28/3/2014 Mary Cover Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Cover_Jones 1/2

Mary Cover JonesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Cover Jones (September 1, 1897 July 22, 1987) was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Within psychologya scientific field dominated by malescientists throughout much of the 20th centuryMary Cover Jones stands out as a pioneer of behavior therapy; Joseph Wolpe dubbed her "the mother of behavior

therapy".[1] Mary Cover Jones studied psychology at Vassar College, from which she graduated in 1919, after which she went on to work with noted behavioristJohn B. Watson during the 1920s.

Jones developed a technique known as desensitization, used to cure phobias. A patient may be desensitized through the repeated introduction of a series of stimuli

that approximate the phobia.[2]

Her most often cited work is her study of the removal a fear of rabbits through conditioning, which she conducted on a three-year-old named Peter at the Instituteof Educational Research, Columbia University Teachers' College. Jones treated Peter's fear of a white rabbit by "direct conditioning", in which a pleasant stimulus(food) was associated with the rabbit. As the rabbit was gradually brought closer to him in the presence of his favorite food, Peter grew more tolerant, and wasable to touch the rabbit without fear.

In the late 1920s, Jones assumed a position as research associate at the Institute for Child Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley where she becameinvolved in the longitudinal Oakland Growth Study (OGS). In 1952, Jones was appointed Assistant Professor of Education at Berkeley, and in 1959one yearbefore her retirementshe became full professor. In 1968, Jones received the prestigious G. Stanley Hall Award from the American Psychological Association(APA).

Mary Cover Jones died in Santa Barbara, California on July 22, 1987.

Notes

1. ^ Rutherford, A. "Introduction to "A Laboratory Study of Fear: The Case of Peter", Mary Cover Jones (1924)" (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jones/intro.htm)(Text). Retrieved 2008-11-09.

2. ^ T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 6: Learning." pp. 101 [1] (http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/TLBrink_PSYCH06.pdf)

Further reading

Jones, M. C. (1924). A laboratory study of fear: The case of Peter. The Pedagogical Seminary, 31, 308-315

Jones, M. C. (1974). Albert, Peter, and John B. Watson. American Psychologist, 29, 581-584

28/3/2014 Mary Cover Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Cover_Jones 2/2

External links

Biography (http://www.psych.yorku.ca/femhop/Cover%20Jones.htm)

Harold E. Jones and Mary C. Jones: Partners in Longitudinal Studies, Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library(http://www.archive.org/details/haroldjonesmary00jonerich)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Cover_Jones&oldid=599373208"

Categories: American psychologists 1896 births 1987 deaths Columbia University staff University of California, Berkeley staff Vassar College alumni

This page was last modified on 13 March 2014 at 01:29.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use

and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.