Skip to content
Alfred Binet

File:Alfred_Binet.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ207478· pop 56· linked from 123 articles

Alfred Binet

Sign in to save

French psychologist and inventor of the first usable intelligence test (1857–1911)

AI overview

Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who created the first practical intelligence test, fundamentally changing how we measure and understand mental ability. His work in the early 1900s established the foundation for modern IQ testing and had lasting impacts on education and psychology.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Alfred
Gender
male
Citizenship
France
Place of birth
Nice
Place of death
Paris
Occupation
sociologist
Languages spoken
French
Doctoral advisor
Jean-Martin Charcot
Field of work
hypnosis
Image
Alfred Binet.jpg
Show 12 more facts
Commons category
Alfred Binet
date of death
1911-10-18
date of birth
1857-07-08
Commons gallery
Alfred Binet
Commons Creator page
Alfred Binet
influenced by
John Stuart Mill
name in native language
Alfred Binet
has works in the collection
Nationalmuseum
writing language
French
birth name
Alfredo Binetti
contributed to creative work
Popular Science
place of burial
Montparnasse Cemetery
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~22 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Alfred Binet (/bɪˈneɪ/; French: [binɛ]; 8 July 1857 – 18 October 1911), born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who together with Théodore Simon invented the first practical intelligence test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, Binet took part in a commission set up by the French Ministry of Education to decide whether school children with learning difficulties should be sent to a special boarding school attached to a lunatic asylum, as advocated by the French psychiatrist and politician Désiré-Magloire Bourneville, or whether they should be educated in classes attached to regular schools as advocated by the Société libre pour l'étude psychologique de l'enfant (SLEPE) of which Binet was a member. There was also debate over who should decide whether a child was capable enough for regular education. Bourneville argued that a psychiatrist should do this based on a medical examination. Binet and Simon wanted this to be based on objective evidence. This was the beginning of the IQ test. A preliminary version was published in 1905. The full version was published in 1908, and slightly revised in 1911, just before Binet's death.

Biography

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alfred Binet” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)