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ESTER HJELT psychologist 1885-1960 The earliest Finnish women psychologists were active in the field of applied psychology in the 1920's. Ester Hjelt was the first director of the first Finnish research institute in applied psychology, the Psychotechnical Laboratory of the Finnish Railway, established in 1922. The laboratory developed methods for the psychological testing of employees. In 1930 Hjelt defended her doctoral dissertation, which was an experimental study on school children, in Åbo Akademi University.