XV International Congress of Psychology, Brussels, Belgium
July 28 - August 3, 1957 

The 15th International Congress of Psychology, Brussels, Belgium, 1957

The 15th International Congress of Psychology was held in Brussels, Belgium, from July 28 to August 3, 1957. The venue of the meeting was the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The congress was held under the auspices of the IUSP and the Belgian Society of Psychology, under the patronage of the King of Belgium, His Majesty Baudoin I. Financial support was provided not only by the IUSP, but also by the Belgian government. The Ford Foundation provided travel grants to enable the participation of over 25 Americans. Table 7.2 presents the organizational structure of the congress.

The presidency of the congress was assumed by Baron Albert Michotte van den Berck, Director of the Experimental Psychology Laboratory of the Université de Louvain and Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, an internationally renowned scholar in the area of perception. René Nyssen of the Université de Bruxelles and Past President of the Belgian Society of Psychology, was appointed President of the General Organization Committee, whereas Joseph Nuttin of the Université de Louvain presided over the Scientific Program Committee. The Secretary-General of the congress was Louis Delys, and the Treasurer, Gérard Goosens. Meetings of the Organization and Program Committees were held periodically from the beginning of 1956 to the time of the congress (Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Psychology, 1959 , p. xv).

Albert Michotte (1881–1965):President of the 15th International Congress of Psychology, Brussels, 1957; later President of the IUSP, 1957–1960.

A Record Attendance

A record number of 1256 psychologists (including 951 regular members) coming from 47 different countries registered for the congress (Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Psychology, 1959 , p. XVI). The largest national delegation came from the USA (28%) and was even superior to the local Belgian participation (20%). Definitely an international event, this congress attracted delegations from Poland (headed by Blakowski of the University of Poznan) as well as from the USSR (conducted by Smirnov, President of the newly founded Russian Psychological Society, and Leontiev). Also present, right beside the delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany, was the East German delegation headed by Gottschaldt, director of the Institute of Psychology at Humboldt University. Egyptian psychologists were also seated adjacent to their Israeli colleagues (Piéron, 1957 , pp. 625–626).

Registration was 500 Belgian francs for regular members (psychologists and other related professionals), and 250 Belgian francs for associate members (students and accompanying persons).

Jean Piaget (1896–1980): President of the IUSP, 1954–1957.

The opening ceremony was held in the Grand Hall of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. On this occasion, welcome speeches were made by W. Vermeylen, the Belgian Minister of the Interior, as well as by Jean Piaget and Otto Klineberg, respectively President and Secretary-General of the Union, by the President of the congress, Albert Michotte, and by Henri Piéron, in the name of the foreign participants. Michotte then gave the inaugural address (“Réflexions sur le rôle du language dans l’analyse des structures perceptives”). Other evening lectures were given during the following days by Wolfgang Köhler (“Psychologie und Naturwissenschaft”), Jean Piaget (“Le rôle des modèles d’équilibre dans l’explication en psychologie: rétroactions, anticipations et opérations”) and by Clyde Kluckhohn, of Harvard University, USA (“Anthropology and psychology”).

Scientific program

The Program Committee had made a special effort to regroup the presentations into thematic sessions. In fact, to better identify the current themes of the sessions, a survey had been previously conducted with researchers in different areas and with the different psychological societies in the IUSP. The presentation of the 26 various themes that were retained was through (1) general conferences (opening lectures and keynote addresses), (2) symposia, (3) individual presentations, and (4) colloquia. Twenty four themes were retained for the symposia (see Table 7.3 ).

15th Congress—Brussels, 1957: Congress participants outside the venue.

Individual papers were regarded as the prolongation of the different themes, adding more flexibility to the presentations of the symposia. Finally, the colloquia consisted of round-table discussions with a limited number of specialists. These colloquia dealt with practical issues : (1) the training of psychologists, (2) psychological terminology, and (3) cooperation between psychologists and neuro-psychiatrists.

Classifying the 329 presentations at the congress by subject, 16% were in the area of sensation and perception, 15% in the area of psychometry, 12% in social psychology, 9% in physiological psychology, 6% each in general psychology and evolutionary psychology (Montoro González, 1982 , p.229).

The Proceedings of the 15th Congress (1959) were published by North-Holland, and also as a special issue of Acta Psychologica.

On Tuesday, July 29, a luncheon was offered by the Belgian Society of Psychology to the following foreign participants who were elected Honorary Members of the Society: Bartlett, Klineberg, Kluckhohn, Köhler, Langfeld, Piaget, and Piéron. The traditional closing banquet was held on Friday, August 2. Visits to the laboratories and facilities of the Université Libre de Bruxelles and of the Université de Louvain were arranged for August 3.

The congress organizers generally considered, on the basis of the good atmosphere encountered, the broad participation, and the positive opinions expressed by experienced as well as less experienced participants, that the Brussels congress definitely reached the goal it had set itself: an occasion of intellectual confrontation and scientific exchange.