BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 6 – Pursuing Beauty: Psychological Laboratories and the Metaphysics of Measurement

Chapter Summary

This chapter explores the early development of the psychological laboratory by comparing the contrasting approaches of Francis Galton and Wilhelm Wundt, with a focus on how each attempted to render measurable various mental attributes. The chapter argues that decisions about what to measure in psychology, whether as consciousness, reaction time, intelligence, visual acuity, and so on, are never purely objective. Rather, they are shaped by personal, philosophical, and cultural factors. Wundt’s laboratory was devoted to gaining introspective access to universal mental processes, while Galton assembled a laboratory packed with a variety of scientific instruments, ultimately aimed at assessing individual differences. Drawing on Joel Michell’s critique of measurement in the human sciences, the chapter introduces the idea that psychology’s embrace of quantification was founded not on empirical demonstration but on metaphysical assumptions; that is, deeply held but untested beliefs about the nature of psychological phenomena. Michell argues that figures such as Wundt and Galton simply assumed, rather than actually proving, that mental attributes were capable of being quantified. This assumption underpinned entire measurement systems, even though there was little justification for treating psychological faculties as possessing numerical magnitude. By situating these measurement practices within the imaginary of the laboratory, the chapter shows how early psychology functioned as both an empirical science and a system of social classification. Psychological laboratories were not just spaces of discovery but institutions that helped define what counts as normal, deviant, intelligent, or conscious. Through this critical lens, measurement is revealed not as the mirror of nature but as a tool of power.

Chapter 6 – Quiz

  • Chapter 6 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 6 – Key Readings

    Benschop, R., & Draaisma, D. (2000). In pursuit of precision: The calibration of minds and machines in late nineteenth-century psychology. Annals of Science, 57(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/000337900296281 

    Bringmann, L. F., & Eronen, M. I. (2015). Heating up the measurement debate: What psychologists can learn from the history of physics. Theory & Psychology, 26(1), 27-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354315617253 

    Danziger, K. (1990). Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  

    Evrard, R., Gumpper, S., Beauvais, B., & Alvarado C. S. (2021). “Never sacrifice anything to laboratory work”: The “physiological psychology” of Charles Richet (1875–1905). Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 57(2), 172–193. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.22086 

    Galton, F. (1885). On the Anthropometric Laboratory at the Late International Health Exhibition. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 14, 205-221. https://doi.org/10.2307/2841978 

    Hasselman, F. (2023). Going round in squares: Theory-based measurement requires a theory of measurement. Theory & Psychology, 33(1), 145-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221131511 

    Michell, J. (2005). Measurement in psychology: A critical history of a methodological concept. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

    Michell, J. (2021). “The art of imposing measurement upon the mind”: Sir Francis Galton and the genesis of the psychometric paradigm. Theory & Psychology, 32(3), 375-400. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543211017671 

    Saint-Mont, U. (2012). What measurement is all about. Theory & Psychology, 22(4), 467-485. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354311429997 

  • Chapter 6 – Reflective Questions

    1. What is meant by the ‘metaphysics of measurement’ and how does this concept challenge the idea that psychological traits are naturally quantifiable? 
    2. How do the laboratories of Wilhelm Wundt and Francis Galton reflect different views about what psychology should be studying? 
    3. In what ways can the act of measurement in psychology be considered to be influenced by power? 
    4. What role did the concept of ‘normality’ play in Galton’s work, and how does Foucault’s idea of ‘normalisation’ help us critically understand it? 
    5. Why might early psychological experiments be better understood as social performances rather than purely objective scientific investigations? 

  • Chapter 6 – Weblinks

    Measuring the Mind – Wellcome Collection

    https://wellcomecollection.org/search/works?query=measuring+the+mind

    This site contains a variety of types of resources looking at methods of psychological measurement in lab contexts, with a variety of further reading resources.

    Eugenics Archive – Archival and Educational Resource

    eugenicsarchive.ca

    This project based in Canada provides a site filled with useful resources on the concept of eugenics, including maps with detailed information on different instances of the phenomenon in different countries, and information on Galton and his legacy.

    Willhelm Maximiliam Wundt (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy) – Educational Resource

    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt

    This site provides detailed information about the life and legacy of Wilhelm Wundt in the field of psychology and many other fields of study and presentation.

    Intro to Psychology: Crash Course Psychology #1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4pMVb0R6M

    This 10-minute YouTube video presented by Hank Green gives a clear and entertaining overview of the early development of the field of Psychology and discusses some key figures in the field and their individual work.

    History of Psychology – Wikipedia Overview

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_psychology

    This page gives a detailed overview of the development of the field of Psychology, including discussions of key figures and the early development of what would become key methodologies and theoretical groundings for the field. There is also an extensive database of further-reading resources available.

    Sir Francis Galton (Centre for the History of Medicine, Harvard Countway Library) – Educational Resource

    https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/exhibits/show/galtonschildren/sir-francis-galton

    This page gives a detailed compilation of resources discussing the life and works of Francis Galton, with some included examples of his eugenics legislation and some composite photographs.