Mary Whiton Calkins
(1863-1930)
Overview Brief timeline/biography of Mary Whiton Calkins
Historical antecedents that influenced the individual
Zeitgeist in which individual was developing her ideas
Specific professional obstacles/struggles of the individual
Experiments/research/clinical data supporting her ideas/theories
Strengths and weaknesses of her ideas/theories
Influence of individual on the event and ideas of her time and on later
events in psychology
Timeline/Biography of Mary Whiton Calkins Born March 30, 1863 Attended Smith College and earned degrees in both the
classics and philosophy Held a teaching position at Wellesley in Greek and
philosophy Showed talent in psychology and was appointed to head the
experimental lab… Died at home on February 27, 1930
Historical AntecedentsFamilyEldest of 5 childrenVery Devoted to her family, close knit Maude
Sister that died in 1883 after her first year at Smith College Diagnosed with inflammatory rheumatism
It was an “experience which permanently influenced her thinking and character” Her first encounter with deep grief
The following academic year Mary stayed home & took private lessons
She re-entered Smith College in the Fall of 1884 as a senior and graduated with a concentration in classics and philosophy
Historical AntecedentsFamily Wolcott Calkins
Presbyterian minister Designed & supervised Mary’s education Arranged an interview with President of Wellesley
College She was offered a position there as a tutor in
Greek & she began teaching in the Fall of 1887
Mary stayed in the Greek Department for 3 years
Historical AntecedentsTrip to Europe
Stayed for 16 weeks Briefly attended the University of Leipzig Broadened Mary’s knowledge of the classics Became acquainted with an instructor from
Vassar College: Abby Leach Leach was planning a trip to Greece &
invited Calkins Studied modern Greece and the classics
Historical AntecedentsWellesley College A professor in the Department of Philosophy noticed her talent
for teaching Philosophy department was planning to introduce work in
psychology as part of new curriculum and would need someone to teach courses in this new area
Calkins was excited about new opportunity, but the position was open to her if she first prepared herself by studying psychology for 1 year Problems meeting this condition Admittance was not offered to her because of her gender Go abroad? Study with G. T. Ladd at Yale, William James at Harvard, & G.
S. Hall at Clark University? It was Harvard that Calkins went to take seminars with William
James & Josiah Royce (October 1, 1890 Harvard considered and approved petition)
Historical AntecedentsWilliam James & Harvard University
Attended seminars conducted by James at Harvard University
Helped Calkins face barriers of prejudice and discrimination
Harvard University refused to grant her a graduate degree, even though she had done the work
Calkins examination was described as the “most brilliant examination for the Ph.D. that we have had at Harvard” –William James
Calkins influenced by William James’s chapter on the stream of consciousness in Principles of Psychology
Historical AntecedentsOther Experimental Psychology lab (1890)
While attending seminars at Harvard, Calkins also studied in an experimental psychology lab with Edmund Sanford at Clark University
Influenced by the experimental procedure “Richness & Precision”
Fall of 1891, returned to Wellesley College as an instructor in Psychology/ the Department of Philosophy and introduced a new course into the curriculum
“Psychology approached from the philosophical standpoint” 1891: Established a lab for experimental psychology at
Wellesley College
Zeitgeist Discrimination against women
Disagreed outright with belief that there were inherent sex differences in mental abilities
Variability Hypothesis Darwinian idea of male variability Notion that men show a wider range a variation of
physical and mental development that women The abilities of women are seen as more average
Zeitgeist Mary Calkins presented her system of self-psychology
and contrasted it to the rival systems of the day Structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, hormic
psychology, Gestalt psychology, and psychoanalysis Wundt & Titchener
In 1900, Calkins presented her self-psychology Departure from Wundt and Titchener system that was
dominant in American Psychology Structuralism
Study of the contents of consciousness Introspection as the main source of data
Zeitgeist Functionalism
James; System of psychology concerned with mind as it is used in an organism’s adaptation to its environment
Behaviorism (1913) Watson; Focused solely on observable acts that could be
described in objective terms Hormic Psychology
McDougall; emphasis on the emotional and purposive (goal-oriented) side of human nature
Gestalt Psychology Opposition to elementalism; holistic
Psychoanalytic Movement Freud; Emphasis on instinctive and emotional side of human
nature; the unconscious mind
Calkins’ Struggles and Obstacles
Educational Struggles Struggles at Harvard Struggles for her Ph.D. Other Struggles
Professional Obstacles Calkins had the opportunity to teach a philosophy class at
Wellesley College, but had to study psychology for one year There were few Psychology departments for Calkins to study
in. Also few departments accepted females as students Could have studied at Yale or Michigan Both schools were too far away from Calkins home Neither included a laboratory, which was important for
Calkins to study physiological psychology
Struggles at Harvard Calkins was not allowed to study at Harvard President Eliot said, “her presence would receive an angry reaction
for the governing body at Harvard” Her father and the President of Wellesley college petitioned to let
Calkins study at Harvard On October 1, 1890 Calkins was allowed to “sit-in” on the lectures
at Harvard. William James and Josiah Royce also supported her Calkins wanted to further her education by working with
Munsterberg who was coming to Harvard to do research Once again she was refused the opportunity to study at Harvard
with Munsterberg She was later allowed to sit in but not as a student only as a guest
Struggles for her Ph.D. Calkins finished all of her work for her Ph.D., but she was refused her
Ph.D. because she was a woman and also she was not a student Munsterberg wrote a letter to the president and fellows of Harvard that
Calkins should be a candidate for her Ph.D. His request was considered and refused
A group 13 psychologist who were Harvard graduates and professors of prestigious institutions sent in a petition to the president of Harvard requesting that Calkins should get her Ph.D.
Harvard said “No adequate reason for granting Calkins the degree” Calkins was offered her Ph.D. from Radcliffe college the Harvard for
women. She refused the offer because she earned her degree at Harvard Calkins thought that “Harvard was making a distinction between the sexes
by withholding the Harvard Ph.D. from female students who did the work, took the same exams at Harvard like their counterparts”
Other Struggles Calkins opposed the Variability hypothesis
and the differentiation between men and women’s right to vote because these issues held her back from reaching her goals
Calkins came up with the technical method for studying memory called paired associates; however, Titchner took full credit for it
Experiments/Research/Clinical Data Supporting her theory’s and ideas
Dream Research:
- studied the contents of individual dreams by having them record,
in detail, their dreams over a seven week period
- discovered that there was a “close connection between the
dream-life and waking life, and that the dream will reproduce in
general, the persons, places, and events of recent sense
perception.”
-rejected Freud’s theory of dreams; dreams did not represent one’s
unconsciousness.
Experiments/Research/Clinical Data Supporting her Theory’s and Ideas Cont.
Paired-Associate Tasks (Memorization Method)
- wanted to look at how frequency, dominance, regency,
and vividness influenced memory
- research method involved showing individuals a series of colors paired
with numbers
- tested how many numbers the individual could recall that had been paired
with colors
- discovered that individuals were more likely to remember any number that
was joined with any given color vs. numbers that were vividly colored or a
number that was last paired with a color.
Experiments/Research/Clinical Data Supporting her Theory’s and Ideas Cont.
Self-Psychology
- Believed that the self is the central factor in psychology
- Three important elements of the self: the self, the object, and the
self’s relationship/attitude toward the object
Self-TheorySelf includes:The self that his changedThe self that remains the sameThe self that is uniqueThe self that is a unity of perceptions, memories, thoughts and
feelingsThe self that is related to the larger social and physical
community in which it lives
Calkins said the soul is a conscious being. It is the self.
This is different than the Structuralist view, which asserted that it was the organism that was experiencing sensations, not a indefinable being.
Strengths of Self-Theory The theory allowed for “individual
differences” in studying mental processes Calkins did not deny the validity of atomistic
(idea) psychology. She believed they were two equally valid approaches
Original theory put forth by a female psychologist in a an aversive climate
Weaknesses of Self-Theory The self is “indefinable” (Calkins, 1915) Tested through introspection, which had
questionable empiricism Connected to her ideas about ethics and
morality (Wentworth, 1999)
Calkin’s Influence Then The timing of Calkin’s theory did not mesh
well with the scientific ideals of her peers (Not objective experimental methods)
“We still find certain residues of the soul theory, masquerading in modern discussion as accounts of empirical or quasi-empirical realities” (Troland, 1929)
Calkins’ Influence Later Psychoanalytic self psychology
Heinz Kohut, MD (1913-1981) Theoretical basis for most of the therapeutic benefits of
contemporary psychoanalysis. Rejects importance of innate Freudian sexual drives in the
organization of the human psyche First major psychoanalytic movement in the United States
to recognize the critical role of empathy in explaining human development and psychoanalytic change.
Summary Family huge influence Studied under James, Royce, & Sanford Never received her degree from Harvard Contrasted all her work against the Zeitgeist,
“Variability Hypothesis” Paired-Associate Task was a big influence on
learning theory Self-theory was a contrast to the times, and it was
not embraced by her contemporaries
References
Bumb, J. Mary Whiton Calkins. Retrieved March 4, 2004, from
Calkins, Mary W. An Introduction to Psychology. New York: Macmillan & Co., 1904.
Calkins, Mary W. A First Book in Psychology. New York: Macmillan & Co., 1911.
Calkins, M. W., (1917). The case of self against soul. Psychological Review, 24, 278-
300.
Calkins, M.W. (1911). General standpoints; Mind and body. Psychological Bulletin, 8,
14-19.
Calkins, M.W. http://www.earlham.edu/~harriem/contributions.htm
Christopher, Green D. “Autobiography of Mary Whiton Calkins.” Classics in the History
Of Psychology. 27 Jan. 2004. Mar. 2000 http://www.psychclassics.yorku.ca
Furumoto, L. (1980). Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930). Psychology of Women Quarterly, 5, 55-68.
Furumoto, Laurel, Mary Whiton Calkins. Psychology of Women Quarterly, Vol 5(1).
Human Sciences Press:1980
References
Madigan, S. & O’Hara, R. (1992). Short-term memory at the turn of the century: Mary Whiton Calkins’s memory research. American Psychologist, 47, 170-174.
Minton, H. L. (2000). Psychology and gender at the turn of the century. American Psychologist, 55, 613-615.
Schultz, D. P. & Schultz, S. E. (2004). A history of modern psychology (8 th Edition).
Wadsworth: Belmont.
Seigfried, C. H. (1993). 1895 letter from Harvard Philosophy department. Hypatia, 8, 230-231.
Wentworth, P. A. (1999). The moral of her story: Exploring the philosophical and religious
commitments in Mary Whiton Calkins’ self-psychology. History of Psychology, 2,
119-131.
Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society. Mary Whiton
Calkins. http://www.webster.edu/`wollflm/calkins.html
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