This paper discusses the relationship between psychology and statistics in the field of education. It shows that such relation is not limited to the explanation of the inexorable scientific progress. Rather, it cannot be dissociated from the objective achievement of technological rationality, which is characteristic of the industrial and administered society. This perspective is first explored through psychotechnics, using an important moment of the development of the intelligence concept exemplified by the bi-factorial theory of Spearman. Then, the text resorts to the application of psychological and educational tests in Brazilian primary schools, as promoted by two educators, Isaias Alves and Lourenço Filho.
Psychology; Statistics; Tests; Technology; Education