Historically and as in many other areas of life, women have been undervalued in the field of psychology. A journey through history to extol the contributions of the most important psychologists.
The science of psychology is made up of different characters recognized for their contributions to the field of the study of the mind. We see it important to point out thatsome of these renowned authors were women, who on many occasions did not have the same facilities to train, develop their theories and be recognized.
It is necessary to mention some of the women who within the study of Psychology, carried out important work that generated an advance in this. It is important to make visible the figure of women within Psychology, the participation they had and continue to have in it. In this article we will present 10 of the most important women in the history of Psychology, mentioning their most outstanding contributions in this field, as well as in which field or current they focused their study.
- We recommend you read: “The 10 most important women scientists of all time (and their contributions)”
Women in Psychology: the great figures of History
Women have always been part of the study of Psychology, although they have not always had the same opportunities or facilities to be part of it, but even so, they managed to make a place in the history of Psychology and be distinguished for their studies in different areas.
1. Margaret Floy Washburn
Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939) was the first woman to earn a doctorate in psychology(1894), whose doctoral thesis dealt with the influence of visual images on judgments of tactile distances and direction. She is known for conducting experiments in the area of animal behavior and performing motor theory of development.
His professors were James Mckeen Cattell, considered one of the most important psychologists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Edward Titchener, founder of Structural Psychology. Thanks to the latter, the work that Wasbrun carried out, for which he obtained his doctorate, came Wilhelm Wundt, known for being the founder of the first Laboratory of Experimental Psychology.
2. Mary Whiton Calkins
Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930) is recognized for being the first woman to hold the position of president of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1905. She received training from William James, founder of Functional Psychology, and Hugo Münsterberg, who established the bases of Industrial Psychology, although of the latter she was only considered as an invited listener and not as a registered student.
In 1895 she wrote a doctoral thesis with the title: An experimental investigation on the association of ideas, and even being highly valued by the members of the court, Harvard University never awarded her the official title of doctorate for the fact of being a woman. .
3. Karen Horney
Karen Horney (1885-1952) was a psychologist within the Neo-Freudian current, known for publishing the work “The Neurotic Personality of Our Time” in 1937. She used the term character neurosis to refer to the alteration that appears when parents do not provide a adequate, warm environment for the child, this generates an acute anxiety that puts his life in danger, thus directing his energies to his survival, not allowing him to develop spontaneously and normally. Therefore, the therapy of this author will be focused on restoring true freedom and spontaneity.
Also note that it was recognized by Abraham Maslow, founder and main exponent of Humanism, as one of the founders of Humanistic Psychology. In 1967 she published “Feminine Psychology” where she mentioned the importance of culture in the female psyche, helping, this contribution, to K. Horney being recognized as the first feminist psychoanalyst.
4. Laura Perls
Laura Perls (1905-1990) is known for establishing, together with her husband Fritz Perls, the Gestalt Therapy school, psychotherapy focused on the present, with a vision of the individual as a total organism and with a tendency towards self-realization. The Perls couple, in collaboration with Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline, published a work in 1951 called “Gestalt Therapy: Emotion and Growth in the Human Personality”. The following year, with the support of Paul Goodman, they created the Gestalt Institute in New York.
5. Margaret Mahler
Margaret Mahler (1897-1985) stood out in Child Psychology, specifically in the field of Evolutionary tag. This author belongs to the school of object relations theory, a psychoanalytic theory that conceives that the subject only exists in relation to other objects.
He made a detailed description of the development of personality in the period of early childhood. He also made a division of the child’s development into three phases: normal autism (0-1 month), where most of the time the child is sleeping, normal symbiosis (2-3 months), presenting a fusion, non-perception of separation, between him and the mother and separation and individualism, intrapsychic process, mental process, which leads him to conceive himself as a separate being and distinct from the mother.
6. Brenda Milner
Brenda Milner (1918-present) stands out for her contributions within the field of neuropsychology, even being named as its founder. She was also a pioneer in the study of memory and other cognitive functions of people. In 2014 she was awarded the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience for discovering, together with John O’Keefe and Marcus E. Raichle, brain networks specialized in memory and cognition.
Currently, she continues to work as a teacher and researcher. She recently also conducted studies with normal subjects, focused on brain regions linked to memory and language. In the same way, she continues to study the hippocampus, specifically the right part, specifically related to memory to locate objects in space.
7. Elizabeth Kuebler Ross
Elisabeth Kübler Ross (1926-2004) was a psychiatrist who focused primarily on the study of death, dying people, and palliative care tag. She is known for establishing 5 stages of the dying process, proposed after working with more than 200 people in near-death situations.
In the first stage, the denial stage, the subject denies the possibility of his death, then the anger stage appears, because he realizes that his life is over, during the third stage the person tries to negotiate with death, trying to buy more time for life, then in the fourth stage depression appears, due to the loss of loved ones and goods that death entails. Finally, in the final stage, acceptance appears, the person feels at peace, waiting more calmly for death.
The intervention that was carried out on patients close to death consisted mainly of palliative care, a treatment not aimed at curing the subject, but rather at improving their quality of life, their well-being, their tranquility and supporting their relatives in the same way. .
8. Mary Ainsworth
Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999) psychologist recognized for proposing and carrying out the strange situation, to study the quality of attachment between the child and the mother tag. The strange situation method was developed in 1960 and consists of separating the child from her attachment figure in a laboratory situation, since it was believed that moments of separation were where the quality of attachment could best be perceived.
By observing the child’s response to the mother’s return, Ainsworth proposed three main attachment patterns: secure (the one with the highest percentage of children) and two forms of insecure attachment, ambivalent and avoidant. Subsequently, a 4th group called disorganized attachment will be added, with avoidant and ambivalent characteristics, it seems to be the least secure pattern.
9. Melanie Klein
Melanie Klein (1882-1960) focused on the study of children andis considered the founder of the Theory of Object Relations, which meant the emergence of a new direction in Psychoanalysis. Also known are her disagreements and differences with the theoretical approaches of another important psychologist of the time such as Anna Freud.
Aspects to highlight and that demonstrate the break with classical Psychoanalysis are the approach of the existence of an Oedipus complex and an early Superego. Also establishing two types of positions: the paranoid schizoid and the depressive. In the same way, he pointed out that children at birth already have a primitive self and therefore we can work directly with it.
10. Anna Freud
Anna Freud (1895-1982) was a psychoanalyst who focused her research on people’s childhood and adolescence tag. She cannot fail to mention that she was the daughter of the well-known neurologist Sigmund Freud, who founded the school of Psychoanalysis. She showed thoughts similar to her father’s, following the principles of classical psychoanalysis, pointing out that children at birth do not have a formed ego, therefore they cannot develop a transference neurosis.
As one of the contributions and new concept that Anna Freud presented was the line of development, which helped to complete the psychological evaluation of the child, it consists of a regular sequence of actions that allows to differentiate the great types of activities of the child, the evolution and development that occurs in affection, feeding, sphincter control, self-care, social networks, and occupation.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.
