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HE INSTRUMENTS IN THE FIRST PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY IN MEXICO
Antecedents, Influence, and Methods
Rogelio Escobar National Autonomous University of Mexico
Enrique O. Aragón established the first psychological laboratory in Mexico in 1916. This laboratory was inspired by Wundt’s laboratory and by those created afterward in Germany and the United States. It was equipped with state-of-the art instruments imported from Germany in 1902 from Ernst Zimmermann who supplied instruments for Wundt’s laboratory. Although previous authors have described the social events leading to the creation of the laboratory, there are limited descriptions of the instru- ments, their use, and their influence. With the aid of archival resources, the initial location of the laboratory was determined. The analysis of instruments revealed a previously overlooked relation with a previous laboratory of experimental physiology. The influence of the laboratory was traced by describing the careers of 4 students, 3 of them women, who worked with the instruments during the first 2 decades of the 20th century, each becoming accomplished scholars. In addition, this article, by identifying and analyzing the instruments shown in photographs of the psychological laboratory and in 1 motion film, provides information of the class demonstrations and the experiments conducted in this laboratory.
Keywords: psychological laboratory in Mexico, psychology in Latin America, history of exper- imental psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, brass instruments
When Wundt established the first psycholog- ical laboratory in Leipzig in 1879, psychology took the crucial step toward becoming an ex- perimental science. Soon afterward, psycholog- ical laboratories resembling the one in Leipzig were established in many countries. In Latin America, for example, laboratories were created in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil be- tween 1898 and 1923 (e.g., Ardila, 1986). These laboratories accompanied the first courses in
experimental psychology in the region and set the foundations for societies, institutes, and schools of psychology (Sánchez-Sosa & Val- derrama-Iturbe, 2001). In Mexico, for example, the history of the Faculty (Department) of Psy- chology of the National Autonomous Univer- sity of Mexico (UNAM) can be traced back to the establishment of the first psychological lab- oratory.
This article narrates the history of the first psychological laboratory in Mexico focusing on the scientific instruments in the laboratory, how they were used, and how their use affected the development of psychology in Mexico. It de- scribes how the psychological laboratory was related to a previous laboratory of experimental physiology in which instruments similar to those in the psychological laboratory were used. The influence of the psychological laboratory on the development of psychology in Mexico was determined by examining the careers of four students, three of them women, who used the instruments in the first courses of experi- mental psychology. Furthermore, an attempt was made to identify the instruments shown in
The author is indebted to Andy Lattal, Armin Stock, and Alicia Roca for their comments on previous versions of this article. This article was possible thanks to the staff of the Library and the Documentation Center of the Faculty of Psychology of UNAM, to Jesica Martínez Rosas and the staff of the Historical Archives of UNAM, to Rafael Malagón Becerril (Archive of the General Direction of Personnel of UNAM), and to Isabel Chong de la Cruz (Antique Repository and Special Collections, Central Li- brary, UNAM).
Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Rogelio Escobar, Facultad de Psicología, Uni- versidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Av. Universidad 3004. Col. Copilco-Universidad. C.P. 04510. E-mail: rescobar@unam.mx
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History of Psychology © 2014 American Psychological Association 2014, Vol. 17, No. 4, 296–311 1093-4510/14/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038038
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the five known photographs of the laboratory and in one motion film, which are part of the collection of the Faculty of Psychology of UNAM. For some of these instruments, there is no historical evidence other than brief descrip- tions in the trade catalogs of the suppliers, most of them in German. By describing the instru- ments in the first psychological laboratory in México and analyzing their use and influence, this article attempts to extend the knowledge of the instruments and how laboratories were or- ganized around their use during the “brass in- strument era” of psychology, the period when the tradition of experimentation in psychology arose. Because most previous descriptions of the first psychological laboratory in Mexico are in Spanish (but see Colotla & Jurado, 1983; Sánchez-Sosa & Valderrama-Iturbe, 2001, for brief descriptions of the psychological labora- tory in Mexico in English), this article also attempts to broaden knowledge of the labora- tory in Mexico to non-Spanish-speaking psy- chologists.
The Psychological Laboratory in Mexico
The first psychological laboratory in Mexico was established in 1916 by Enrique O. Aragón1
in the National School of High Studies (ENAE) that, at the time, was part of the National Uni- versity of Mexico, now UNAM. This laboratory was mainly dedicated to course demonstrations but some basic and applied projects also were conducted (Aragón, 1939/1943). The instru- ments used in this laboratory arrived in Mexico 14 years earlier, at which time the National University of Mexico was not even estab- lished.2 These instruments were imported from Germany in 1902 under the government of Pres- ident Porfirio Diáz3 and were planned to be used in the courses of psychology in the National Preparatory School and the Normal School for Teachers (Informe leído por el presidente de la republica, 1902). Although these instruments were most likely requested by Ezequiel A. Chávez,4 there are no records of the use of the instruments until 1916.
By 1902, Chávez, considered consensually to be the first Mexican psychologist (see Baldwin, 1906; Díaz-Guerrero, 1976), was teaching ex- perimental psychology in the National Prepara- tory School. Based on his readings of James, Dewey, Ribot, Titchener, and Spencer, among
others, he prepared the courses that started in 1897, and convinced the school authorities of the importance of experimental psychology lab- oratories in Germany and the United States5
(see Álvarez Díaz de León, 2011). Chávez translated Titchener’s A Primer of Psychology (Titchener, 1902, 1904/1907) into Spanish and used it as a textbook for his courses. Aragón was a student in this course in 1897. It is unclear why there are no records of the use of the instruments in the courses in the National Pre- paratory School. One explanation is that the instruments never reached the Preparatory School. According to 19166 archival records, the instruments were assigned to the Normal School for Teachers, where demonstrations of psychological phenomena were not a priority, and the instruments thus remained in storage for several years. Furthermore, in 1903 Chávez, following the leadership of Justo Sierra,7 fo- cused on the project of creating the National University of Mexico.
It is worth mentioning that although it was suggested that James Mark Baldwin set up the psychological laboratory during his visits to Mexico (Kitson, 1953), the instruments were obtained 3 years before his first visit in 1905. Baldwin returned to Mexico to teach psychoso- ciology courses in 1910 and in 1913, but the instruments apparently were not used until 1916. Therefore, Baldwin’s contribution to the foundation of the laboratory in Mexico is un- clear (Gallegos, 1980, 1983). What is apparent is that Baldwin and Chávez had a close rela- tionship after Baldwin’s visits to Mexico (see, e.g., Baldwin’s dedication of his book, History of Psychology [1913], to Chávez).
According to Valderrama-Iturbe (2004), some of the instruments suffered from a lack of use and in 1914 were transferred to the National Preparatory School. There they were partially repaired by the head of the physics laboratory, Alberto S. Cardenas, who had experience re- pairing related instruments. Two years later, Aragón was selected to teach courses in Exper- imental Psychology at ENAE, which in 1910 had become part of the newly created National University of Mexico. The main purposes of ENAE, today the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature, were to develop research in special- ized fields and to train new researchers and teachers. Therefore, Aragón requested the equipment in 1916 for research and course dem-
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onstration8 and, thanks to the support of the head of the School, Miguel Schultz,9 he re- ceived those instruments on April 23, 1916.10
Further details of the location of the labora- tory are in order given some previous inaccurate descriptions (Curiel-Benfield, 1962; Jurado, 1983). Based on a series of reports of the con- cierge of ENAE,10,11, it was determined that the instruments were installed in two rooms in the ground floor of the building known as El Pala- cio de la Autonomía (Palace of the Autonomy), which is an emblematic building in the history of UNAM.
The Palace of the Autonomy is located in downtown Mexico City in the corner formed by Licenciado Verdad Street and República de Guatemala Street. It was built in 1890 and originally housed the Normal School for Teach- ers. In 1910, it housed ENAE and the main offices of the National University of Mexico. The building was renamed Palace of the Auton- omy in 2004 to commemorate that in 1929, in this building, the National University of Mexico became autonomous, thus gaining control over the curricula and the budget without interven- tion of the government.
The concierge of the Palace of the Auton- omy, Maclovio Vega, who reported daily inci- dents, on April 23, 1916, observed that the instruments for Aragón’s class arrived to the building on a moving truck:
At noon, a truck arrived carrying several drawers with apparatus and loose apparatus for the Psychology class. There was a large apparatus, two large tables, and a sort of cupboard with a large marble stone top. The apparatus were too big to place inside Classroom 3 so they were placed inside Classroom 410 (adapted and translated by the present author).
Some days later the concierge reported that the instruments were moved to the ground floor and occupied two rooms previously used by the library of public instruction and the bulletin of public instruction.
The location of the laboratory was important for, at least, three reasons: The building was originally used for the National School for Teachers; therefore, it was probably considered a place in which teachers, a profession accept- able for women at the time, were educated. The second was that the laboratory shared location with the offices of the National University of Mexico. When the laboratory was inaugurated in 1916, a conference for the authorities of the
university, demonstrating how the instruments were used, was scheduled. Third, the centrally located building was used to the advantage of the Mexican army during the Mexican revolu- tion. According to the concierge reports, the classes were often interrupted or cancelled be- cause of military exercise.10 These continuous interruptions could have determined that, during the first years, the laboratory was mainly used for class demonstrations. Around 1935, the lab- oratory and ENAE were relocated to the colo- nial style building known as Casa de los Mas- carones (house of the masks; Ruiz-Gaytan, 1954). Afterward, the location of the laboratory alternated between the Palace of the Autonomy and Casa de los Mascarones (Curiel-Benfield, 1962; Ruiz-Gaytan, 1954). These changes were probably the origin of a confusion of the initial location of the laboratory.
Aragón prepared the instruments11 and the electrical connections (many of the instruments operated on DC) and lectured for the first time using some of the instruments on June 9, 1916.12 After the instruments were properly set up, on October 27, 1916, a conference intended for the authorities of the University, took place.13 Three newspaper articles were pub- lished describing some of the demonstrations that were presented (Conferencia, 1916; Cre- ación y funcionamiento del gabinete, 1916; Cre- ación y funcionamiento del g., 1916). An Eng- lish translation of one of the press articles from El Nacional is shown in the Appendix. The description of the experiments, which is similar in the three articles, was important for identify- ing some of the instruments and their use in the laboratory.
Antecedents of the Laboratory
Before Aragón was assigned to teach exper- imental psychology classes, he graduated as a physician in 1904. In 1905, he was in charge of the laboratory of medical physics and medical natural science in the National School of Med- icine, where he was responsible for preparing the instruments for demonstrations (Menéndez- Menéndez, 1994). It is unclear how Aragón started working with instruments, but most likely his interest was piqued by his courses on anatomy and experimental physiology, taken when he was a medical student from 1897 to 1904.14
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In 1900, several instruments from France and Germany arrived at the laboratory of experi- mental physiology at the National School of Medicine and were set up by Daniel Vergara- Lope,15 a physician specialized in experimental physiology (Cházaro-García & Rodríguez de Romo, 2006). In 1896, Vergara-Lope, largely inspired by Claude Bernard’s work, visited lab- oratories in Europe where he collected informa- tion that enabled him to organize his own (Ver- gara-Lope, 1897a, 1897b). The instruments, which would have been familiar to experimen- tal psychologists of the time, like cardiographs, pletysmographs, inductoriums (induction coils), and several kymographs, were used for demon- strations and research (La escuela de medicina, 1900).
It is unclear whether Aragón assisted Ver- gara-Lope in the experimental physiology classes, but his being named assistant in the laboratory of medical physics and of history of medical science, only 1 year after graduation, suggests that he had experience working with instruments. In addition, during these years Aragón wrote and published the notes that he had taken during his psychology courses with Chávez (Aragón, 1902) in which Chávez em- phasized the importance of Wundt’s physiolog- ical psychology. Aragón noted that his physiol- ogy and anatomy classes in the National School of Medicine were important for supplementing the notes that were the basis for his book. Al- though Vergara-Lope’s laboratory of experi- mental physiology is an antecedent to Aragón’s laboratory, this relation was overlooked in pre- vious articles describing the foundation of the laboratory of experimental psychology in Mex- ico (but cf. Kagelmann & León, 1992).
Most likely because of his experience in the experimental physiology laboratory, Chávez asked Vergara-Lope to replace him as professor of psychology at the National Preparatory School in 1903 (Díaz y de Ovando, 1972, p. 235; Parra, 1910). Vergara-Lope only replaced Chávez temporarily and, in 1906, the position of professor of psychology was granted to Aragón.
Aragón started his laboratory courses on ex- perimental psychology in the National Prepara- tory School in 1908 (Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, 1942) using, as Chávez did before, Titchener’s A Primer of Psychology (Titchener, 1902, 1904/1907) as a textbook, but the lack of
precision instruments was a drawback (Díaz y de Ovando, 1972, pp. 531–532). These events, nevertheless, represented an important turning point in the history of psychology in Mexico. Following Wundt’s concepts, Chávez took psy- chology from its initial place in philosophy and relocated it as an experimental science, where it was adopted by medical doctors interested in physiology, anatomy, and human behavior, like Vergara-Lope16 and Aragón.
Influence of the Laboratory
Similar to other laboratories following Wun- dt’s tradition, in the psychological laboratory in Mexico, demonstrations of psychological phe- nomena were combined with physiological psy- chology courses. The topics of theses written by the students in the laboratory during its first years suggest, however, that these courses in- cluded numerous discussions of evolutionary theory and psychometrics. The combination of Wundt’s methods and evolutionary theory, which characterized functional psychology in the United States, served to train the first gen- eration of psychologists in Mexico. For deter- mining the importance of the laboratory in the history of psychology in Mexico the careers of students that were trained, at least partially, in Aragón’s laboratory, were analyzed.
David P. Boder
In 1919, Boder, born in Latvia in 1886, ar- rived in Mexico. After having studied for 6 months with Wundt and for 5 years with Bech- terev (Rosen, 2010), he enrolled in Aragón’s psychology courses (Jurado, Colotla, & Gal- legos, 1989). Some months later, he was in charge of preparing and calibrating the instru- ments in the psychological laboratory. It is per- haps during this time that Boder was attracted to psychological instruments, an attraction that would be useful throughout the rest of his ca- reer. According to Jurado et al., Boder started teaching in ENAE in 1923, and at that time he also became the director of the first department of applied psychology (Psychotechnics Depart- ment) created by the Government of Mexico City. Two years later, Boder translated and adapted the Binet-Simon intelligence test into Spanish. Boder also translated Freud’s The in- terpretation of dreams into Spanish in 1921.
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