Mary Cover Jones
| Mary Cover Jones | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 1, 1897 Johnstown,Pennsylvania, US |
| Died | July 22, 1987 Santa Barbara, California, US |
| Occupation | American developmental psychologist |
| Known for | Desensitization |
| Spouse(s) | Harold Jones (married 1920) |
| Children | 2 |
Mary Cover Jones (September 1, 1897 – July 22, 1987) was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and died in Santa Barbara, California. Within psychology—a scientific field dominated by male scientists throughout much of the 20th century—Mary Cover Jones stands out as a pioneer of behavior therapy; Wolpe dubbed her "the mother of behavior therapy" due to her famous study of Peter and development of desensitization.
Cover Jones was the middle child of three born to Carrie Louise Higson and Charles Blair Cover. She had a brother who was five years older than her, and a sister who was four years younger than her. Jones' mother was a homemaker involved in several local community organizations while her father was a businessman. Due to regretting not attending post-secondary education himself, Jones encouraged his children to attend university. Visiting Chautauqua Institute on Lake Erie, Ohio became a yearly summer trip for the Cover family during Cover Jones' childhood. After being accepted into Vassar College, Cover Jones chose to study psychology. She took every psychology course offered at Vassar College except one that was offered by Washburn. Washburn refused to admit her into the class because of a poor laboratory grade in a previous class. She pent her summer vacations, during her time in college, working with poor children in summer camps and in settlement houses.Soon after graduating from Vassar College, in 1919, Cover Jones attended a lecture by the noted behaviorist John B. Watson, in New York City. After hearing Watson's lecture, Mary wondered if conditioning could be used to eliminate fears. In 1919, she began her graduate work at Columbia University and completed her master's degree in the summer of 1920. Mary Cover married a fellow graduate student, Harold Jones, in 1920.
In 1923, Cover Jones became an Associate professor of Psychological Research at the Institute of Educational Research, Teachers' College, Columbia University. Cover Jones conducted her famous study of Peter during her position as associate at Columbia University. After publishing the result from the Peter study in 1924, she completed a doctoral dissertation on the development of early behavior patterns in young children. She went on to work with 365 infants in various areas in New York City and studied the development of early behavior of young children. Jones did not receive attention for her work until the 1960s, when the field of behavior therapy began to coalesce under the leadership of Joseph Wolpe.
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