Mary Cover Jones, a pioneer of behaviorism

Mary Cover Jones is considered the “mother” of behaviorism. and one of the most important psychologists in history. He worked with the “father of behaviorism” John B. Watson. It was a very fertile combination that he wrote for both of them a brilliant page in psychology.

Mary Cover Jones’ greatest contribution occurred in the field of child psychology. She focused on the study of phobias in children, as well as fear reactions and anxiety disorders in childhood. A good part of his contributions, more or less updated, remain valid.

Perhaps Mary Cover Jones’ greatest contribution to psychology was the technique of systematic desensitization (SD) which he developed with Watson. The most interesting of all is his thesis was born and supported by different experiments.

Mary Cover Jones, the pioneer

Mary Cover Jones was born on September 1, 1897 in Johnstown (Pennsylvania, United States). She studied psychology at Vassar College, one of the few centers through which women could access higher education. In 1919, the year he would graduate, he attended a lecture by John Watson on phobias..

At that time, Watson was the star of the predominant school of psychology, the behaviorist. In his lecture, he presented the famous and controversial case of little Albert. A child who, using classical conditioning, had a phobia induced. The story had a great impact on our protagonist, to the point of wanting to focus her professional future on that path.

To achieve this, he would go to Columbia University, graduating in 1920. Months later he would begin working directly with John Watson. Likewise, she married one of her companions, Harold Jones. Just three years later, she would occupy the position of research associate at the Educational Research Institute of Columbia University Teachers’ College.

The famous case of little Peter

Little Albert’s experiment raised many questions for Mary Cover Jones. She was wondering If the techniques used by Watson would be used to carry out a reverse process, that is, to make a child stop fearing the object that generated his phobia. Thus little Peter’s experiment was born.

The experiment was carried out at Columbia University with a 3-year-old boy named Peter. The little boy experienced an intense and irrational fear of rabbits. What Mary Cover Jones did was combine the stimulus that caused a phobia (the rabbit) with a stimulus that was pleasant and pleasurable for the child (candy).

It took several attempts to get the little one to learn the association and obtain, with this learning, the desired effect. Peter feared not only rabbits, but any object that reminded them of them, such as fur, feathers, rugs, and cotton.

The technique that finally worked consisted of exposing the child to the presence of the rabbit at distances in which its presence generated anxiety, but without becoming incapacitating. In this way, the child learned that nothing happened at that distance and he could tolerate a closer one.

The procedure worked and in the end, little Peter was able to touch the rabbit without crying. In fact, he allowed the animal to nibble his fingers. Following this achievement, Mary Cover Jones published a famous article called A laboratory study of fear: the case of Peter. Although it was not highly valued at the time, today it continues to be the key to many interventions.

Mary Cover Jones used counterconditioning to treat the phobia of little Peter, a boy with a fear of rabbits.

A valuable legacy

The Peter case is perhaps the most symbolic, but Mary Cover Jones’ career is filled with many more. Several of her studies on the early and late maturation of children and adolescents continue to be cited in current research.

Another of his famous works was the Oakland Growth Study. With it he would finally establish himself as an authority in the field of evolutionary psychology.

She did several of her jobs in the company of her husband., also a psychologist. Even with him he produced what is considered the first educational television program in child psychology, in 1952.

Mary Cover Jones died in Santa Barbara (California, United States), on July 22, 1987, at age 89. She became president of Division 35 of the American Psychological Association (APA), a position destined only for the best. Likewise, in 1968 he received the G. Stanley Hall Award from the APA. His legacy was one of the most valuable of the 20th century.

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