Like most scientific fields, psychology was not always a welcoming vocation for women. Throughout history, female psychologists and researchers faced setback after setback in their studies. However, many overcame these hurdles and plowed forward to make incredible discoveries in psychology. On the list of extraordinary women in psychology, you will find Margaret Floy Washburn.
- We are going to explore the life and work of Margaret Floy Washburn. First, we will discuss who Margaret Floy Washburn was in psychology.
- Then, we will explore Margaret Floy Washburn's important experiments.
- As we continue, we will look at various examples of Margaret Floy Washburn's theories,
- We will examine Margaret Flow Washburn's contributions to psychology, namely her work on The Animal Mind (1908) and Movement and Mental Imagery (1916).
- Finally, we will highlight famous Margaret Floy Washburn's quotes.
Margaret Floy Washburn: Psychology
Born on July 25, 1871, Margaret Floy Washburn spent much of her childhood in Harlem, New York, reading and socializing with adults, as she did not have many friends her age. Washburn's father, Francis Washburn, was an Episcopal priest, while her mother, Elizabeth Floy, came from a wealthy family.
Fig. 1 - Margaret Floy Washburn portrait. Margaret Floy Washburn overcame several hurdles as a woman.
Washburn attended Vassar College, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1891 in French and Chemistry. After, Washburn was permitted to audit classes at Columbia University, taught by notable experimental psychologist James McKeen Cattell. Washburn was not granted student status, however.
A year later, Cattell would be the one to encourage Washburn to apply to Cornell University.
Not many universities at the time accepted women into their graduate programs. Cornell University was one of the very few that would.
During her time at Cornell, Washburn was under the tutelage of E.B. Titchener, another icon in the psychology field. She was his first doctoral student. When Washburn completed her studies in 1894, she became the first female to be awarded a Ph.D. in psychology in the United States.
Unfortunately, throughout Washburn's career, she faced several roadblocks because of her gender.
For example, even though William Wundt published her thesis in his psychology journal, she was still not allowed to join Titchener's all-male organization, the Society of Experimental Psychology.
Despite not being allowed to join Titchener's organization, it did not stop Washburn from making a name for herself as an experimental psychologist. Washburn would become the second female to be named president of the American Psychological Association In 1921.
Margaret Floy Washburn: Important Experiments
Margaret Floy Washburn's important experiments have mostly to do with animal behavior. She synthesized this research in her book, The Animal Mind (1908). Washburn argued in The Animal Mind that the consciousness of non-human animals could be inferred from their behavior through what she referred to as animal cognition.
Animal cognition refers to the psychological states and mental capacities of non-human animals and their causal effect on behavior.
In her experiments, Washburn studied over 100 different species. This was significant because, at the time, most experiments only involved rats.
Additionally, Washburn disagreed with the notion that the mind cannot be scientifically researched simply because it cannot be observed, a dominating view at the time. For humans, she thought that the best way to access this information is through self-reports that are very carefully controlled.
Washburn also faced difficulties obtaining financial and institutional support for her experiments because she did not have the same opportunities as her male colleagues. Instead, she sought out female undergraduate students and enlisted them in several studies.
We see how Washburn's gender hindered her career.
Fig. 2 - Pink and White Jellyfish. Margaret Floy Washburn conducted animal research on jellyfish.
Margaret Floy Washburn: Theory
When you hear about Margaret Floy Washburn's theories, her animal cognition and behavior research often comes to mind. However, this was not the only theory she contributed to the field. She also presented her motor theory of consciousness.
Motor Theory of Consciousness suggests that consciousness and thinking are evidenced by and based on bodily movements.
Washburn's motor theory of consciousness connects structuralist and behaviorist schools of thought. She integrated concepts of motor processes (behaviorism) with the experimental method of introspection (structuralism).
Margaret Floy Washburn: Contributions to Psychology
At this point, we have explored several of Margret Floy Washburns' contributions to psychology. She gave us her motor theory of consciousness and made several vital discoveries on animal behavior and cognition. She taught these concepts at several colleges throughout her career but spent most of her career at her alma mater, Vassar College.
Married women at this time were not allowed to teach at co-educational colleges and universities. Teaching was so crucial to Margaret that she decided never to get married. Had she married, she would have been expected to leave her paid teaching position.
Another of Washburns most notable contributions to psychology is her advocacy for more equitable educational opportunities for women. She made a point to invite female undergraduate students to work in her laboratory and included them in her publications.
Over 35 years, Washburn published 127 articles that didn't stop at animal cognition and behavior.
She also published articles on spatial perception, individual differences, memory, emotion, and affective experiences.
Finally, marking another major milestone for women in psychology, Washburn was only the second woman ever to be named a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.
Margaret Floy Washburn: Quotes
Through her influential work, Margaret provided compelling quotes to illustrate her points and expand on the field of psychology, punctuating her career. Let's conclude this article by looking at a few Margaret Floy Washburn quotes.
Nothing in the world is so compelling to the emotions as the mind of another human being.³
Margaret was fascinated by the emotions and mind of the human being despite the dismissive attitudes dominating psychology, leading to a career that explored the mind in an experimental form; a field of psychology mostly disregarded at the time.
We know not where consciousness begins in the animal world. We know where it surely exists — in ourselves; we know where it exists beyond a reasonable doubt — in those animals of structure resembling ours which readily adapt themselves to the lessons of experience. Beyond this point, for all we know, it may exist in simpler and simpler forms until we reach the very lowest of living beings.¹
Determined to explore consciousness further, Margaret established the above.
Directed thinking never occurs without a motive. Reverie, the drifting of ideas, may go on while we are indifferent, but if we suddenly begin purposeful thinking, it is because some affective process has been stirred up.²
Margaret (1928) pondered the connection between cognition and emotion and how they intertwine.
The first assumption is that while consciousness exists and is not a form of movement, it has as its indispensable basis certain motor processes, and that the only sense in which we can explain conscious processes is by studying the laws governing these underlying motor phenomena.²
Margaret Floy Washburn - Key takeaways
- Margaret Floy Washburn was an American Psychologist and was the first woman to be awarded a Ph.D. in psychology in 1984. Her most famous works include the influential The Animal Mind (1908) and Movement and Mental Imagery (1916). At Cornell, Washburn was E.B. Titchener's first doctoral student.
Margaret Floy Washburn's important experiments include her studies into animal behavior and the motor theory of consciousness. In her book The Animal Mind (1908), she argued that the consciousness of non-human animals could be inferred from their behavior through what she referred to as animal cognition.
Margaret Floy Washburn also presented the motor theory of consciousness, which suggests that consciousness and thinking are evidenced by and based on bodily movements.
Another of Washburns most notable contributions to psychology is her advocacy for more equitable educational opportunities for women. She made a point to invite female undergraduate students to work in her laboratory and included them in her publication.
A famous Margaret Floy Washburn quote says: "Nothing in the world is so compelling to the emotions as the mind of another human being." (Washburn, 1916b, p.606).
References
- Washburn, M.F. (1908) The Animal Mind: A Text-Book of Comparative Psychology. Mcmillian Company, New York. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.31648
- Washburn, M. F. (1928). Emotion and thought: a motor theory of their relations. In Numerous Contributors, Feelings and emotions: The Wittenberg Symposium (pp. 104–115). Clark Univ. Press.
- Washburn M. F. The psychology of esthetic experience in music. In National Education Association of the United States, Addresses and proceedings of the 54th annual meeting. Ann Arbor, Mich.: National Education Association of the United States, 1916. (b)
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