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Minds in the museum
Psychology studies the mind which is "invisible" |
The explosion in counselling and psychotherapy in the late 20th century is fuelling interest in the history of psychology, says a leading psychologist.
The National Museum of Science and Industry in London is hoping to profit from this with an exhibition on British psychology.
Psychology in Britain is a taster for a huge exhibition planned for 2001 to mark the centenary of the British Psychological Society.
Dr Geoff Bunn, a research fellow at the museum, says this is the first time the Science Museum has tackled the subject of psychology.
"Psychology has traditionally been considered a soft social science with a tendency to degenerate into woolliness," he said.
"But it has had a tremendous impact on the 20th century. Things like intelligence testing, psychotherapy and counselling have become very popular and the museum is realising this for the first time."
He added that the subject was also difficult to depict in a museum context.
"Most sciences like physics and chemistry leave objects behind. But psychology is invisible.
"The mind is its core object and by definition it is invisible. That is a tremendous problem."
Interactive
He hopes that, to get around this problem, the 2001 exhibition will be more interactive than the current one, which has a small budget and stays open until next December.
It is hidden at the top of the museum and has only four panels.
The first looks at the 19th century and the precursors to modern psychology, including phrenology - the science of the relationship between a person's character and the shape and form of the skull.
The second outlines the history of intelligence tests; the third looks at the history of child psychotherapy, particularly the work of Margaret Lowenfeld.
Dr Bunn describes her as a "play therapy pioneer".
"She rebelled against the idea that psychologists could only cure through talking therapy. As children are not necessarily articulate, she found that they could express their thoughts through toys."
Some of her toys are on display at the museum.
The fourth panel examines the origins of industrial psychology, a forerunner to occupational psychology.
Chocolate
It includes information about how Rowntree chocolate factories introduced psychological tests in the 1920s to check whether chocolate packer candidates were suitable for the job.
Candidates had to fit wooden pieces into the slots on a board known as the Moorrees form board in the correct sequence in a given period of time.
"It was the first place where occupational psychology took a foothold," said Dr Bunn.
The museum hopes the exhibition and the 2001 exhibition will bring in a new type of visitor.
"It should attract people who are not the traditional scientific type interested in machines, but those who are keen on the more humane side of science," said Dr Bunn.
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