Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBest Known ForTimelineEarly YearsCalkins' Pursuit of PsychologyCareerCalkins' Contributions to PsychologySelected Works

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Table of Contents

Best Known For

Timeline

Early Years

Calkins' Pursuit of Psychology

Career

Calkins' Contributions to Psychology

Selected Works

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Mary Whiton Calkins was an American psychologist and the first female president of the American Psychological Association. While she completed the requirements for a doctorate degree in psychology from Harvard, the university refused to award her a degree because she was a woman. In spite of this, she became an influential figure in the development of early psychology and taught many students through her position at Wellesley College.

Mary Whiton Calkins entered Smith College as a sophomore in 1882. She took a year long-break from school in 1883 when her sister died, but she continued to study through private lessons. Calkins returned to Smith College in 1884 and graduated with a concentration in classics and philosophy.

After graduating from Smith College, Mary Whiton Calkins was hired to teach Greek at Wellesley College. She had been teaching at Wellesley for three years when she was offered a position teaching in the new area of psychology.

In order to teach in psychology, she needed to study the subject for at least one year. This was difficult because there were few psychology programs available at the time, and even fewer that would accept female applicants. She initially considered studying abroad but abandoned the idea. Distance and lack of a psychology lab dissuaded her from attending programs at Yale and the University of Michigan.

In 1895, Calkins presented her thesis,An experimental research on the association of ideas,to a graduate committee that included William James, Josiah Royce, and Hugo Munsterberg. Despite unanimous approval from the thesis committee, Harvard still refused to grant Calkins the degree she had earned.

Later that same year, Calkins returned to Wellesley College where she continued to teach until her retirement in 1927.

Over the course of her career, Calkins wrote over a hundred professional papers on psychological and philosophical topics. In addition to being the first woman president of the American Psychological Association, Calkins also served as president of theAmerican Philosophical Associationin 1918.

Her major contributions to psychology include the invention of the paired association technique and her work in self-psychology. Self-psychology was based on Calkins' belief that the conscious self should be the primary focus of psychology.

Calkins, Mary Whiton. (1892). Experimental Psychology at Wellesley College.American Journal of Psychology, 5, 464-271.

Calkins, Mary Whiton (1908a). Psychology as Science of Self. I: Is the Self Body or Has It Body?Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, 5, 12-20.

Calkins, Mary Whiton. (1915). The Self in Scientific Psychology.American Journal of Psychology, 26, 495-524.

Calkins, Mary Whiton. (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.

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mary Whiton Calkins. American Psychological Association.Furumoto L.Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930).Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1980;5(1):55-68. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1980.tb01033.x

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mary Whiton Calkins. American Psychological Association.Furumoto L.Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930).Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1980;5(1):55-68. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1980.tb01033.x

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Mary Whiton Calkins. American Psychological Association.Furumoto L.Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930).Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1980;5(1):55-68. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1980.tb01033.x

Mary Whiton Calkins. American Psychological Association.

Furumoto L.Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930).Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1980;5(1):55-68. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1980.tb01033.x

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