The object of the article is the psychological knowledge produced and transmitted in the Institutions od Higher Education and Secondary Schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro during 19th (until 1870), loking at heir conceptual signification and social function in the ambit of Brazilian spciety of that time, as a critical analysis. A survey using sources about some of the most important Education Institutions of Rio de Janeiro in the 19th century was made, allowing a reconstruction of the psychological contents and practices of these Institutions. A coexistence of different proposals for doctrinal approaches, methodological focuses and aimed objects were presented.
