PSYCHOLOGY IN ARGENTINA

JUAN CARLOS GODOY; SILVINA BRUSSINO

The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 4rd Edition

John Wiley and Sons, Inc

Lugar: New Jersey. United States ; Año: 2010; p. 142 - 154

Scientific psychology started developing in Argentina soon after the creation of the first laboratory for experimental research in psychology by Wundt in 1879. In 1891, Víctor Mercante (1870-1934) founded the first psychology laboratory in the city of San Juan, Argentina. Horacio Piñero (1869-1919) also created a laboratory of experimental psychology at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires in 1898, and a psychophysiology laboratory at the University of Buenos Aires in 1901 (Papini, 1976). In 1906, two further research laboratories were created. Félix Krueger, disciple of Wundt, founded a short-lived center at the Instituto Nacional de Profesorado Secundario . In the same year, Víctor Mercante set up another laboratory at the Department of Education of the School of Law and Social Sciences, University of La Plata (Talak & García, 2004). Scientific research in psychology, then, took its first steps in Argentina almost hand in hand with the psychological scientific activity in the world’s most important academic centers (Europe and the United States). However, before the year 1930, the reaction against positivism represented by Korn, Romero and Alberini led to the closing of most laboratories of psychological research in Argentina (Beebe-Center & McFarland, 1941). Moreover, political instability in the country also affected negatively the development of psychology. Since the overthrow of Yrigoyen by the military coup of 1930, and up until 1945 approximately, a “religious integralism” prevailed which discouraged even the slightest idea of scientific research of the human mind. In turn, the teaching of experimental psychology was prohibited during Perón’s first term in office in 1949 (Vilanova, 1994). It was the beginning of a period in which Argentine psychology was isolated from the developments that were taking place in the most prestigious academic centers of the world. In the following years, Argentine psychology gradually became a more service-oriented discipline, whereas research was assigned a minor role.