%0 Journal Article
%T Confusion about confusion: ¨¦douard Toulouse¡¯s dementia test, 1905¨C20
%A Elizabeth Nelson
%J History of Psychiatry
%@ 1740-2360
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0957154X19825623
%X Psychiatrist ¨¦douard Toulouse (1865¨C1947) is known today for his 1896 psychometric study of the novelist ¨¦mile Zola, and his contributions to mental hygiene, sexology, eugenics, and labour efficiency in inter-war France. This paper examines research undertaken in Toulouse¡¯s Laboratory of Experimental Psychology at the Villejuif asylum near Paris. In 1905, Toulouse created a test that could differentiate between dementia and mental confusion, a test that could aid in the classification of patients at the overcrowded Villejuif facility. By 1920, however, the test¡¯s early promise was undercut by unforeseen, ¡®machinic¡¯ resistance that emerged in the experimental process. This case study demonstrates the non-linear nature of scientific practice and limits of even the most innovative asylum reforms in this period
%K Asylums
%K dementia
%K ¨¦douard Toulouse
%K experimental psychology
%K France
%K laboratories
%K Villejuif
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0957154X19825623