The Life of Alfred Binet

On July 8, 1857, Alfred Binet was born in Nice, France. He took a different tack than most psychologists of his day he was interested in the workings of the normal mind rather than the pathology of mental illness. He precious to find a way to respect the mogul to think and reason, apart(predicate) from reproduction in any particular field (PBS, 1998). Over time, Binet became integrity of the most prominent psychologists in French history.After receiving his formal education in Nice and Paris, Binet became a lawyer. However, this profession did not please him. He became fascinated with the work of French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot, who was studying hypnosis. In 1878, he abandoned his law career and devoted himself to medical and scientific studies at the Salptriere Hospital in Paris, where Charcot was working.In 1884, Alfred married Laure Balbiani. Her father, E.G. Balbiani, was an embryologist at the College de France. Alfred was given the opportunity to work in his lab whe re his interest changed from proportional psychology to natural science. Research for his doctorate focused on the behavior, physiology, histology and frame of insects (Wolfe, 1973). While working in Dr. Balbianis lab, Binet wrote Animal Magnetism.Binets conterminous area of interest was in the field of child psychology. He demonstrable and tried a wide range of trial runs and puzzles on his own daughters Madeleine and Alice. It was done this study of his daughters that he began to discover the importance of attention span on the fixment of adult intelligence. It was at this point that he came to realize that soulfulness differences had to be systematic every(prenominal)y explored before one could determine laws which would apply to all people (Pollack, 1995).Binet went on to became director of the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. While at the Sorbonne, he founded the first French ledger devoted to psychology, LAnnee Psychologique. Binet used the journal to publish the results of his research studies. The journal is still in circulation.In 1900, Binet and Ferdinand Buisson established, La Societe Libre Pour LEtude Psychologique de LEnfant (The Free Society for the Psychological Study of Children), a Paris science lab for child study and experimental t severallying. It was later renamed La Societe Alfred Binet et Thedore Simon. The laboratorys concerns dealt with practical problems in the school setting. Parisian school authorities asked Binet to develop a method to identify children who were unable to learn at a normal rate. He went on to develop a method that could measure the intelligence of every child as dull, bright, or normal (Newland, 1998). Binet mulish that complex problems, especially those involving abstract thinking, were best for separating the bright and dull students.Since problem-solving ability grows rapidly during childhood, Binet decided to make an age scale of intelligence. He chose tasks for each age level that could be performed by most youngsters of that age save that could not be done by the majority of children a family younger.In 1905, Binet and Theodore Simon produce a scale of intelligence for children from 3 to 13. Binet hoped his test would be used to improve childrens education, but he alike feared it would be used to label children and limit their opportunities (Myers, 1981). Since 1905, several adaptations and revisions of the Binet-Simon scales have been published all around the world.On October 18, 1911, while revising intelligence scales, he died. Despite his great achievements, he was never fully appreciated, especially by the French. His work was diverse, showing interest in the person as a whole. While Binet never provided any firm theories, his work was often the precursor of more detailed and profound research.