EuroPsy - Standards and Quality in Education for Professional Psychologists

Meanwhile, in Europe, a major contribution to the development of the mental testing movement was made by the French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857–1911) who invented the first useable intelligence test, and developed concepts such as Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Mental Age (MA). Binet and his colleague, the psychometrician The ´odore Simon (1872–1961), developed a series of tests to measure and operationalise the concepts of IQ and MA which had a profound and significant influence on the school context. The contributions by the Swiss neurologist and psychologist Edouard Clapare`de (1873–1940), to education, vocational guidance and personnel selection, testing and classification were also central for the development of psychological technology or what became known as psychotechnics in Europe. This was a productive period for these developments to which numerous other psychologists contributed in many other countries of Europe.

In parallel to this applied research an effort was made to define and conceptualise applied psychology, and a start was made with its institutionalisation. In his pioneering work, William Stern defined applied psychology as “the science of psychological facts that are relevant for their practical utility” (Stern, 1903, p. 4). From the start, applied psychology was not conceived of as the mere application of theoretical models formulated in experimental psychology. Aiming to provide responses to real-life needs, applied psychology promoted its own study, analysis and research of applied problems. It developed concepts, tools and technologies that in many instances represented rigorous and relevant contributions to society, and can therefore be considered as basic science (Roe, 1996). Mainly in the European tradition, applied psychology emphasises a contextualised individual not in a laboratory world of stimuli, but in real-life specific contexts, such as the school, the factory, the hospital, etc. The focus is on the adaptation of the person to environments that are not only natural but are also social and constructed by humans, and thus can be changed. The focus of applied psychology is on the processes of adaptation of persons in their different real-life contexts and in redesigning these environments to make them more appropriate for people’s lives. It aims to identify and measure relevant psychological differences for this adaptation and to develop tools and technologies that help individuals to change themselves and their environment for a better adaptation and well-being in interaction with their contexts (see Carpintero, 2002, 2006). An important factor in the development of applied psychology was its institutionalisation beyond the walls of the university, through organisations and institutions both national and international.

Institutionalisation of Psychology

Towards the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century psychology began to be institutionalised outside universities through national and international organisations across Europe and in the US. This institutionalisation occurred in different ways and helped to promote research and application of psychology in different fields, as well as communication and knowledge sharing among psychologists. The formation of national and international psychology associations created the opportunity for wider academic and professional exchange, while the creation of institutions with a focus on applied psychology allowed for research and practice in this new field.

The first national psychology association, the American Psychological Association (APA), was founded in 1892, with G. Stanley Hall as its first President, at a time “when the new experimental psychology was still in its infancy in America” (Evans, Sexton & Cadwallader, 1992). This was followed in 1901 in Europe by the formation of two national associations, the Socie ´te ´ Française de Psychologie (SFP) and the British Psychological Society (BPS). This latter was formed to “advance scientific psychological research and to further the cooperation of investigators in the different branches of psychology” (Lovie, 2001, p. 96; and see Knight, 1954). A few years later the Deutsche Gesellschaft fu ¨r experimentelle Psychologie was founded in 1904, and the Societa de Psicologia Italiana in 1910. From the beginning these associations were more focused on scientific and academic perspectives; the professional focus emerged only gradually in the course of the 20th century.

At the same time, there was an emerging interest in establishing and promoting international relations. Already at the first International Congress of Psychology in Paris in 1889, a permanent international congress committee was formed in order to ensure the continuation of International Congresses and to provide some form of organisation for international psychology. This international committee, subsequently named the International Congress of Psychology, continued to organise congresses and by 1905 had grown in membership to 76, representing 16 countries (Rosenzweig, Holtzman, Sabourin & Be ´langer, 2000). In 1932 at the 10th International Congress of Psychology, the congress committee formed an Executive Committee of seven members, with the Swiss psychologist Edouard Clapare`de as Executive Secretary. This led, finally, to the creation of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) in 1951, with national psychology associations from 20 countries as members; IUPsyS is a union or federation of national psychological association members and now has 82 national members. It continues to organise the International Congress of Psychology every four years.

Clapare`de had earlier played another important role in the process of internationalisation, leading the organisation of the First International Conference on Psychotechnics, in Geneva in 1920, where the International Association for Psychotechnology was founded. Following a name change this became the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), an organisation with individual members from over 80 countries and which organises the quadrennial International Congress of Applied Psychology. In their study of the early developments in this process of internationalisation, Carpintero and Herrero (2002) have analysed the Congresses of IAAP and have identified interesting trends. Their observations confirm that applied psychology originated not just as the application of previously existing theory, but also as a means to find solutions to people’s practical problems. Its main aim was “the study of human subjects behaving in concrete situations (business, schools, hospitals, traffic . . .) as conscious and purposeful agents” (Carpintero & Herrero, 2002, p. 51). Thus, attention was paid to specific characteristics of individuals (age, gender, social class, family, group, etc.) and to the particular contexts where they behave and live (school, hospital, industry, etc.), as well as to socially and historically relevant factors. Moreover, “the needs for practical results and useful interventions have always been put above theoretical orthodoxy” (p. 51). However, at the same time other forms of institution began to emerge with a focus on applied psychology. As mentioned above, in 1897 Wundt’s student Witmer founded a clinic to treat children and adolescents with mental and learning problems (Routh, Del Barrio & Carpintero, 1996). Other early institutions of this period are the Bureau of Vocational Guidance at the Civil Service House in Boston opened by the school counsellor and founder of vocational psychology, Frank Parsons, in 1908, and the Jean Jacques Rousseau Institute for education founded by Clapare`de in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1912. The second decade of the century saw the creation of a number of other new centres which brought together applied psychologists. These included the Institut fu ¨r Industrielle Psychotechnik at the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg, in Berlin, Germany in 1918, the Central Psychological Occupations Office of the Roman-Catholic Trade Union in Utrecht, the Netherlands in 1918, the British Health of Munition Workers Committee formed during the First World War in 1916 and which became the British National Institute of Industrial Psychology under the directorship of Myers in 1921, the Institute for Professional Guidance created in 1926 by E. Mira in Barcelona and many others.

Thus, during the final decade of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century important developments took place in applied psychology. These built upon the success and progress of psychology as an experimental and differential science, and were driven by the conviction that psychology has to contribute to the solution of relevant demands and problems that individuals, groups and societies experience in their lives and that occur in different contexts and settings. The new “paradigm” of psychology was successful in producing and “selling” the great value of scientific psychology to provide reliable and effective services contributing to the solution of human and social needs and demands. At the same time, the new approach progressively unveiled the poor psychological services provided by practitioners such as phrenologists, physiognomists, characterologists, mesmerists, mediums and mental healers among others, who offered so-called psychological services “before there were psychological laboratories and scientific psychologists” (Benjamin & Baker, 2004).

The Profession of Psychology in Context

The Emergence of Psychology as a Profession

The profession of psychology began to emerge during the first half of the 20th century with the consolidation of the practice of applied psychology not only by psychologists working in universities but also by those working in institutions or as independent practitioners. Like applied research, the work of professionals addressed the human problems that were prevalent in society, such as fatigue, accidents, vocational choice, worker productivity, employee selection, learning and education, mental retardation, mental illness and so on. These were all related to major trends of the time, for example industrialisation, development of transportation, warfare, demographic trends, the introduction of general education, health care reform, etc. The institutions in which professional work was carried out and in which future psychologists were educated had a strong influence on this. They were instrumental in defining the roles that psychological professionals performed vis-a`vis their clients, developing preferences regarding the knowledge and methods to be used,…