Matevosyan, Michelle (2025) Understanding Genius: What the Works of Cox (1926) and Lombroso (1896, 1901) Tell Us About the Psychometric and Italian Positivist Criminological Schools. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
The contemporary psychological history of the study of genius has largely focused on the Psychometric School, neglecting alternative histories such as the Italian Positivist School of Criminology. This has limited the understanding of genius to intellectual capacities as measured by intelligence tests. This Bachelor’s thesis aimed to analyse the works of two key figures within the above schools – Catherine Cox Miles (1926) and Cesare Lombroso (1896, 1901), respectively – to infer their conceptualisations of genius. To understand who the authors considered a genius, a brief quantitative analysis of nationalities, occupations and religious associations was conducted, followed by an in-depth qualitative analysis of two biographies. I concluded that while the schools shared an underlying view of genius as a form of biological deviation from the norm, it diverged in interpretation: the psychometricians viewed it as a form of superiority whilst criminal anthropologists framed it as inherently pathological. These differences can be attributed to their intellectual origins: Cox was influenced by the eugenic tradition of Sir Francis Galton and followed the newly introduced quantifiable approach to intelligence, whereas Lombroso’s medical training led him to use clinical observation and visible traits. Accordingly, Cox’s language emphasises what can be quantifiably gleaned, while Lombroso asserts visual and symptomatic descriptions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Mulberger Rogele, A.C. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2025 08:56 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2025 08:56 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5715 |
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