Mary Cover Jones, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Mary Cover Jones was born on September 1, 1896 and died at the age of 91 in 1987 (Krasner, 1988). For many years, Jones was a typical housewife and mother. Yet, she wanted more. She wanted a career in the field of psychology. Just as everyone else, Jones struggled throughout her life to become the psychologist that she really wanted to be. She failed at attending specific colleges and seminars. However, she was not one to give up and finally ended up attending Vassar and Columbia University to obtain her degree in psychology.“Throughout her career Mary was quite involved in the child development/education field as parent/teacher/researcher/author” (Krasner, 1988, p. 91).Though she played many roles within the psychology field during her lifetime, Mary Cover Jones played more of a role within the field of developmental psychology rather than behavior therapy (Logan, 1980). Mary Cover Jones played a very important role in the world of psychology from day one by doing work within the direct area of children (the elimination of fear, self-conceptions and motivations of boys and self-conceptions and motivations girls).

The Achievements of Mary Cover Jones

Mary Cover Jones was a gentle and kind soul who cared about other human beings, especially children. Deana Dorman Logan (1980) gives a detailed description of some of Jones’s accomplishments in the following paragraph:

Author of over seventy publications, she is past President of Division 7 (Developmental) of the American Psychological Association (APA), a Fellow of both the APA and The Gerontological Society, and recipient of the G. Stanley Hall Award, the highest accolade given in developmental psychology (p. 103).

She spent much of her time studying children and how their attitudes depended on their maturity levels and how quickly they matured. These studies gained national acclaim later on in her life rather than when she first completed them a many did not support the study of children during her time. Jones was one who believed that children could actually benefit from educational opportunities that were put into place in order to meet some of their own specific needs since all children are different, develop in different stages, and gain knowledge in different ways (Krasner, 1988). Logan states the following in reference to Jones’s specific contributions to the psychology field:

Her contributions to psychology can be illustrated in four specific areas (1) the case study of Peter, (2) the establishment of the Berkeley longitudinal studies, (3) research on the problems of early and late maturing, and (4) investigations into personality antecedents of drinking problems (p. 104).

Her Studies
Her case study of Peter was one of her best studies; however, at the time of the study many did not give much regard to it and how it was so important to the field of psychology. Therefore, Jones was not allowed to use this study as a subject for her dissertation. The study of Peter dealt with the child’s specific fear of furry animals. By using John B. Watson’s procedures, Jones was able to rid Peter of his fear of furry animals (Logan, 1980). Before this, Jones did more studies on the elimination of fear and found that certain things triggered fear in children that could be avoided. Soon, the basic techniques of this were considered behavior modification/ therapy (Krasner, 1988).

In addition to the studies of the elimination of fear, Jones completed studies in reference to the self-conceptions, motivations and interpersonal attitudes of late and early maturing boys and girls. When it comes to boys, her studies found that “late-maturing boys were more likely to have feelings of inadequacy and negative self-conceptions” (Mussen& Jones, 1957, p. 244). The late-maturing boys also demonstrated more feelings of aggression and rebellion as well as hostility. They did not seem to have the same self-confidence as their early-maturing counterparts. Most importantly, the late-maturing boys felt more rejection than those of their early-maturing counterparts (Mussen& Jones, 1957). This was completely different for the girls according to Jones and Mussen (1958):

Previous reports of systematic comparisons between the behavior and personality characteristics of early-and late-maturing adolescents have indicated that acceleration in growth tends to carry social advantages for boys but disadvantages for girls (p. 491).

When Jones and Mussen studied the maturation of girls, they found different results than they did with the boys. Jones and Mussen (1958) found that the early-maturing girls were submissive and lacked confidence whereas the late-maturing girls were seen as outgoing and more confident. The early-maturing girls were rated more unfavorable by both their peers and adults as they were the observers. However, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) suggested that they were “better adjusted than their late-maturing peers” (Jones &Mussen, 1958, p. 496). This shows us that a lot can be observed by specific people, but that it is not necessarily true. The tests are not 100% correct; however, these test specific personality traits of the individual adolescents that observers don’t see or understand.

Conclusion

Mary Cover Jones was a very influential person in the field of psychology. She gained her right to be a respected individual in the field and showed many people that child development is based on how the child is treated whether he or she be a late or early maturing adolescent. Her studies show us ways in which we can help children feel better about themselves and how they can eliminate their fears.Joe Wolpe“introduced Mary as the Mother of Behavior Modification” and it is easy to see why with all of her great contributions to the psychology field during her lifetime (Krasner, 1988, p. 91).

References

Jones, M. C., &Mussen, P. H. (1958). Self-conceptions, motivations, and interpersonal attitudes of early-and late-maturing girls. Child Development, 29(4), 491-501.

Krasner, K. (1988). In memoriam. The Behavior Analyst, 11(1), 91-92.

Logan, D. D. (1980). Mary Cover Jones: Feminine as asset. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 5(1), 103-115.

Mussen, P. H., & Jones, M. C. (1957). Self-conceptions, motivations, and interpersonal attitudes of late- and early-maturing boys. Child Development, 28(2), 243-256.