“The Fust Official Psychologist in the Wurrld”: Aspects of the Professionalization of Psychology in Early Twentieth Century Britain

A history of psychology in autobiography, 4 vols, vols i-iii ed. by Murchison C. A. , vol. iv ed. by Boring E. G. Langfeld H. S. Werner H. and Yerkes R. M. (Worcester, Mass., 1930–36, 1952), iv, 64. The work upon which this paper is based is being financed by the Social Science Research Council and we wish to acknowledge their generous support.

In this respect it had inherited the mantle of the old London School Board: See Sutherland Gillian , Policy-making in elementary education 1870–1895 (Oxford, 1973), 109–10. On the scale of the lcc's educational work, see the memoirs of Spencer F. H. who moved from the government inspectorate to become lcc Chief Inspector in 1922: Spencer F. H. , An inspector's testament (London, 1938), 286–7.

Psychology in autobiography (ref. 1), iv, 63.

Burt Cyril , “The trend of national intelligence”, British journal of sociology, i (1950), 158–9, esp. n. 1. We are indebted to Dr Bernard Norton of the Department of the History of Science, University of Leicester, for drawing our attention to this reference.

On Burt's memory, see Hearnshaw L. S. , “Cyril Lodowic Burt 1883–1971”, Proceedings of the British Academy, lviii (1972), 1–20, p. 18. Cf. also refs 18, 34 and 41 below.

Sutherland Gillian , “The magic of measurement: Mental testing and English education 1900–1940”, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser., xxvii (1977), 135–53.

62 and 63 Vict. c. 32.

On the emergence of neurophysiology to respectability, see the later chapters of Young R. M. , Mind, brain and adaptation in the nineteenth century (Oxford, 1970). See also Warner Francis , The nervous system of the child (New York, 1900).

Report and minutes of evidence of the Royal Commission on the care and control of the feeble-minded, Parliamentary Papers 1908, xxxv, Cd 4215, 485–7 and 690—the papers accompanying qq. 8364 and 3614. P.P. 1908, xxxvi, Cd 4216, q. 12984. P.P. 1908, xxxviii, Cd 4219, 211–25, Appendix V. On the status of teachers vis-à-vis doctors, see Sutherland , “The magic of measurement” (ref. 6), 149–51.

P.P. 1911, xvii, Cd 5925, Report of the Chief Medical Officer, ch. x. P.P. 1912–13, xxi, Cd 6530, Report of the Chief Medical Officer, Appendix E.

Greater London Council Record Office, lcc Special Schools Sub-committee, agenda papers for meeting 29 May 1911, item 31. We are deeply indebted to the glc archivist for permission to quote from material in her care and to her and all her staff for their most generous help.

glcro, sss-c, agenda papers for meeting 17 July 1911, item 63 and special agenda paper on medical examination for meeting 20 November 1911.

Gilbert Bentley B. , The evolution of national insurance in Great Britain: The origins of the welfare state (London, 1966), 133–43.

See the convenient summary of Kerr's reports in Shrubsall's report of 17 November 1911, p. 2, in glcro, sss-c, agenda papers for meeting 20 November 1911.

Ibid., 1–15.

ibid., 1.

glcro, sss-c, agenda papers for meeting 6 May 1912, p. 1(a), report of mo (Kerr), 12 December 1911.

Ibid., 2–3 (b), report of eo 15 February 1912. This is Blair's first intervention in the debate. We can find no trace in the lcc records of the 1912 memorandum by Blair from which Burt appeared to be quoting directly in his review article for the British journal of sociology in 1950 (above, ref. 4), and there is no indication that the records of the committees which dealt with this question at this time are incomplete.

glcro, lcc Education Committee, Minutes of meeting 26 July 1905, pp. 3346–7. Appendix II (below), “The publications of W. H. Winch”, items 1–21. We are indebted to Alec Bray of the University of Reading for first drawing our attention to Winch's secondment from the lcc and for generous help in tracking down a number of the details of Winch's career and publications.

glcro, sss-c, agenda papers for meeting 9 October 1911, pp. 18–19.

glcro, sss-c, agenda papers for meeting 6 May 1912, p. 4 (h), report by mo (Hamer), 27 April 1912.

glcro, sss-c, agenda papers for meeting 13 May 1912, p. 10, item 23.

On the legislation and its protracted passage, see Jones Kathleen , A history of the mental health services (London, 1972), 198–212, and Searle G. R. , Eugenics and politics in Britain 1900–1914 (Leyden, 1976), ch. 9.

glcro, sss-c, minutes of meeting 13 May 1912, minute 42; lcc Elementary Education Sub-committee, minutes of meeting 21 May 1912, minute 91; sss-c, minutes of meeting 17 June 1912, minute 11.

glcro, lcc Education General Purposes Sub-committee, minutes of meeting 21 June 1912, minute 17; ibid., minutes of meeting 11 October 1912, minute 39.

glcro, lcc egps-c, minutes of meeting 15 November 1912, p. 490, minutes 18 and 24.

glcro, lcc egps-c, agenda papers for meeting 22 November 1912, enclosure containing curricula vitae and references for the six candidates with papers for item 21.

Ibid. and minutes of meeting 22 November 1912, minute 27. Full title of Brown's book was The essentials of mental measurement (Cambridge, 1911). For Burt's article, see Appendix III, “The publications of Sir Cyril Burt 1909–1940”, 1.

Gilbert , The evolution of national insurance (ref. 13), 140–3.

Data about Winch in what follows are drawn from Venn J. , Alumni Cantabrigienses, pt ii, vol. vi (Cambridge, 1954), unless otherwise stated.

glcro, lcc Education Committee, minutes of meeting 26 July 1905, pp. 3346–7.

Data about Burt in what follows are drawn from Hearnshaw , “Cyril Burt” (ref. 5), unless otherwise stated.

glcro, lcc Education General Purposes Sub-committee, minutes of meetings 10 July 1916, minute 4 and meeting 24 February 1919, minute 10.

See above, refs 24–27. Again, despite Burt's remarks and apparent direct quotations in the British journal of sociology in 1950 (above, ref. 4), there is no mention of the investigation of the efficiency of the scholarship examination as a further field of work, or of general surveys of ability in lcc schools.

Quoted in Hearnshaw , “Cyril Burt” (ref. 5), 10–11.

ibid., 19.

On Thomson see Sutherland , “The magic of measurement” (ref. 6), esp. 151–3. As is made plain, this paper was an interim report from work in progress. Subsequent work has shown that the figure given on p. 146 for the number of local education authorities in England and Wales using intelligence tests in special place examinations—34 out of 146—is too low. That figure was drawn from s. 1A of Hartog Philip Sir and Roberts Gladys , A conspectus of examinations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (London, International Institute Examinations Enquiry, 1937). An exhaustive survey of the Moray House Papers (now deposited on loan in the Library of the University of Edinburgh) and of Board of Education files at the Public Record Office, coupled with an extended survey of local authority archives, has brought the total of known test users by 1940 to 70 out of 146, of which the largest single group, 35, used Moray House tests.

Sutherland , “The magic of measurement” (ref. 6), 141–53.

Burt Cyril , “The use of psychological tests in England”, in Essays on examinations (London, International Institute Examinations Enquiry, 1936), 103.

glcro, eo/ps/3/36, Confidential Memorandum by the Chief Education Officer ( Gater G. H. ), 9 October 1925, p. 1.

glcro, eo/ps/3/36, form letter to head teachers, 10 January 1917 and accompanying ms notes. It is conceivable, however, that Burt's rather general remarks in the British journal of sociology in 1950 (above, ref. 4) relate to this period.

glcro, eo/ps/3/37, Brown John (Asst Education Officer and Secretary to the Committee) to Burt 21 July 1927, Burt to Brown 22 July 1927, ditto 23 October 1927, ditto 25 October 1927, ditto 27 October 1927.

eo/ps/3/37, Wallis to Brown 8 January 1928, Brown to Ballard 11 January 1928.

eo/ps/3/37, minutes of sub-committee meeting 28 March 1928.

eo/ps/3/37, papers from July 1928 on, and eo/ps/3/38.

lcc Education General Purposes Sub-committee, minutes meeting 22 June 1931, minute 7; meeting 13 June 1932, minutes 6 and 20; meeting 11 July 1932, minute 30. eo/ps/1/23, minute of Education Officer, 27 October 1932, and copy of his reply to an Australian questionnaire, 29 July 1933.

Sutherland Gillian , “Administrators in education after 1870: Patronage, professionalism and expertise”, in Studies in the growth of nineteenth century government, ed. by Sutherland Gillian (London, 1972), esp. 269–85.

Burt Cyril , The young delinquent (London, 1925), 5.

Burt Cyril , The backward child (London, 1937), ix.

Appendix III, 71, 106–10.

Hearnshaw , “Cyril Burt” (ref. 5), 5.

“The niip and the institutionalization of psychology in Britain 1900–39”, unpublished discussion paper by Dennis Doyle of the Dept of Liberal Studies in Science, University of Manchester, 13. We are indebted to Mr Doyle for permission to see and quote from this paper.

Welch H. J. and Myers C. S. , Ten years of industrial psychology (London, 1932), quoted in Doyle , op. cit. (ref. 52), 11.

See for example, Abrams Philip , The origins of British sociology: 1834–1914 (Chicago, 1968); Yeo Eileen , “Social science and social change: A social history of some aspects of social science and social investigation in Britain 1830–1890” (unpublished D. Phil. thesis, Sussex, 1973); and Cullen M. J. , The statistical movement in early Victorian Britain: The foundations of empirical social research (Hassocks, Sussex, 1975).

For example, Eysenck H. J. , “The case of Sir Cyril Burt: On fraud and prejudice in a scientific controversy”, Encounter, xlviii, no. 1 (January, 1977), 19–24, p. 21.

Appendix III, 36.

Gray J. L. and Moshinsky Pearl , “Ability and opportunity in English education”, in Hogben L. (ed.), Political arithmetic: A symposium of population studies (London, 1938), 371.

glcro, correspondence scattered throughout the files eo/ps/1/21, and /22 discussed in some detail in Appendix I, “Burt and the collection of experimental data in LCC schools before 1940” (below), and eo/ps/1/23, Sir William Beveridge to the Education Officer 9 February 1933, J. L. Gray to eo 16 February 1933, and eo to Beveridge 25 February 1933. On the Social Biology Unit see Harris José , William Beveridge: A biography (Oxford, 1977), 288–90.

For a fuller discussion of this see Appendix I, below.

Compare Appendix II, 25 with Appendix III, 10.

Compare Appendix II, 33 with Appendix III, 22.

Compare Appendix II, 21 with Appendix III, 18.

glcro, lcc Special Schools Sub-committee, agenda papers for meeting 6 May 1912, pp. 2–3 (b) Memorandum by Education Officer 15 February 1912.

Appendix III, 49, 52, 53, 58, 60, 67.

For an exhaustive review of these indications, see Kamin Leon J. , The science and politics of I.Q. (Potomac, Maryland, 1974), 35–47.

Our calculation from the Minutes of the Sub-committee in the Greater London Council Record Office.

glcro, eo/ps/1/24, head teacher, Portman Place school to Education Officer 31 January 1936, head teacher, Milbank school to eo 31 January 1936, head teacher, Lena Gardens school to eo 3 February 1936.

glcro, eo/ps/1/23, Secretary, mrc to eo 8 May 1933, Medical Officer of Health's Minute 15 May 1933, eo to Secretary, mrc 17 June 1933.

eo/ps/1/21, Burt to eo 11 February 1931.

Ibid. eo to Hogben 29 September 1931. This was part of their procedure for attempting to distinguish between mz and dz twins—see Hogben's discussion of the problems of doing so in the first paper cited below in ref. 13.

eo/ps/1/24, Minute 6 September 1935.

Ibid., papers from the Minute of 6 September 1935 to letters of 29 and 30 October to eo from Burt and Myers respectively. See also Minute of 11 March 1937; and Elementary Education Sub-committee, minutes of meeting 15 October 1935, minute 116.

eo/ps/1/21, eo's Minute of conversation with Hogben 15 November 1930, covering note on application 3 December 1930, eo's Minute to Burt 2 January 1931, eo's Minute to Burt 19 February 1931. eo/ps/1/22, eo's Minute to Burt 19 January 1932. eo/ps/1/23, Burt to eo 22 October 1932, eo's Minute 27 October 1932, eo to Burt 5 January 1933. eo/ps/1/24, eo to Burt 25 October 1935, Burt to eo 29 October 1935.

eo/ps/1/25, Head, Vocational Guidance Section, niip to eo 20 April 1938, Minute of Chairman, Elementary Education Sub-committee 3 May 1938, niip to eo 15 September 1938, Minute of eo 6 October 1938 countersigned Chmn. ees-c 7 October 1938, hvgs, niip to ep 25 October 1938, eo to hvgs, niip 7 November 1938, eo's Minute 26 April 1939 countersigned Chmn. ees-c 28 April 1938, Miss Stott to eo 26 March 1940. Cf. also Appendix III, 69.

eo/ps/1/21, Burt to eo 13 January 1931.

ibid., and eo/ps/1/22, passim.

Herrman L. and Hogben L. , “The intellectual resemblance of twins”, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, liii (1932–33), pt ii, 105–29; Gray J. L. and Moshinsky Pearl , “Studies in genetic psychology: The intellectual resemblance of collateral relatives”, ibid., 188–207.

eo/ps/1/24, R. B. Cattell to eo 15 March 1937, eo to Cattell 17 March 1937, Cattell to eo 2 April 1937, head teacher, Haselrigge Road school to eo, 15 April 1937.

Cattell R. B. and Molteno E. V. , “Contributions concerning mental inheritance: Ii, temperament”, Journal of genetic psychology, lvii (1940), 31–47.

This paper was completed before the publication of Hearnshaw L. S. , Cyril Burt, psychologist (London, 1979). Professor Hearnshaw argues that a major turning point in Burt's life and work occurred around 1940, with illness, the destruction by bombing of many of his papers, and the break-up of his marriage; and that the quality of his work began to deteriorate from that time on. The evidence presented here suggests that there are aspects of Burt's work before that date which, if not suspect, are puzzling.