Alfred Binet

BINET, ALFRED (1857–1911)
Alfred Binet’s most significant contribution to the
field of child psychology was the development of the
first intelligence test.
Binet was born in Nice, France, in 1857. He re-
ceived a law degree in 1878 but became interested in
the field of psychology in 1880. Binet did not receive
any formal graduate training in psychology. His first
appointment was in a French laboratory, the Salêp-
trière, conducting research on hypnosis under the su-
pervision of Jean Charcot. In 1890 Binet rejected
Charcot’s theories and began research on cognition
at the Sorbonne’s Laboratory of Physiological Psy-
chology. In 1894 Binet became the director of the lab-
oratory, where he worked until his death in 1911.
The unifying theme of Binet’s research was the
examination of individual differences and similarities
in cognition. Binet studied a range of populations, in-
cluding children, mental hospital patients, and pro-
fessional artists. His research topics were also wide-
ranging, including studies of consciousness,
sensation, creativity, language development, memory
development, and mental fatigue.
Binet’s most influential contributions to the field
of psychology were in the area of intelligence testing.
In contrast to his contemporaries who supported the
measurement of physical features or a single factor as
an assessment of intelligence, Binet supported a func-
tional, multidimensional view of intelligence that em-
phasized 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 re-
quest by creating the first intelligence test, the Binet-
Simon Scale. Binet revised the scale in 1908 and
again in 1911.
The first intelligence test was developed by Alfred Binet in 1905.
(Psychology Archives, The University of Akron )
A second focus of Binet’s research was the cogni-
tive development of his two daughters, Alice and Ma-
deleine. His extensive observations and experimental
studies of his daughters allowed him to develop sever-
al theories about cognitive development. Binet be-
lieved that the purpose of cognitive development is to
allow children to adapt to the physical and social de-
mands of their environment, emphasizing the fact
that children learn by assimilating new experiences
into their existing ways of thinking.
An important milestone in Binet’s career was the
creation of the first laboratory based in a European
school for young children, the Laboratory of Experi-
mental Pedagogy. The purpose of this laboratory was
to develop a systematic line of experimental research
with children and to provide training for teachers on
how to educate mentally retarded children. The es-
tablishment of this laboratory was a major event in the
formation of the field of child psychology.
In addition to Binet’s considerable direct contri-
butions to the field of psychology, his work has also
influenced the research of subsequent generations of
child psychologists.
See also: DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS; INTELLIGENCE
BINET, ALFRED  51Bibliography
Wolf, Theta.  Alfred Binet. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1973.
Publications by Binet
Binet, Alfred, and Theophile Simon. A Method of Measuring the De-
velopment of the Intelligence of Young Children, 3rd edition. Chi-
cago: Chicago Medical Book, 1915.
Jennifer D. Wishner