While Binet often gets the spotlight, Simon was right there in the trenches, shaping and refining the test, advocating for ethical testing practices, and leaving his mark on psychiatry and education. Let’s break down his story, from his early struggles to his major contributions in psychology, and why his work still matters today.
1. Early Life: A Hard Start That Shaped His Passion
If resilience had a poster child in the late 19th century, Théodore Simon might have been it. Born on July 10, 1873, in Dijon, France, his early years were marked by loss and uncertainty. His father, a railroad engineer, provided the family with stability, but life had other plans. Tragedy struck early—Simon lost both of his parents, leaving him an orphan at a young age. If that wasn’t enough, his older brother passed away at just 23, cutting another deep wound into his childhood.
With no parents to guide him, Simon was taken in by his uncle in Sens, a city about 100 miles southeast of Paris. It wasn’t the warm, supportive upbringing that some might imagine—losing family so young meant growing up fast, learning to adapt, and figuring things out on his own. But rather than letting these hardships weigh him down, Simon leaned into education as a way forward. Books, ideas, and learning became his way of making sense of the world.
At first, psychology wasn’t even on his radar. He pursued medicine, drawn to both philosophy and psychology, but his real fascination was in understanding human behavior—especially in children. The more he studied, the more he realized that mental health and cognitive development weren’t just abstract concepts—they were real, tangible issues affecting real people, many of whom were being completely misunderstood by society.
And then came Alfred Binet.
Binet was making waves in the psychology world, challenging traditional ideas about intelligence and mental development. To Simon, his work wasn’t just interesting—it was life-changing. He devoured Binet’s books, pouring over every detail like a student obsessed with their favorite professor’s lectures.
That obsession wasn’t just academic—it set the stage for one of the most important collaborations in psychological history.
2. The Asylum Years: Where It All Began
If Simon’s early life gave him grit, his time at Perray-Vaucluse asylum gave him direction. In 1899, he stepped into the world of psychiatry as a PhD student, diving headfirst into the deep and often-overlooked issue of intellectual disabilities in children. Unlike many of his peers, who saw “abnormal” children as hopeless cases, Simon wanted to understand them—not dismiss them.
At the time, psychiatric asylums weren’t exactly known for progressive thinking. Mental illness and intellectual disabilities were poorly understood, and treatment often leaned more toward containment than care. But Simon wasn’t about to accept the status quo. He started researching the cognitive and behavioral patterns of children with disabilities, questioning old-school assumptions that they were simply “uneducable.”
His work quickly stood out. By 1900, he had published his thesis on intellectual disabilities, catching the attention of none other than Alfred Binet—one of the leading minds in psychology at the time.
Binet was already exploring the relationship between physical growth and intellectual development, and he needed someone who understood both medicine and psychology. Simon fit the bill perfectly. He wasn’t just another academic—he had real, hands-on experience working with children in need.
Recognizing Simon’s potential, Binet didn’t just offer him a seat at the table—he invited him to collaborate on a groundbreaking project that would ultimately change the way we measure intelligence forever.
3. The Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale: A Game-Changer
Between 1901 and 1905, Simon bounced between different hospitals, including Sainte-Anne Hospital Center and Dury-les-Amiens, building his experience in psychiatry. But the real turning point came in 1903, when he and Alfred Binet joined forces with the Free Society for the Psychological Study of Children—a group dedicated to one big idea:
What if we could actually measure intelligence instead of just guessing?
At the time, schools were pretty much winging it when it came to kids who struggled academically. If a child couldn’t keep up, they were often written off as “slow” or “unruly”, without any real understanding of what was going on in their heads. Teachers and administrators had no real tools to tell the difference between a child who had a learning disability, one who just needed a different teaching approach, or one who was simply bored out of their mind.
Simon and Binet knew that had to change.
After years of research, they introduced the first version of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale in 1905. It wasn’t perfect, but it was revolutionary. Then, in 1908, they rolled out a more refined version, and it quickly became the most widely used intelligence test in the world.
4. What Made the Binet-Simon Scale Special?
- It wasn’t just about book smarts. Instead of testing rote knowledge (like memorizing facts), it measured problem-solving skills, reasoning, and adaptability—things that actually reflect intelligence.
- It was designed for different age groups. The test included age-related tasks, meaning a 5-year-old’s cognitive skills weren’t judged by the same standards as a 10-year-old’s. This was a game-changer, as it recognized that intelligence develops over time.
- It introduced the idea of “mental age.” Instead of a one-size-fits-all measure, the test could estimate whether a child’s intellectual development matched what was typical for their age.
And the biggest impact? This test laid the groundwork for modern IQ testing.
Even today, if you take an IQ test, chances are it’s based on the Binet-Simon model. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, one of the most widely used IQ tests in the world, is a direct descendant of their work.
Simon and Binet didn’t just create a test—they reshaped how we understand intelligence, making it possible to support kids in ways that were never considered before.
5. Simon’s Fight Against Misuse of Intelligence Testing
Simon didn’t just help create one of the most important intelligence tests in history—he also spent a good chunk of his career trying to stop people from misusing it.
The Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale was meant to identify children who needed extra academic support, not to slap a permanent label on them. But as the test gained popularity, Simon saw a problem: many psychologists, educators, and even policymakers were treating IQ scores as a fixed measure of a person’s worth and potential—something he absolutely did not agree with.
To Simon, intelligence wasn’t some static number that could predict someone’s entire future. It was fluid, influenced by environment, education, and personal growth. But some professionals were using the test to sort people into rigid categories, often limiting opportunities instead of expanding them.
When Binet passed away in 1911, the test was revised that same year, and Simon had a choice: keep refining it or let it be reshaped by others. He chose to honor Binet’s vision, refusing to make drastic changes to the scale and pushing back against its misuse.
For years, he spoke out against the over-reliance on IQ scores, arguing that intelligence is complex and can’t be boiled down to a single number. In many ways, his warnings are still relevant today, as debates around standardized testing, intelligence measurement, and educational equity continue.
Simon believed that psychology’s job wasn’t just to measure people—it was to understand them. And he never stopped fighting for that.
6. Later Career: Leadership in Psychiatry & Nursing
Simon wasn’t the type to sit back and admire his past work. While his name was cemented in psychology because of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale, he spent the rest of his career making waves in psychiatry and mental health care.
He took on major leadership roles, serving as:
- Head psychiatrist at Saint-Yon Hospital (1905-1920)
- Medical director at Perray-Vaucluse (1920-1930)
- Medical director of multiple psychiatric hospitals until 1936
But his influence wasn’t just about holding big titles—he was actively changing the way psychiatric care was approached in France. At a time when mental health treatment was still stigmatized and underdeveloped, Simon worked to improve how patients were diagnosed, treated, and supported.
His biggest contribution outside of intelligence testing? Transforming psychiatric nursing.
In 1946, long after most people would’ve settled into retirement, Simon founded France’s first psychiatric nursing school at Maison Blanche hospital in Neuilly-sur-Marne. Before this, psychiatric nurses often lacked proper training, and mental health care suffered as a result. Simon’s school introduced structured education and hands-on clinical experience, helping shape the profession into what it is today.
And his impact didn’t stop there. The training institute he founded still exists today and even bears his name: Institut de Formation Interhospitalier Théodore Simon—a lasting tribute to his work in psychiatry and mental health education.
Even as he aged, Simon stayed committed to both psychiatry and education, working until 1957, when he finally retired at 84 years old. Four years later, in 1961, he passed away.
But his legacy? Still very much alive, shaping intelligence testing, mental health care, and psychiatric nursing long after his time.
7. Why Théodore Simon Still Matters Today
Théodore Simon isn’t just some name buried in psychology textbooks—his work still impacts how we think about intelligence, education, and mental health today. Whether you realize it or not, a lot of the ways we measure and understand cognitive ability trace right back to him.
7.1 His Work Shaped Modern IQ Testing
Ever taken an IQ test? Been placed in a gifted program? Heard the term mental age? That’s all Simon’s legacy in action. The Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale laid the foundation for nearly every intelligence test that came after, including the Stanford-Binet test, which is still widely used today. Even though IQ testing has evolved, the core idea—measuring cognitive ability based on problem-solving and reasoning rather than memorized knowledge—comes straight from Simon and Binet’s work.
7.2 He Advocated for Ethical Testing
Simon wasn’t just about creating a test—he wanted it to be used the right way. He spent years pushing back against the idea that an IQ score was some fixed label that determined a person’s entire future. He believed intelligence was complex, shaped by environment, education, and experience.
That same debate still rages on today. Conversations about standardized testing, educational inequality, and neurodiversity all echo Simon’s warnings about how IQ tests should be tools for understanding, not weapons for exclusion. In an era where we’re constantly questioning how fair or biased these tests are, Simon’s early push for responsible testing is more relevant than ever.
7.3 He Helped Improve Psychiatric Care
Beyond intelligence testing, Simon was a major force in improving psychiatric care, especially for people with intellectual disabilities. By founding France’s first psychiatric nursing school, he helped professionalize mental health care, ensuring that patients received better treatment from trained professionals instead of being dismissed or neglected.
Today, psychiatric nursing is a huge part of mental health care, and that structured, professional approach? Simon was one of the pioneers who made it happen.
7.4 More Than Just a Name in History
Simon didn’t just help shape psychology—he fought for a fairer, more thoughtful approach to intelligence and mental health. His work still sparks debates, influences education policies, and impacts mental health care worldwide. So the next time you hear someone talk about IQ, mental age, or standardized testing, just know—Théodore Simon helped lay the groundwork for those conversations over a century ago.
8. Final Thoughts: More Than Just an IQ Test
Théodore Simon wasn’t just Alfred Binet’s sidekick—he was a pioneer in psychology and psychiatry, pushing for a more thoughtful, human-centered approach to intelligence and mental health. His work helped shape modern IQ testing, but more importantly, he spent his career fighting to ensure those tests were used to support people, not limit them.
IQ testing has always been a hot topic, with its fair share of controversy, misuse, and debate. But Simon’s original mission was never about slapping a number on someone and calling it a day. He wanted to help children thrive, making sure those who struggled academically got the support they needed instead of being left behind or dismissed.
His legacy is a powerful reminder that intelligence is complex—it can’t be fully captured by a single score, and it’s certainly not a predictor of someone’s entire potential. Tests should be used as tools for understanding, not weapons for judgment.
So the next time someone brags about their IQ score, acting like it’s the ultimate measure of intelligence, you’ll know better. And honestly? Simon would probably roll his eyes, too.
