Margaret Floy Washburn
Women in Psychology…
General Schooling
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Born July 25th, 1897
Graduated from high school
Entered Vasser College in 1886
Graduated from Vasser in 1891
Graduate Schooling
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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
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The Animal Mind, 1908
Movement and Mental Imagery, 1916
Published 68 studies from Vassar
laboratory, 1905-1938
Editor To…
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The Journal of Animal Behavior
The Psychological Review
The Journal of Comparative Psychology
Accomplishments
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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…
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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…
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She was encouraged to publish articles
Urged her to attend graduate school at
Cornell
Titchener
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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:
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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…
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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
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Functionalism: A system of psychology
concerned with the mind as it is used in an
organism’s adaptation to its environment
Continued…
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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)
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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)
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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)
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Behaviorism: Watson’s science of behavior, which dealt solely with
observable behavioral acts that could be described in objective terms
Methods of Behaviorism
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Observation, with and without the use of instruments
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Testing methods
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The verbal report method
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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:
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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…
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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…
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Sensation
work on Weber’s Law (two points)
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Washburn’s experiments
Jastrow & Pierce’s experiments
Cattel’s experiments
James’ experiments with stimuli
Continued…
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Motor theory
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work with human subjects
work with animal subjects (pigs, birds,
etc.)
Continued…
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Visual perception
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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…
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Other miscellaneous theories and
experiments
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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
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recall/memory
loss of associative power
work with Wundt
Strengths & Weaknesses of
Washburn’s Ideas and Theories
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Research
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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…
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Animal/Comparative psychology
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worked with a variety of animals to
formulate theories
stressed importance of learning in animals
attributed consciousness to animals
Weaknesses…
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Research
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used almost only lab studies
theories remained static despite other
research
problems with introspection
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theories based upon introspection applied to
animals
appropriate measurement for introspection?
Weaknesses…
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often used women in research, forming
theories
Animal/comparative psychology
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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—
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First woman to receive her Ph.D. in
psychology
Last year:
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2,702 women received their Ph.D. in
psychology
847 women received their Ph.D. in clinical
psychology
Legacy…
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Women can achieve professional
positions—
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APA president
Professorship
Women’s Dormitory Warden (second to the
Dean)
Legacy
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Women should have equal pay—
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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—
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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…
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Women should not be passive—
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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…
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She continued to fight against
prejudice and sexism, as her work
was overshadowed by more
prominent men in the field…
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Darwin was seen as the influential person
in the studies of the mental processes of
animals, despite her research in this area
In summary…
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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.html
Burkhardt, 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 afterimage. 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, 10141017.
Washburn, M.F. (1903). The genetic function of movement and
organic sensations for social consciousness. American Journal
of Psychology, 14, 337-342.