Psychology in Spain: Its historical and cultural roots, instruction, research ands future prospects (original) (raw)

2011, Psychology Teaching Review

HE SEEDS of psychology in Spain can be found in the 16th century (Spanish Renaissance) in the work of Huarte de San Juan (1529-1588). A medical doctor by training, he became known as the forerunner of modern psychology due to his work translated into English as The Examination of Men's Wits 1. Huarte was the first modern writer to base psychology on physiology and biology (moving away from the prevailing conservative philosophical and spiritual conceptions). He is also considered the forerunner of Developmental and Educational Psychology, paying attention to the type of 'wits' possessed by each individual and the types common to each age range (Velarde Lombraña, 1993). However, this beginning of formal psychological thought was soon to be stunted by the arrival of the Inquisition. As Carpintero (1989) observes, 'a long road ensued from these precedents in the Renaissance era until the first manifestations of a new tradition, what is now scientific psychology, that began to appear at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century.' Since the figure of Huarte de San Juan, there have been many who have made their contributions to constructing and consolidating psychology in Spain 2 (Siguán, 1976). We must look back to the first half of the 19th century in order to observe a true, growing interest in psychology in Spain (150 Años de la Psicología Española, Carpintero, 2004). Despite a persisting philosophical bent, psychology in this period was becoming more established largely due to the Pidal Plan (1845), which decreed the compulsory teaching of 'Principles of Psychology, Ideology and Logic' at secondary schools. The Pidal Plan resulted in the first appearance of psychology teaching manuals, while psychology at the university level continued to be a part of the academic subject of Metaphysics (García Vega, Moya Santoyo & Rodríguez Domínguez, 1992). Although the role of psychology in this era was beginning to be valued, it was yet to become institu