How Did Mary Whiton Calkins Contribute To Psychology
Mary Whiton Calkins was the first woman to serve as the president of the American Psychological Association in 1905. Calkins's dream was to do psychology and philosophy, but due to her time of upbringing, Harvard was the only school that accommodated her interests. In 1896, Calkins had done everything she could, by completing all requirements as such to receive her doctorate, but Harvard University denied her ability to receive her PhD in psychology, because of the fact that she was a woman (Calkins, 1908). Despite not earning a PhD, Calkins soared a teacher of psychology and philosophy, Calkins was very influential throughout her career; and through her influence she paved the way for women around the world. In Calkins's time, psychology was a relatively new field of study, and was not a widely studied subject. Psychology was also considered a branch of philosophy (Calkins, 1908).
With her brilliance, she merged psychology and philosophy as one on the importance of self, which gave her the idea to write her Psychology as Science of Selves (1900). In this philosophical review, she wanted to make sure that we recognized that the social …show more content…
She somewhat agreed with Thorndike's dynamic or functional definition of psychology stating that psychology is "the mind in action" (Calkins, 1907, p. 683). The purpose of this philosophical article was to show that psychology, in so far as it is the science of mental function, is necessarily and more fundamentally the science of the mental functioner (Calkins, 1907). In Calkins's American Journal of Psychology article, titled "The Self in Scientific Psychology," she went on to describe self as indefinable. When we define, we assign the object defined to a category and to distinguish it from other members of the category. Calkins labeled the self as "sui generis" and therefore incapable of definition (Calkins,
With her brilliance, she merged psychology and philosophy as one on the importance of self, which gave her the idea to write her Psychology as Science of Selves (1900). In this philosophical review, she wanted to make sure that we recognized that the social …show more content…
She somewhat agreed with Thorndike's dynamic or functional definition of psychology stating that psychology is "the mind in action" (Calkins, 1907, p. 683). The purpose of this philosophical article was to show that psychology, in so far as it is the science of mental function, is necessarily and more fundamentally the science of the mental functioner (Calkins, 1907). In Calkins's American Journal of Psychology article, titled "The Self in Scientific Psychology," she went on to describe self as indefinable. When we define, we assign the object defined to a category and to distinguish it from other members of the category. Calkins labeled the self as "sui generis" and therefore incapable of definition (Calkins,