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