Mary Whiton Calkins
Personal Information
Born: 1863
Died: 1930
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Smith College BA Classics & Philosophy 1885; Harvard University
""For with each year I live, with each book I read, with each observation I initiate or confirm,I am more deeply convinced that psychology should be conceived as the science of self, or person, as related to its environment, physical & social." Calkins Autobiography, 1930. pp 42-43"
— Mary Whiton Calkins
Professional Life
Field of Study: Psychology; Philosophy
Institution/Corporation: Wellesley College
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degrees: Columbia University (1909), Smith College (1910); Member: American Psychological Association (1893), American Philosophical Association, British Psychological Association (1928), ACLU
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1903 was ranked 12th on a list of 50 most eminent psychologist in the US by her peers
Achievements: introduced the field of self-psychology; invented the paired-associates technique for studying learning & memory; established the 1st psychology lab at an American woman's college for experimental psychology (1891); wrote books & articles on memory, dream analysis, self-psychology, consciousness & philosophy; was a suffragist & pacifist;
believed the conscious self should be the primary focus of psychology
was originally a teacher of Greek upon getting hired at Wellesley college in 1887 but was eventually promoted to professor & taught philosophy & psychology until retiring in 1929
also spent 3 years studying at Harvard as a "guest" but was never admitted as a student because she was female
studied under Henry James, Josiah Royce, Edmund Sanford & Hugo Munsterberg at Harvard & completed all requirements for a PhD, including passing a secretly held orals exam, the Harvard Corporation refused to grant her the degree because she was female
attempts to have her granted a posthumous PhD continue to fail
in 1902 she & 3 other women were offered PhDs from Radcliffe, while the 3 other women accepted, she declined the offer
was the 1st female President of the American Psychological Association & the American Philosophical Association
is considered 1 of the most important 1st-generation American psychologist while most know her only as the woman who Harvard refused to grant a PhD
was the eldest of 5 children born to her parents & was close to them, living in the family home (with the exception of the time she spent at Smith College) until her death
was trained in experimental laboratory procedures by Edmund Sanford of Clark University & he helped her set up herlab at Wellesley in 1891, the lab was burned to the ground in 1914 but was subsequently rebuilt
it was the 1st lab of its kind established at a women's college
her autobiography relates the struggles she faced in her field because she was a female and thanked those who like Hugo Munsterberg "swung the Laboratory doors" open to her without hesitation
was the 1st femalememberof the British Psychological Association
was influenced by Josiah Royce's theory that humans define themselves through interpersonal communication
Edward B. Titchener claimed credit for the development of her paired-associate technique which she developed as her PhD thesis while at Harvard