Mariano Yela and Military Psychology in Spain: the 1963 Informative Course on Psychology and Psychotechnics

Mariano Yela, Professor of Psychology at the University of Madrid, gave the opening lecture of the "Informative Course on Psychology and Psychotechnics" organized by the Spanish Army in May 1963. In this course, Yela presented his concept of human behavior and his vision about the dimensions of military psychology, the relationship between military psychology and public opinion, the relationship between military psychology and mental manipulation, and the usefulness and necessity of psychology for the Army. In all these topics, Yela's personalist vision of work psychology applied to the military sphere is evident. The course was designed to spur the creation of the Army Psychology and Psychotechnics Service, which came to fruition in 1966.