12 most important women psychologists in history

Psychology has long emphasized the contribution of male psychologists like Freud, Skinner, Watson, and other thinkers. Unfortunately, the important contributions of women psychologists are often overlooked in textbooks.

However, a large number of women in the field of psychology have made critical contributions to shaping the development of this science. And, for this reason, in this Psychology-Online article we will see 12 examples of these magnificent and relevant professionals. Meet then the most important women psychologists in history.

Index

1. Margaret Floyd Washburn
2. Mary Whiton Calkins
3. Anna Freud
4. Melanie Klein
5. Karen Horney
6. Mamie Phipps Clark
7. Leta Stetter Hollingworth
8. Mary Ainsworth
9. Christine Ladd-Franklin
10. eleanor maccoby
11. Brenda Milner
12. Virginia Satyr

First on our list of famous female psychologists is Margaret Floy Washburn, the first woman to have a degree in Psychology or, more precisely, to receive a Ph.D. She completed her university studies with great dedication and tenacity, at a time when women were not allowed to pursue a university career and hold academic positions.

Margaret, among the first women in psychology, conducted studies on animal cognition and physiological processesbasics that were fundamental for the development of comparative psychology. Thanks also to her work at Columbia University in New York, Psychology became a reliable discipline in the eyes of the cultural community, contrary to what was believed.

In addition to a life of captivating and courageous scholar in many ways, Mary Whiton Calkins is one of the women psychologists of beginning of the 20th century, which has achieved a highly coveted recognition and until then reserved exclusively for mens.

In 1905 she became the first woman president of the American Psychological Association. And not only that: at the end of 1918 she was also president of the American Philosophy Association. Regarding her first disciplinary contributions, these referred to the study of memory and some of her work has helped the performance and accuracy of cognitive assessment tests.

Anna Freud was also one of the most influential women in psychology. Her last name speaks clearly: Ana followed in her father's footsteps and continued to develop Sigmund's intuitions, especially in the children's field. Her studies, brilliant and particularly intuitive, inspired other future deepenings of the subject by male colleagues, such as Erik Erikson.

Her attention was focused especially on defense mechanisms, a concept that contributed to their inclusion in the treaties. The child psychology He still owes a lot to this great female psychologist in history.

She had a crucial role in creating and experimenting with the Play Therapy, a widely used technique to allow children to easily express their feelings and emotions: the game becomes a means of communication.

An intuition that shows the extraordinary sensitivity of the Kleins, who wondered about what way to go with children with whom it was not possible to experience the Freudian techniques of psychoanalysis. Her ideas were so effective in constituting a true school of thought, that of the kleinian psychoanalysis among the most affirming in the history of psychoanalysis.

The scholar countered Sigmund Freud's theory of penis envy to the one with belly envy, that is, that compensatory action that men would put in the field and experience to compensate for the fact of not being able to have children.

Her encouragement helped broaden the debate on female psychology, but another important achievement that we must attribute to Horney is the theory that recognizes the ability of people to take personal responsibility for their mental health.

If you want to know more about Karen Horney, one of the most important female psychologists in history, check out our article Personality Theories in Psychology: Karen Horney.

Clark made many important contributions to psychology, including the development of the Clark doll test, her research on race, and her role in the famous Brown v. Board of Education of 1954.

Clark became the first woman of color to graduate from Columbia University, and despite considerable prejudice based on both her race and her gender, she became an influential psychologist. The search for her racial identity and self-esteem she helps pave the way for future research on self-concept among minorities.

She was one of the early pioneers of psychology in the United States, studying under Edward Thorndike and specializing in child intelligence and development. Another of her important contributions was her research on female psychology.

The prevailing opinion at the time was that women were intellectually inferior to men and essentially semi-invalid during the menstruation. Hollingworth opposed these hypotheses, and her research showed that women were just as intelligent and capable as men, regardless of the time of the month.

Her numerous achievements are even more remarkable when you consider that she not only faced obstacles due to gender discrimination, but she also died at the age of 53 years. Despite her short life, her influence and contribution to the field of psychology have been impressive.

Her work has shown the importance of a infant attachment healthy and she has experienced the use of a technique known as "Strange Situation". In her research on attachments and mother-child interactions, Ainsworth would have a mother and child sitting in an unfamiliar room.

In this experiment, the researchers would then observe the child's reactions to various situations, including a foreigner entering the room, left alone with the stranger, and the mother's return to the room.

Ainsworth's groundbreaking work has had a major influence on our understanding of attachment styles and how these styles contribute to behavior later in life.

Christine Ladd-Franklin's role as a female leader in Psychology began early in her life because both her mother and her aunt were ardent supporters of women's rights. This ancient influence has not only helped her succeed in her field, despite considerable opposition, it has also inspired her subsequent work for women's rights around the world academic.

She challenged one of the leading male psychologists of the time, Edward Titchener, for not allowing women to join her experimentation group and develop an influential theory of vision in colour. Additionally, she studied at John Hopkins and completed a thesis entitled "The Algebra of Logic"; however, the school did not allow women to receive a Ph.D.

She continued to spend time in Germany studying with Hermann von Helmholtz and Artur Konig, and eventually she rejected both theories about color vision to develop yours. In 1926, 42 years after completing her thesis, John Hopkins awarded her the doctorate she had earned. She today is remembered both for her work in psychology and for her influence as a pioneering woman in a field dominated by men.

Eleanor Maccoby is one of today's famous psychologists, in her case, her pioneering work in the psychology of differences sex has played an important role in our current understanding of things like socialization, biological influences on sexual differences and gender roles.

She was the first woman to head the psychology department at Stanford University and, by her own description, the first woman to teach a class at Stanford in a pantsuit. She continues to serve as Professor Emeritus at Stanford and has received numerous accolades for her pioneering work, including the Maccoby Book Award named in her honor.

considerate the founder of neuropsychologyher, she is one of the most important figures in the study of memory: for sixty years she has contributed to the knowledge of how the brain works. Brenda Milner is most famous for her study of patient H.M., a young man who had suffered from very severe seizures since she was 10 years old.

The discovery was revolutionary: the patient was learning new skills effectively even though she had no recollection of doing so before. This indicated that the brain is not governed by a solitary memory system, causing a change in the direction of memory search from that moment on.

In addition to this monumental find, Milner has identified the role played by the hippocampus and the medial area of temporal lobe in explicit memory and she has provided the first implicit storage data from memory.

Known for her work as an exceptional therapist, she is one of the most important people in systemic family therapy. Virginia Satir believed that people had the capacity for growth, transformation and continuous training.

Her methodology not only combined the interactive and intrapsychic elements of modern therapy, but also It also tried to improve the quality of communication and relationships within the organization structure. family.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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• Garcia, S. (2005). psychology and feminism. Narcea. Recovered from https://books.google.es/books?