Jones, Mary Cover

She was born on September 1, 1897 in the city of Johnstown ( Pennsylvania , USA ) in the family of a businessman and a housewife who was involved in the work of several local organizations. Mary was the second child in her family. She had a brother, 5 years older than her, and a sister who was 4 years younger than her. Every summer, during Mary's childhood, her family traveled to Shatokua Summer School.

After entering Vassar College, Mary Cover Jones decided to specialize in psychology. She attended all psychology courses offered by the college, except for the course taught by Professor Margaret Washburn ^[2] . Shortly after Mary graduated from Vassar College in 1919, she attended a lecture by prominent behaviorist John B. Watson , in New York. In the end, she started working with Watson. According to biographers, it was this lecture that convinced Mary Carver Jones to continue studying psychology. She entered graduate school at Columbia University , where she received a master's degree in 1920. At the same university, she met her future husband, Harold Jones.

In 1923, Mary became assistant professor of psychological research at Columbia University's Institute for Educational Research ^[2] . While in this position, she conducted her famous experiment "Little Peter ". After this study, she completed work on her doctoral dissertation. Mary worked with 365 babies in different parts of New York and studied the development of early behavior in young children. Her dissertation was not given due attention until she fell into the hands of Joseph Volpe ^[3] .

In the summer of 1927, Mary and her family moved to California . There, she takes the post of assistant professor at the Institute for Child Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley . There she becomes involved in the long-term Oakland Growth Study ^[4] .

In 1952, Cover Jones became an assistant professor of education at Berkeley. Despite the fact that she had significant experience and conducted several studies, she was not allowed to become a full-fledged professor due to the anti- nepotism policy of that time. This policy meant that married women could not hold a position in the faculty. The University of California, Berkeley, eventually retreated from this rule, and in 1959 Mary was promoted to professor.

in 1960, she became president of the Department of Development Psychology at the American Psychological Association . In the same year, her husband dies of a heart attack, and she resigns.

In 1968, Mary received the prestigious Stanley G. Hall Award from the American Psychological Association ^[4] . She was awarded for her significant contribution to developmental psychology. Among her merits is Peter's research, which laid the foundation for behavioral therapy, its development of desensitization and the creation of direct conditioning to overcome fears. In addition to her psychological research, Cover Jones was involved in the work of child protection committees, and spent a lot of time and effort on this work.

Watson Interaction

After attending a lecture by the then-leading behaviorist Watson, Cover Jones became interested in his most famous experiment, Little Albert . In this experiment, conditions were created so that Albert expressed fear at the sight of a white rat, which was presented together with the sharp sounds that frightened the child. Mary wondered if Watson’s techniques could be used to teach children not to be afraid of the incentives presented, which would essentially change Watson’s work. These thoughts prompted Mary to study desensitization ^[3] .

Little Peter Experiment

Mary has developed a technique known as desensitization , used to cure phobias. Through repeated administration of a series of stimuli that cause phobia in a patient, sensitivity to them can be reduced ^[5] . Desensitization was first discovered by Mary in 1924 in her experiment “Little Peter” ^[3] .

Her most cited work is a study to remove fear of rabbits through conditioning. She conducted this study on a three-year-old boy named Peter, at Columbia University's Institute for Educational Research. Jones treated Peter’s fear of white rabbits with “direct conditioning”, which consisted in the fact that pleasant stimuli (food) were associated with rabbits ^[6] . Mary began her experiment to discover the most effective way to rid her children of their irrational fears. Peter was chosen for research because in all aspects of his childhood life he was considered normal, with the exception of his fear of rabbits. Peter was afraid not only of rabbits, but, as Jones had shown, he would begin to cry if he was presented with similar objects: feathers, a fur coat, a fur rug, and cotton. Jones conducted her experiment using a wide range of methods to eliminate Peter's fear. Mary, in an attempt to understand the cause of fear, described her methods used in Peter’s case as “patient, meticulous, and painstaking.” These are the methods that she learned from her mentor, Watson ^[6] .

Mary began the study by placing the rabbit 12 feet from Peter, and gradually bringing it closer until the boy touched the animal. While the rabbit was gradually brought closer to Peter, and the boy had access to his favorite food (sweets), his fear gradually decreased, and as a result, he was able to touch the rabbit and not cry ^[3] . After Peter recovered from his fear, Cover Jones published an article on the experiment entitled “Laboratory Research on Fear: The Case of Peter (1924).” Despite the fact that this experiment is now recognized as revolutionary, at that time it was rejected and Jones did not count as her dissertation. Despite this, Mary was able to develop her interest in psychology by delving into the study of developmental psychology.

Many people consider this study to be crucial for behavioral therapy , a breakthrough in laboratory studies of behaviorism ^[6] . The reopening of this study in the 1970s by Joseph Volpe led to what Mary was called the “mother of behavioral therapy” ^[4] .

Auckland Growing Research

This study is considered Mary's most influential study. This study was the third in a series of prolonged studies conducted by Berkeley College . The first was the Berkeley Growth Study , which studied neonates (1928), then the Berkeley Guidance study , focused on preschool children (1928). Both of these studies studied children residing in Berkeley , California ^[7] . The Auckland Growth Study was led by Mary and her husband. The study involved 212 students in grades 5 and 6, born between 1920 and 1921 ^[8] . Participants were examined twice a year until they graduated from school. The main goal of the study was to understand typical youth. Researchers looked at physical development, psychological changes, as well as relationships with peers. ^[7] Subjects were re-examined at the age of 28, 48, and 60 years ^[9] . Repeated studies included the interview method, questionnaires, personality questionnaires and medical research. The last interview took place in 1980, when Mary was 83 years old.

The results of this study allowed Jones to publish more than a hundred articles. In addition, thanks to well-documented data from this study, these data have been used in other studies of childhood development. It is believed that this study was so successful because of Mary’s ability to maintain good relationships with subjects and also because of her dedication to the study ^[2] .

An important result of this study was the discovery of long-term behavioral and emotional effects in boys and girls, depending on the age at which the puberty period was passed. Additional results of this study were the study of the development of alcoholism in adolescents, as well as the study of the impact of economic status ^[8] .

In 1920, Mary marries Harold Jones.

In 1922, Cover Jones gives birth to his first daughter, Barbara.

In 1925, the second daughter is born - Leslie.

Mary Cover Jones died in Santa Barbara , California , July 22, 1987. A few minutes before her death, Mary told her sister: “I am still learning what is important in life” ^[10] .