Inauguration of the exhibition ‘Psychological tests in Spain: 1920-1970’ at the Faculty of Psychology

  • Office of the Vice-Principal Sustainability, Cooperation and Healthy Life
  • October 3rd, 2017
 
L'exposició “Tests Psicològics a Espanya: 1920-1970” s'inaugura en la Facultat de Psicologia

Monday 2nd October arrived this itinerant exhibition to the Universitat de València where it will remain until 17th December. It gathers, through tests and authors, the emergence, development and consolidation of the Psychology in Spain during 50 years.

The opening ceremony took place at 12:00 at the Faculty of Psychology of the Universitat de València and it counted on the presence of the curators and professors from the Complutense University of Madrid, Isabel Calonge y Ana Calles; the dean of the Faculty of Psychology of the Complutense University of Madrid, Nieves Rojo; the chairman of the Psychologists Official Association of the Valencian Community, Francisco Santolaya; the dean of the Faculty of Psychology of the UV, María Dolores Sancerni; and the vice-principal for Teaching Staff and Academic Planning, María Vicenta Mestre.

After being exposed at the Madrid Universities Complutense (UCM), Autónoma (UAM) and UNED, the itinerant exhibition arrives to the Universitat de València thanks to the coordination of the full university professor and vice dean of the Faculty of Psychology of the Universitat de València, Inmaculada Fuentes. The transfer has been organised by the Faculty of Psychology and the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Participation.

The exhibition starts in 1920 when the interest in the psychological diagnosis in relevant fields such as the work with intellectually handicapped children, the professional orientation and the recruiting was increasing. So that this exhibition shows the wide test collections that started to be used during the first decades of the 20th century, going over the evolution of such psychological evaluation tools during 50 years. The funds come from the Faculty of Psychology of the Complutense University of Madrid and from other private collections.

The exhibition is organised in two halls: the main Hall and the Glass-enclosed Room of the Faculty of Psychology. In the first one there are exposed the first intelligence tests. They are individual application tests intended especially for children. In spite of the difficulties, it is surprising to observe the numerous tests that were known and used in Spain before 1936 and in the post-war period. In the second hall there are exposed collective tests of specific skills: spatial, perceptive and mechanical speed, coordination and dexterity and administrative skills used in Orientation and Recruitment. In this hall there is also possible to see various projective techniques and personality questionnaires.

The full university professor Inmaculada Fuentes (Department of Psychological Personality, Evaluation and Treatment) has emphasised that the exhibition ‘offers an interesting view of the first psychological tests used in our country and their main applications to the university community and to the Valencian society in general’. Besides, the dean has explained that the exhibition is framed within an education innovation project of the Faculty of Psychology named ‘Ven, Mira y Ve. Instrumentos de evaluación en psicología’, which is intended to bring all the students of Psychology closer to the historical and applied aspects of the psychological evaluation contemplated in the showing.

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