Mary Whiton Calkins and Her Impact on Modern Psychology Essay (Biography)

Introduction

The twentieth century was marked with the emergence of women philosophers who had achieved admission into the field of philosophy. It also saw women attaining the post of a professor in the same discipline. However, it goes without say that still discrimination exists in this field particularly on the basis of sex (Waithe, 1995, p.xix). Before this period, the early life of women philosophers was marred with cases of discrimination whereby women were denied the opportunity to pursue doctoral programs. These women were also discriminated in securing professional positions, promotions in rank and receiving equitable remunerations. The women philosophers of the twentieth century represent almost all fields of philosophy including psychology. The current psychological approaches have been said to be based on the early cultural and intellectual life of Germany. This history dates back to the 1840s and 1850s when there were a few professionals in this field. Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of people in this field with women representing a reasonable proportion (Sheehy, 2004, p.xi). There are a few women who lived and survived being discriminated on the basis of their sex in the field of psychology to make history although they are less recognized to date. One of the few women who grew up during the period when women in the school of psychology were less recognized is Mary Whiton Calkins. She lived to make numerous contributions to the field of psychology which is well documented to date. She also met numerous challenges in the same field. This essay seeks to look into her early life and studies in addition to the challenges that she meet during this period. The essay proceeds by giving the contributions that she made to the field of psychology. The paper then closes by giving an account of the relevance of her work to the modern/ contemporary psychology.

Mary Whiton Calkins and her Importance to Contemporary Psychology

Biography

Mary Whiton was an American philosopher and psychologist who lived between 1863 -1930. She was bone the 30^th of March 1963 to Wolcott Calkins and Charlotte Whiton Calkins in Hartford, Connecticut (Calkins, 1930, p.2). She was the eldest of a family of five children. She later moved to Massachusetts in 1880 which was to be her home town until her death in 26 February 1930 (Waithe, 1995, p.103). After graduating from the Newton high, Mary continued with her studies in 1882 as a sophomore at Smith College. A sudden illnesses and death of her younger sister forced her to leave studies for almost a year before she resumed and graduated in 1885 (Krapp, 2005, p.198). Her family then moved to Europe where she is said to have furthered her studies. She took her studies during the time when women wee being discriminated against on the basis of their sex in provision of education. Her father took note of the prevailing situation and therefore he began to manage her studies (Bumb, n.d.). Upon returning to Massachusetts, Mary got herself a job as a tutor in the Greek department at the Wellesley College, an all-women college (Calkins, 1930). While at Wellesley, she also got herself a teaching place in psychology due to her excellent skills in teaching. In order to expand her knowledge of psychology, Mary had to take a year’s studies in psychology prior to her teaching in the same field. She enrolled for her degree with the Harvard annex from where she received her education with boys as her peers. She was faced with a number of challenges but she managed to go through and even made remarkable contributions to the fields of philosophy and psychology. Calkins died in 1930 from cancer and she is best known to date for her achievements in life and particularly in the field of psychology and in her struggle for gender equality (Bumb, n.d.).

Calkins’ main field of study

Psychology was not Mary’s first choice as a field of specialization; she had a passion for philosophy. She however accepted an invitation to study psychology as a way of expanding her knowledge on psychology prior to her teaching job at Wellesley College (Calkins, 1930, pp.31-62). She took her degree in psychology at Harvard amid many controversies. She was however helped by William James who allowed her to enroll for his seminars prior to the fall of 1890 (Waithe, 1995. p.105). It was during this period that she began to work in experimental psychology with the help of Dr. Edmund Sanford of Clark University. She was lucky to work under men who understood her and who were willing to help her develop in psychology. These male counterparts are regarded to as her psychology teachers to date. Despite her developments in psychology, Calkins devoted her later life on philosophy, an interest that she had held since her early years at Newton High School (Calkins, 1930, pp.31-62). The philosophy of idealism was introduced to her by instructor in philosophy. She also studied Hume & Kant and metaphysics under different professors (Waithe, 1995, p.111). She thus spent her entire life in the Wellesley College whereby she was teaching, publishing her work and registering unwavering achievements in the fields of psychology and philosophy (O’Connell, et al., 1990, p.58).

Calkins’ challenges in life as a woman scholar

During her life at Wellesley College as a teaching staff, Calkins was offered an invitation by a professor in the department of psychology to teach in the same field. But since she had no prior knowledge in that field, she had to undertake studies in psychology before she could take up the position (Calkins, 1894, pp.269-286). There were not so many options available for women scholars who wanted to enroll for a degree in any University. Her decision of joining the Harvard annex for her studies in psychology was met with a lot of challenges. Her teacher at the annex encouraged her to register with Harvard for regular classes in psychology, a move that was strongly opposed by the then president of Harvard, Charles Eliot (Heidbreder, 1972, pp.56-68). However, due to the pressure from William James, a teacher at Harvard and Royce of the annex, the president gave in to the idea of a woman studying with men on condition that she was not to be registered as a student (Calkins, 1930, pp.31-62).

Later on in 1894 when Mary had excelled in the field of psychology, Harvard was petitioned to register her as a PhD. Student. However, the move seems to have not gone to fruition as it was opposed. In consolation, Radcliffe offered her a PhD that was not relevance to her studies and thus she declined to take it.

Calkins’ achievements and contributions to psychology

While working side by side with her male counterpart, Edmund Sanford from Clark University, Mary managed to set up a psychological laboratory at Wellesley College thereby making it one of the few Colleges to have one such a laboratory after Harvard and a dozen other Colleges in North America (Calkins, 1892, pp.464-271). Her former professors were at hand in providing information on how to set up the laboratory. For instance, techniques of dissection and storage of tissues such as the brain was provided by William James. Technical help was also provided by her former professor, Edmund Sanford of Clark University who gave her advice on how to get the best apparatus (Garvey, 1929, pp.652-660). This laboratory was very beneficial to the College as it allowed the students who had enrolled for experimental psychology classes to be more conversant with the brain especially the sheep’s brain. Dissection and study of this tissue gave the students a clear picture of the elements of space perception, attention, association and reaction time among other activities associated with the brain (Calkins, 1898, pp.451-462). In her subsequent publications, Calkins gave elaborate accounts of how her new course on experimental psychology and experimental studies from the new lab could help in providing data for various topics (Calkins, 1930, pp.31-62). Additional accounts were based on articles presenting the results of experiments that Calkins and her students had performed in the Wellesley lab.

Calkins engaged her mind in studies that covered a broad range of topics such as psychological anesthetics of 1900, dreams in 1896, synesthesia in 1893 and moral consciousness among children in 1895. Most of her work in psychology seems to have been completed as by 1900 when she then committed her life in publishing philosophical works. These publications include; The persistent Problems of Philosophy in 1907 and The Good and The Good in 1918 (Calkins, 1930, pp.31-62). It is worth noting that Mary Calkins achieved a lot as a woman in her time. She managed to work her way through ranks as a teaching staff at the Wellesley College. For example, she began her career as a Greek teacher followed by her post as a professor of psychology and an associate professor in the same field. Until her death, she was a research professor at Wellesley College (Bumb, n.d.). She has also held a number of influential posts outside Wellesley College notably her position as the president of the American Psychological Association in 1905 and her presidency in the American Philosophical Association in 1918. She also has had a number of honors to her name such as the honor of Doctors of Letters in 1909 and the honor of Doctors of Law in 1910 (Bumb, n.d.). She also made significant achievements in standing against discriminations leveled against women on the basis of their sex in the fields of psychology. She demonstrated her abilities of fighting sexism by refusing the PhD offered to her by Radcliffe. This move however denied her a degree from the Harvard University to this day (Bumb, n.d.).

During her life as a psychologist, Mary Calkins made significant contributions to the field particularly in the field of experimental psychology. Her study findings were communicated to a number of journals for publication. Some of her contributions are as discussed below;

Dream Research

During her studies in psychology, Calkins also pursued her philosophical and theoretical ideas especially in a project given to her by Sanford of Clark University whereby she was supposed to collection of a number of dreams and analyzing their contents. Of the 205 dreams collected by Calkins and the 170 dreams collected by Sanford, Calkins was able to discover that there could be a relationship between the dream-life and the waking life (Calkins, 1930, pp.31-62). In this case, she argues that a dream reproduces the events, persons and the places as perceived by an individual’s senses. This study was followed by an extensive publication of the investigation in 1893 (Calkins, 1893, pp.439-464).

Paired Associate Technique

This was a technique employed by Calkins in observing colors presented together with numerals with subsequent recall of the numerals after the colors were presented again and again. In this study, she documented that, the subsequent presentation of the numerals came as a surprise to her and it helped her to develop technical memorization the study was of significance to the study of experimental psychology in associative learning (Calkins, 1896, pp. 1-56). Additionally, Calkins contributed to the idea of self psychology that has found significant application in a wide variety of current psychological texts. On the other hand, she made significant contributions to the field of philosophy through her ideas that relate philosophy to meta-physics. She managed to identify a number of articles in this case such, she documented that mental realities do exist and that these realities are usually personal. She further argues and goes against most other philosophers by stating that all that is real is mental (Calkins, 1915, pp.495-524). Through her philosophical ideas, she can be said to have looked at the as being both mental and personal. She also perceives the universe as consisting of numerous selves that occur either singly or as a unit that she refers to as an absolute self.

The relevance of Calkins’ work to modern or contemporary psychology

From most of her writings, Calkins can be regarded to as being a strong defender of idealism. Her work on self psychology has met a number of criticisms that contrasts this work with the ideas of pragmatism and realism. Thus, her previous work provides the current philosophers with a platform on which they can air their views or give alternatives of what they consider uncommunicative. Referring to the current philosophers, Calkins likens the present day philosophy to a revolution. The present day philosophy is marked with incidences of criticisms based on the works that are documented in various psychological journals. Her contributions and explanations provide information to counter the arguments of the present day criticisms (Waithe, 1995, p.119). Calkins, Hollingsworth, and Woolley represent the pioneers that contributed significantly to the development of psychology. Their past works lead to the significant changes in the ideals that govern women in the 20^th century. This has seen women involvement in fields that influence decision making exercises (Bumb, n.d.).

Calkins’ work on methods of memorization, dream research, and animal consciousness among others still hold to the present day psychological ideologies compared to other behaviorist theories that had been in place then. It is documented that her ideologies can be related either directly or indirectly to the existing psychological models (Heidbreder, 1972, pp.56-68). For instance, she observed that her ideas on self psychology could be employed in the analysis of the discoveries made by Sigmund Freud in his psychoanalysis theory.

Conclusions

The essay has highlighted on the life history of one of the pioneer women who are recognized for their role played towards the development of psychology in the 20^th Century. The essay provides the biography of Mary Whiton Calkins, her specific field of study, her challenges as a woman during her professional life, the contributions she made during her life as a philosopher and psychologist and the relevance of her work to the present day psychological ideologies.

From the above discussion, it was shown that Calkins participated actively in the development of psychology and women rights in psychology during her life as a psychologist and philosopher by resting any forces that were meant to wear her down. Despite being denied the Harvard degree, she still went ahead to earn many honors to her name out of her active involvement in psychology particularly experimental psychology.

She is recognized for the role she played in setting up the experimental psychology lab that her students used in studying the various activities of the brain and its associative nature. She is further credited for her works in dream research, self psychology and memorization methods. She is well honored for being the first woman president of both the American Psychology Association and the American Philosophical Association. As a woman, she is recognized for being upfront in resisting discrimination of women in the field of psychology on the basis of their gender. She was also adamant in resisting sexist attitudes especially by turning down the PhD offer that was presented to her by a male professor at the Harvard University. From this account, it can be concluded that Mary Whiton Calkins was a woman of strong morals, determined and a hardworking scholar.

Reference List

1. Calkins, M. W. (1915). The self in scientific psychology. American Journal of Psychology, 26, 495-524.
2. Calkins, M. W. (1896). Association: An essay analytic and experimental. Psychological Review Monograph Supplement Number 2, 1-56.
3. Calkins, M. W. (1893). A statistical study of pseudo-chromesthesia and mental forms. American Journal of Psychology, 5, 439-464.
4. Calkins, M. W. (1898). Short studies in memory and association from the Wellesley College psychological laboratory. Psychological Review, 5, 451-462.
5. Calkins, M. W. (1892). Experimental Psychology at Wellesley College. American Journal of Psychology, 5, 464-271.
6. Calkins, M. W. (1894). Wellesley College psychological studies. Educational Review, 8, 269-286.
7. Calkins, M. W. (1930). Autobiography of Mary Whiton Calkins. In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 31-62). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.
8. Calkins, M. W/ (1930). Autobiography of Mary Whiton Calkins: Classics in the History of Psychology. Web.
9. Bumb, J. “Mary Whiton Calkins.” (n.d.) Women’s Intellectual Contribution to the Study of Mind and Society.
10. Garvey, C. R. (1929). List of American psychology laboratories. Psychological Bulletin, 26, 652-660.
11. Heidbeder, E. (1972). Mary Whiton Calkins: A discussion. Journal of the History of the Behavioral sciences, 8, 56-68.
12. Krapp, K. (2005). Psychologists and their theories for students. Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale Publishers.
13. O’Connell, N. Agnes N. and Felipe N. R. (1990). Women in psychology: a bibliographic sourcebook. Westport: Greenwood Press.
14. Sheehy, N. (2004). Fifty key thinkers in psychology. New York: Routledge.
15. Waithe, M. E. (1995). A history of women philosophers. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.