900-1945"Collection: Bibliotheque de philosophie scientifique"Ce livre est la reproduction fidele d'une oeuvre publiee avant 1920 et fait partie d'une collection de livres reimprimes a la demande editee par Hachette Livre, dans le cadre d'un partenariat avec la Bibliotheque nationale de France, offrant l'opportunite d'acceder a des ouvrages anciens et souvent rares issus des fonds patrimoniaux de la BnF. Les oeuvres faisant partie de cette collection ont ete numerisees par la BnF et sont presentes sur Gallica, sa bibliotheque numerique. En entreprenant de redonner vie a ces ouvrages au travers d'une collection de livres reimprimes a la demande, nous leur donnons la possibilite de rencontrer un public elargi et participons a la transmission de connaissances et de savoirs parfois difficilement accessibles. Nous avons cherche a concilier la reproduction fidele d'un livre ancien a partir de sa version numerisee avec le souci d'un confort de lecture optimal. Nous esperons que les ouvrages de cette nouvelle collection vous apporteront entiere satisfaction. Pour plus d'informations, rendez-vous sur www.hachettebnf.fr