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After World War I, members of the teaching profession in Spain were interested in appropriating psychological measurement and bringing it within the expertise of their occupational field, with the intention of upgrading their profession. As professionals devoted to the child, educators attempted to explore the infantile psyche using intelligence tests, with the intention of making scientific contributions to the field of psychology. In the present article we take as a key event one particular application enacted by a Catalan teacher, and insert that case study into the complex local scientific and educational context. It was a context in which the professional interests of teachers competed with those of school physicians, psychologists, and pedologists, at a time when important changes in pedagogical methods and school systems were under way. In the hand of teachers, intelligence testing was mainly seen as a malleable method on which to base daily educational practice on a more individualized and scientific basis. The historical analysis of the case turned out to be instrumental in the identification of common features and particularities attributable to specific local needs. In a society where public schooling competed with private schools, the results of mental testing were used to demonstrate publicly the excellent intellectual level of children attending a public graded primary school in Barcelona. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Much has been published on Binet and the history of intelligence testing. The effort to lo cate the origin and follow the historical devel opment of mental tests comes as no surprise, given the success the tech n iq u e enjoyed throughout the 20th century. It is a controver sial, yet also essential, professional tool that characterizes the work of the psychologist in contemporary society. Why write more on this subject? I will argue that although we have a great number of publications at our disposal, new contributions are needed to reinterpret this crucial episode in the history of psychology from different angles. Although unable to cover the huge number of publications, I will first comment briefly on some contributions that marked historical research in the second half of the 20th century. In doing so, I will focus on works that aim to explain the origin and histor ical developm ent o f m ental testing. I will thereby leave aside the debate regarding the reliability of some empirical data gathered by certain psychologists and the social conse quences of intelligence testing. I will then move on to evaluate the status quo by considering Carson's (2007) ambitious research and the his toriographical idea guiding this monographic issue.

This article deals with the kind of psychology suggested for jurists that was thought to be necessary training for their work. An analysis of the content of two textbooks by Otto Lipmann and Karl Marbe reveals that such teaching activity involves two different levels of historical analysis. On the one hand, it relates to experimental research done by psychologists on law-related issues; on the other, it concerns the professional experience psychologists accumulated by acting as expert witnesses in court. The paper investigates how psychologists presented psychology to jurists, which methods and theories they suggested as being essential for juristic training and professional performance, and whether jurists appreciated these materials and efforts. These inquiries are embedded in the debate on the history of criminal psychology, taking into account the European, particularly the German, context. The author shows how specific historical developments led to an increased exchange between experimental psychology and criminal law during the first decades of the 20th century.