The History of Slovak Psychology Was Significantly Shaped at the Slovak Academy of Sciences
At the end of 2024, the publication Stories of Czechoslovak Psychology III edited by Ivo Čermák and Dalibor Vobořil was released by Portál publishing house. The book is the concluding volume of a trilogy that, through an oral history approach, maps the history of psychology in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. While the first two volumes focused on Czech psychologists, the third volume is dedicated to the people in Slovakia who laid the foundations of modern psychology as a scientific discipline.
The stories of the pioneers of Slovak psychology summarized in the book reveal that the Slovak Academy of Sciences played an indispensable role in shaping an entire generation of psychologists who later worked at universities or in other fields. The book contains stories of eleven Slovak scientists, more than half of whom spent at least part of their professional careers at the Academy. These include:
Viera Bačová
* 1950
Her career alternated between the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and universities. At SAS, she worked for several years at the Social Sciences Institute and became the director of the Institute of Experimental Psychology (IEP) in November 2007. She held this position for 10 years and currently works there as a research scientist. She significantly contributed to spreading the post-positivist paradigm in Slovakia and consolidating the research focus of IEP. Her main research areas include identity and decision-making in various social contexts.
Jana Plichtová
* 1950
From 1973 to 1990, she worked at the Institute of Experimental Psychology. She was a founding member of the Cabinet of Social and Biological Communication Research—now the Institute for Research in Social Communication (IRSC), where she is currently an emeritus researcher. She played a crucial role in the development of qualitative research methodologies and social psychology in Slovakia, focusing on identity, social representations, and the dynamics of social relationships in society. She also led the SAS Center of Excellence for Citizenship and Participation Research (COPART) and served as a professor at Comenius University in Bratislava.
Imrich Ruisel
* 1941 - † 2023
A prominent figure at the Institute of Experimental Psychology, where he worked from 1972 until his retirement. He served as its director from 1999 to 2007. His scientific work contributed to changing traditional views on the role of intelligence in real life and helped shape the cognitive portrait of humans. He also led the SAS Centers of Excellence for Research on Intelligence and Creativity (CEVIT) and Cognition Research (CEVKOG). He devoted much of his academic life to teaching and lectured at various universities in Slovakia and abroad.
Anton Uherík
* 1930 - † 2021
Another notable figure at the Institute of Experimental Psychology, where he worked throughout his career, from 1954 to 1990. He was a pioneer of modern experimental methods, focusing on psychophysiological research. He coined the term "bioelectrical skin reactivity" and demonstrated through his research that this reactivity reflects the properties of the human central nervous system.
In 1970, he established the first and only psychophysiological laboratory in former Czechoslovakia at the IEP. He also collaborated for over 20 years with a School for the hearing impaired in Bratislava, leading to a patented audiometric hearing test method.
Ladislav Lovaš
* 1949
He worked for nearly 20 years at the Social Sciences Institute of SAS, from 1980 to 1999, and served as its director from 1991 to 1992. He earned his Ph.D. at the Institute of Experimental Psychology in 1982. From 1995 to 1999, he was a member of the SAS Presidium. After leaving SAS, he joined the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice, where he still works at the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts. His research interests include social psychology topics such as aggression, justice, violation of social norms, and coping with stress.
Emil Komárik
* 1940
The early stages of his career were briefly linked to the Institute of Experimental Psychology, later shifting primarily to academia at various Slovak universities. He focused on work psychology, cognitive psychology, research methodology, and behavioral disorders.
The publication Stories of Czechoslovak Psychology III begins with an essay on the identity of Slovak psychology, authored by representatives of the middle generation of psychologists—Radomír Masaryk, Vice-Rector of Comenius University in Bratislava and former researcher at the Institute of Experimental Psychology (IEP), and Barbara Lášticová, Director of the Institute for Research in Social Communication (IRSC). They reflect on why the identity of Slovak psychology remains relatively fragile and why some of its formative figures are perceived ambivalently.
The book offers an unconventional perspective on the history of Slovak psychology from the viewpoints of its actors. It also illustrates how the formation of this scientific discipline was intertwined with the era in which its protagonists lived and how their professional focus was often deeply connected to their personal life stories.
Prepared by: Barbara Lášticová, IRSC SAS, Xenia Daniela Poslon, IRSC SAS, Viktória Sunyík, IEP CSPS SAS