Margaret Floy Washburn Women in Psychology…. General Schooling Born July 25 th, 1897 Graduated from high school Entered Vasser College in 1886 Graduated.

Margaret Floy WashburnWomen in Psychology…

General Schooling Born July 25th, 1897 Graduated from high school Entered Vasser College in 1886 Graduated from Vasser in 1891

Graduate Schooling Entered Cornell University Became E.B. Titchner’s first

graduate student 1893 Awarded Master’s degree

from Vasser College Received her Ph.D. in psychology

in 1894

Publications The Animal Mind, 1908 Movement and Mental Imagery,

1916 Published 68 studies from Vassar

laboratory, 1905-1938

Editor To… The Journal of Animal Behavior The Psychological Review The Journal of Comparative

Psychology

Accomplishments 1903 Was Included as one of Cattel’s list

of 1000 most important “Men of Science” 1921 Elected President of the APA 1931 Became Second Woman to be

Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Received a $500 Award for a study of “The Emotional Effects of Instrumental Music

Her life, cont’d… Retired in June of 1937 From

Vassar College Died October 29th , 1939 at her

home in New York

Historical Antecedents

Undergraduate work at Vasser: Studied under president Taylor Read handbook of psychology Translated Wundt’s book

Studied under Cattel… She was encouraged to publish

articles Urged her to attend graduate

school at Cornell

Titchener He “didn’t quite know what to do

with [her]” Received her Ph.D.

Zeitgeist in which Margaret Washburn was developing her ideas…

Rough timeline of her achievements: 1886: Began College at Vasser 1894: The first woman granted a doctorate by

an American University 1898: published The Animal Mind: A textbook

of Comparative Psychology 1916: published Movement and Mental

Imagery: Outline of a Motor Theory of Consciousness

1921: President of the American Psychological Association

What was happening then… Most psychologists no longer agreed

with Wundt’s introspection, the existence of mental elements or the need for psychology to remain a “pure science” (Schultz & Schultz, 2004)

Psychologists were beginning to favor functionalism instead Functionalism: A system of psychology

concerned with the mind as it is used in an organism’s adaptation to its environment

Continued… 1913, Behaviorism movement with John Watson as its

leader Behaviorism: Watson’s science of behavior, which

dealt solely with observable behavioral acts that could be described in objective terms

Early 20th century, Positivism gaining popularity Positivism: The doctrine that recognizes only natural

phenomena or facts that are objectively observable Animal Psychology also becoming popular (this was a

major influence on Washburn) Women encouraged to study psychology, although still

not allowed into some aspects of it

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

Voluntarism: the idea that the mind has the capacity to organize mental contents into higher level thought processes

Introspection: Examination of one’s own mind to inspect and report on personal thoughts or feelings

Three-Dimensional Theory of Feelings: Wundt’s explanation for feelings states based on three dimensions: pleasure/displeasure, tension/relaxation, and excitement/depression

Apperception: the process by which mental elements are organized

E.B. Titchener (1867-1927) Structuralism: E.B. Titchner’s system of

psychology, which dealt with conscious experience as dependent on experiencing person

“Titchener focuses on mental elements or contents, and their mechanical linking through the process of association, but he discarded Wundt’s doctrine of apperception. In his view, psychology’s fundamental task was to discover the nature of the elementary conscious experiences—to analyze consciousness and its component parts and thus determine its structure” (Schultz & Schultz, 2004)

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

Behaviorism: Watson’s science of behavior, which dealt solely with observable behavioral acts that could be described in objective terms

Methods of Behaviorism Observation, with and without the use of instruments Testing methods The verbal report method The conditioned reflect method

Instincts: behaviors that seem instinctive are really socially conditioned responses

Emotions: physiological responses to stimuli Little Albert & the Rabbits Thought Processes: “Thought, like all other aspects of human

functioning, was a type of sensoriomotor behavior” (Schultz & Schultz, 2004)

Darwin and Animal Psychology

Anecdotal Method: the use of observational reports about animal behavior

Introspection by Analogy: a technique for studying animal behavior by assuming that

the same mental processes that occur in the observer’s mind also occur in the animal’s

mind

Particular Professional Obstacles/Struggles of Margaret Washburn

Education: At Columbia University, she was only

allowed to take classes as a ‘hearer’ because she was a woman, so she transferred to Cornell University in 1892 (Gardner & Stevens, 1982)

Career: Although, or perhaps because, she was

the first woman to be awarded a Ph.D., she was unable to acquire a job

She wrote a paper for the Philosophical Review and Titchener, who had always supported her education (despite his openly misogynist ways) disagreed with her position and she took it as a personal attack (Gardner & Stevens, 1982)

Career Cont’d… She worked for one year as an assistant professor

and head of the department at the University of Cincinnati after her conflict with Titchener. She loathed the position.

Financial backing to create adequate laboratories was not offered to women psychologists of the time and she was unable to perform near as many experiments or as much research as she desired (and as compared to her male counterparts in the field)

For similar reasons, Washburn was unable to found a school of thought, which consequently would have given her a lot more fame and recognition

Experiments, research, clinical data… Sensation work on Weber’s Law (two points)

Washburn’s experiments Jastrow & Pierce’s experiments Cattel’s experiments

James’ experiments with stimuli

Continued… Motor theory

work with human subjects

work with animal subjects (pigs, birds, etc.)

Continued… Visual perception

Allen’s experiments with color experiments (with Bentley) on color

vision in brook fish experiments (with Abbott & Kittredge)

on red colorblindness in animals Breese’s experiments

Continued… Other miscellaneous theories and

experiments collects French and German experiments as

part of Movement and Mental Imagery women’s questionnaire pertaining to

emotion learning in mice (maze work) experiments with words/language

recall/memory loss of associative power

work with Wundt

Strengths & Weaknesses of Washburn’s Ideas and Theories

Research used experimental methods in

research utilized research to formulate ideas conducted experiments multiple

times used research to correct her

mistakes, fill gaps in theories

Strengths Cont’d… Animal/Comparative psychology

worked with a variety of animals to formulate theories

stressed importance of learning in animals

attributed consciousness to animals

Weaknesses… Research

used almost only lab studies theories remained static despite other

research problems with introspection

theories based upon introspection applied to animals

appropriate measurement for introspection?

Weaknesses… often used women in research,

forming theories Animal/comparative psychology

anthropomorphic attitude assumes uniformity of learning, other

characteristics across animals

Washburn’s Legacy “Vindicated Womanhood from a Professional Perspective”

What she taught through her legacy:• Women can achieve in higher

education—• First woman to receive her Ph.D. in

psychology• Last year:

• 2,702 women received their Ph.D. in psychology

• 847 women received their Ph.D. in clinical psychology

Legacy… Women can achieve

professional positions— APA president Professorship Women’s Dormitory Warden (second

to the Dean)

Legacy Women should have equal pay—

She was not paid equally as a man, but was paid highest salary ever awarded to a woman at Wells College

Women can study their passions— Interests: animal mind, led to studies in animal

mental processes Travel: studied in London and Copenhagen Language: studied French and German,

translated one of Wundt’s books Music: won Edison Phonograph Company award

for research on emotions and music

Legacy… Women should not be passive—

Educated women were considered dangerous, but she was not passive and accused Watson of undermining her work

Challenged Descartes’ idea that animals have no mind, and compared their learning capacities to humans

Women were not supposed to express ‘higher reasoning,’ although she continued to challenge the prominent professional views of her colleagues

Legacy… She continued to fight against

prejudice and sexism, as her work was overshadowed by more prominent men in the field… Darwin was seen as the influential

person in the studies of the mental processes of animals, despite her research in this area

In summary… Margaret Floy Washburn was the first woman to ever receive a

Ph.D. in psychology She was denied admission to Columbia because she was a

woman, so she received her degree from Cornell University She was a student of Titchener, and was his first doctoral

student Her research focused on animal behavior and the animal mind She also studied music, motor theory, and learning in animals She became a professor, president of the APA, and was a

friend and mentor to many women in the field She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1939, at the age of 69

References…Bumb, J. Margaret Washburn. Retrieved February 12, 2004, from

http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/washburn.htmlBurkhardt, R. W. (1987). The Journal of Animal Behavior and the

early history of animal studies in America. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 101, 223-230.

De Vries, A. & Washburn, M.F. (1909). Minor studies from the psychology laboratory of Vassar College: A study of retinal rivalry in the after-image. American Journal of Psychology, 20, 131-135.

Domjan, M. (1987). Comparative psychology and the study of animal learning. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 101, 237-241.

Murchinson, C. (1932). Autobiography. A History of Psychology with Autobiography. Retrieved February 10, 2004, from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Washburn/murchinson.htm

References cont’d…Severance, E. & Washburn, M.F. (1907). Minor studies

from the psychological laboratories of Vassar College: The loss of associative power in words after long fixation. American Journal of Psychology, 18, 182-186.

Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, S.E. (2004). A History of Modern Psychology, 8th Edition. Wadsworth: Belmont.

Tweney, R.D. & Budznski, C.A. (2000). The scientific status of American psychology in 1900. American Psychologist, 55, 1014-1017.

Washburn, M.F. (1903). The genetic function of movement and organic sensations for social consciousness. American Journal of Psychology, 14, 337-342.