PSY / 310 | Mary Whiton Calkins | Women In Psychology Paper | | Danielle R. Berg | 5/18/2014 |

Select a woman who has made significant contributions to the field of psychology between the years 1850 and 1950. Obtain faculty approval of your selection prior to beginning this assignment. Prepare a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you describe her background, theoretical perspective, and contributions to the field of psychology. |

Mary Whiton Calkins was born on March, 30, 1863 to a Presbyterian Minister during a time when oppression of women would be stout during her growing up transitioning into adulthood. She overcame her own struggles and closed doors in regards to her schooling and succeeded in becoming the first female president of the American Psychological Association, but not without a supreme amount of perseverance. During the 19th century, women were thought to be inferior to men, not only physically but intellectually as well. Women could study on their own, but to be included in class as a student rather than a "guest" was next to impossible. Where men thought that education could cause harm to women, the actuality of it was that an educated woman could cause 'harm' to that belief. Mary Whiton Calkins would show the world that her place existed next to the greatness of any male peer within Psychology as she began her own story into the world. Thankfully her parents encouraged her to thrive towards education and overcoming the inferior stereotyping given in regards to women. She graduated high school and then began forging her own legacy in her young adult years. At the age of 21 years old in 1884, she graduated Smith College with a concentration in classics and philosophy, thus beginning her breakthrough into the Science of Psychology. We have seen throughout history that in the early years of psychology, few women made an appearance in this science. Mary Calkins is considered a pioneer within the field of Psychology and is credited with devising a massive theoretical contribution of "Self-Psychology" that is still imparted into belief today. This belief stands on the basis that all consciousness is personal; the study of conscious persons or selves (www.articlebase.com). Calkins worked through the discrimination from both students and scholars all the while coming up with her on innovative ideologies in Psychology and implementing a procedure that was historic; Paired Associative Learning, which is important to realize this has become the standard method in cognitive research (Goodwin, 2008). Calkins introduced Paired Associative Learning while working at Harvard. This method presents her 'subjects' to be studied by stimulus-response paring made up of sequentially presented color patches and numbers, and then the 'subjects' were directed to try and recall the number responses when shown the colored stimuli. This gave way to results showing that the answers were enhanced by four factors: frequency, vividness, recency, and primacy. With these four conditions it could strengthen associations thereby finding that frequency was of the most importance (Goodwin, 2008). In 1887, Calkins began teaching Greek at Wellesley College in Wellesley MA. This was a liberal arts college specifically for women. (Remember that men and women were separated in regards to schooling and the amounts of schooling.) Calkins had been tutoring [teaching] here for three years when she was approached by a fellow professor to start delving into teaching in a new sub-area of philosophy, psychology (DiFebo, faculty.frostburg.edu). In 1890, Calkins began attending lectures and classes taught by Josiah Royce and William James at Harvard University on Psychology. Calkins was asked to take regular classes instead of simply being a "guest" at Harvard during lectures, but the president of Harvard was stoutly against this idea. With the help of Royce, James, and Calkins father writing letters of recommendation as well as Calkin's own determination, she was finally accepted into classrooms in 1892 with male peers and students. Though she was allowed into the classroom, she was still not allowed to be on the student roster for her schooling to be accepted as the male students were (www.apa.org). During the next couple of years, as she was attending classes, she also was working towards a new Psychology lab at Wellesley College (1891). It is questionable as to whether in 1894 or 1895 (as I cannot find an exact date) Calkins was petitioned to attain her PhD in Psychology, and in 1895 she turned in her thesis to Harvard faculty, but was denied a degree based on her gender. Although Calkins was denied her PhD, she continued to strive towards furthering her own personal education and was author to many books in regards to the science of psychology as well as publications in philosophy. However, she was offered a PhD through another school, Radcliffe College, which was the female equivalent to Harvard (www.apa.org). Calkins based her refusal on the fact that she had done all of her studies at Harvard and didn’t feel it right to accept the title of PhD from another school. To this date, Harvard still has not acknowledged Calkins as having a PhD even after death. Upon Calkin's return to Wellesley College, she was made Associate Professor of Psychology and Philosophy as well as being promoted to Professor in 1898. Her career was thriving strong as she overcame the stigma of being female inside the classroom. During this time she wrote hundreds of papers that were published in professional journals of psychology and philosophy both. She wrote four books as well which included, "An Introduction to Psychology" (1901); The Persistent Problems of Philosophy" (1907), which in turn went through five editions; and "The Good Man and the Good" (1918). During a time that women were thought physically and mentally inferior to men, Mary Whiton Calkins proved through extreme perseverance that she was just as much of an equal to her male peers. With the help of her father's devotion to her studies, and her fellow scholars and instructors, Calkins proved that she held the same amount of intelligence as any beside her. Because of her perseverance and intelligence, William James and Josiah Royce stood stoutly next to her in regards to helping her be heard on a scholarly level. Though she was denied her PhD through Harvard University, Radcliff College offered her one that she proudly denied in accepting secondary to her own morals and ethics in regards to where she actually attended lectures and gained more knowledge in the fields of psychology and philosophy. As an end result to her countless hours of studying, lectures, teaching, and writing Calkins became the 14th president of the American Psychological Association as well as being noted as the first female president of the APA in 1905. More honors that were bestowed upon Mary Calkins was that she was ranked 12th on a list of 50 psychologists in 1903, A Doctor of Letters degree from Columbia University in 1909, as well as a Doctor of Laws degree from Smith College in 1910. She also was noted an honored in 1918 as the first female president of the American Philosophical Association. Calkins broke barriers during her lifetime to achieve the honors that she acquired. Sadly, not all of her work was credited to her accordingly as it should have. Edward B. Titchner took some of her credit in regards to her Paired-Association task and theory. In 1927, Calkins retired from Wellesley College, yet her work is still credited and used today within modern psychology. Mary Calkins overcame so many obstacles to get to where she was finally noticed by the time of her death in February of 1930 after succumbing to inoperable cancer. Throughout her life and writings, Mary Calkins was able to express her philosophical as well as her psychological views. Though most of her written work focused on memory, it is evident that she was more so interested in the "self" of human beings. Calkins spent many years seeking out her ideology of the definition of the "self". Even through all of her work, she was unable to specifically define the full ideology of one's self. Mary Whiton Calkins is definitely a woman in history and the Science of Psychology that leaves behind a legacy to be reckoned with. Mary will always be known for not only becoming the first woman president of the American Psychological Association, but also her many accomplishments inside the Psychology field. Calkins was definitely a standing figure within the fight for equality amongst men and women.

REFERENCES:
1.) Goodwin, C. J. (2008). A history of modern psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
2.) White, S.. (May 11,2010). Mary Whiton Calkins: Great Women in American Psychology. In Articlesbase. Retrieved 5/18/2014, from http://www.articlesbase.com/history-articles/mary-whiton-calkins-great-women-in-american-psychology-2345463.html.
3.) DiFebo, H.. (n.d.). Psyography:Mary Whiton Calkins . In PSYography. Retrieved 5/18/2014, from http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/marywhitoncalkins.html.