THE STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES BY ALFRED BINET AND ITS CIRCULATION IN MINAS GERAIS (1925-1940)

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the assumptions of the French researcher Alfred Binet (1857-1911) about individual differences from his books and articles about the topic between 1895 and 1909, which grounded the elaboration of the first Binet-Simon metric scale in 1905. Next, it identifies which elements of their elaborations circulated and how they were appropriated, in the context of educational reforms in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the decades from 1920 to 1940. The research was developed in the dialog between the History of Psychology and the History of Education, mobilizing concepts from the historiography, such as intellectuals, sociability networks and appropriation. The documental research involved the analysis of the first books published by Binet and the articles published at Revista do Ensino, an official body of the Minas Gerais government, which dealt with the individual differences and the use of tests in schools. It was observed the tension involving distrust and enthusiasm regarding the new methods to measure individual differences; the appropriation of the metric scale adapted in the United States, whose principles were criticized by Binet; and the little emphasis given to social and cultural dimensions of different social groups, which was among the author’s main concerns.

KEYWORDS
Individual Psychology; Individual differences; Special Education; Revista do Ensino; Educational Reform; Psychological assessment