Psychology Societies and Organizations

The first psychology laboratories were established in the late 19th century in Germany by W. Wundt in Leipzig (1879), in the USA by S. Hall at Johns Hopkins University (1883), in England by F. Galton in London (1884), and in France by H. Beaunis and A. Binet at the Sorbonne (1889). The first Russian laboratory for experimental psychology was founded by V. M. Bekhterev in Kazan (1886). Subsequently, psychology laboratories were opened in other Russian cities, including Odessa (N. N. Lange), Kiev (G. I. Chelpanov), Iur’ev (Tartu; V. F. Chizh), St. Petersburg (A. F. Lazurskii and A. P. Nechaev), Moscow (S. S. Korsakov and A. A. Tokarskii), and Kharkov (P. I. Kovalevskii). The first Russian institute of psychology was founded by G. I. Chelpanov in 1912 in the history and philology department of Moscow University.

The first psychology societies were the Moscow Psychological Society (1885), the British Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association (1892), the French Psychological Society (1901), and the German Psychological Society (1903). The International Union of Scientific Psychology developed out of organizational and honorary committees of the First International Congress of Psychology in Paris (1889). Among the members of the committees were the Russian psychologists M. M. Troitskii, I. M. Sechenov, and N. Ia. Grot and the Polish scientist J. Ochorowicz.

The most important contemporary international organization for scientific psychology is the International Union of Psychological Science, which is made up of 41 national societies. Other international groups are the International Association of Applied Psychology (Stockholm), the Inter-American Society of Psychology (Chicago), the French-language Association of Scientific Psychology (Liege), the International Psychoanalytical Association, and the International Association of Analytical Psychology (Zürich). J. Piaget is the director of the International Center for Genetic Epistemology (Geneva).

In addition to the international psychology organizations, there are many national organizations, including the Bulgarian Psychological Society and research centers at the University of Sofia; the Czechoslovakian Psychological Association, the Slovak Psychological Association, the Institute of Psychology (Prague), the Institute of Experimental Psychology (Bratislava), and research centers at the universities of Prague, Bratislava, and Brno; the Psychological Society of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and research centers at the universities of Dresden, Leipzig, and Jena and at Humboldt University in Berlin; and the Hungarian Psychological Society and the Institute of Psychology (Budapest). Also among the national organizations for psychology are the Polish Psychological Society and research centers at the universities of Warsaw, Lublin, Krakow, and Poznań, as well as the Psychological Association of the Socialist Republic of Rumania and the Institute of Psychology (Bucharest). In the Soviet Union there are many psychology organizations, including the Society of Psychologists of the USSR of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (Moscow), the Institute of General and Educational Psychology of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Moscow), the Research Institute of Psychology of the Ministry of Education of the Ukrainian SSR (Kiev), the D. N. Uznadze Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR (Tbilisi), and the Research Institute of Preschool Education of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR (Moscow). Research in psychology is also conducted in the psychology departments at the universities of Moscow and Leningrad and in the departments and subdepartments of psychology at a number of other Soviet universities and pedagogical institutes. Also among the national organizations in psychology in Eastern and Central Europe are the Psychological Association of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Serbian Psychological Organization, and the institutes of psychology in Belgrade and Zagreb.

In addition to the Argentine Psychological Society, Argentina has the Instituto de Psicologia Concreta (Buenos Aires) and research centers at the universities of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, and La Plata. Among the national psychology organizations in Western Europe are the Professional Federation of Austrian Psychologists, the Austrian Psychological Association, the Psychotechnic Institute (Vienna), and research centers at the universities of Vienna, Innsbruck, and Gratz, as well as the Belgian Psychological Society, the Center for Experimental and Comparative Psychology (Louvain), the Institute of Psychology (Louvain), and research centers at the universities of Louvain, Brussels, and Liege. In addition to the Canadian Psychological Association, Canada has the National Institute of Industrial Psychology and research institutes at the universities of Montreal and Toronto, for example.

Other psychology organizations include the German Psychological Society of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Research Institute for Industrial Psychology (Braunschweig), the Institute of Social Psychology (Cologne), and research centers at the universities of Berlin (two), Bonn, Cologne (two), Göttingen, Heidelberg, Marburg, Munich, Münster (three), and Würzburg (two). Among the psychology organizations in France are the French Psychological Society, the Center for Advanced Studies in Social Psychology (Paris), the Institute of Social and Psychological Sciences (University of Bordeaux), and research centers at the universities of Paris and Marseille. The psychology societies in Great Britain include the British Psychological Society, the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (London), the Department of Experimental Psychology (Oxford University), and research centers at London and Cambridge universities. In addition to the Italian Psychological Society, Italy has the National Institute for Psychology (Rome) and psychology centers at the universities of Rome and Milan, for example. Among the psychology organizations in Japan, are the Japanese Psychological Association, the Japanese Association of Applied Psychology, and research centers at the universities of Tokyo (four) and Nagasaki. Located in the Netherlands are the Institute of Conflict Psychology (Leiden) and research centers in Amsterdam and Nijmegen. In addition to the Swiss Professional Association of Applied Psychology, Switzerland has the Swiss Psychology Society, the J.-J. Rousseau Institute (Geneva), and psychology centers at the universities of Zurich, Bern, and Neuchâtel. Sweden has the Swedish Psychological Association, the Institute of Psychology and Education (Stockholm), and psychology research centers at the universities of Stockholm and Göteborg.

There are many psychology organizations and research facilities in the USA, including the American Psychological Association (Washington, D.C.), the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (New York), the American Academy of Psychoanalysis (New York), the American Institute for Research in the Behavioral Sciences (Pittsburgh, Pa.), the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford, Calif.), the Institute of Child Behavior and Development (University of Iowa), the Institute of Child Development (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), and the Personality Research Center (University of Texas). In addition, there are research centers at Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Syracuse universities; at Nebraska State University; at the University of Buffalo; at the Massachusetts and California institutes of technology; and at Swarthmore College.