Christine Ladd-Franklin: biography of this experimental psychologist

Christine Ladd-Franklin (1847-1930) was a mathematician, psychologist, and suffragist feminist who fought for remove the barriers that prevented women from accessing universities in the first half of the century xx. Among other things, she worked as a professor of logic and mathematics, and later developed a theory of color vision that had an important impact on modern psychology.

Next we will see a biography of Christine Ladd-Franklinshe, a psychologist who not only developed important scientific knowledge, but also fought to guarantee the access and participation of women in universities.

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Christine Ladd-Franklin: biography of this American psychologist

Christine Ladd-Franklin was born on December 1, 1847, in Connecticut, United States. She was the eldest of two children born to Eliphalet and Augusta Ladd ** her mother was a militant suffragette ** who died when Christine was young, so Ladd-Franklin ended up moving in with her paternal aunt and grandmother in New Hampshire.

In 1866 she began studying at Vassar College (school for women). However, she had to drop out of her studies very soon due to economic situations. She resumed them two years later thanks to her own savings and after receiving financial support from her family.

From the start, Christine Ladd-Franklin she was highly motivated by research and science. At Vassar College, she trained with Maria Mitchell, a well-known American astronomer who already had significant international recognition.

For example, she is the first woman to have discovered a new comet through a telescope and she is also the first woman her to be part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as the American Association for Advancement Scientists. Mitchell was also a female suffragette, which greatly inspired Ladd-Franklin in her professional development and as a woman scientist.

Christine Ladd-Franklin was especially interested in physics, but faced with difficulties pursuing a career as a researcher in that area, she moved towards mathematics. And later, she did experimental research in psychology and physiology.

Ladd-Franklin on the exclusion of women in academia

In addition to being recognized as an important psychologist, Christine Ladd-Franklin is remembered for standing up firmly against the policies of exclusion of women in the new American universities, as well as before those who defended said policies.

For example, in 1876 she wrote a letter to the renowned mathematician James J. Sylvester at the newly formed John Hopkins University to question directly if being a woman was a logical and sufficient reason to deny her access to higher education.

At the same time, she sent an application for admission with a scholarship to said university, signed with the name of “C. Ladd”, and along with an excellent academic record. She was admitted, until the committee discovered that the letter "C" stood for "Christine", with which they were about to annul her admission. At this point Sylvester stepped in and Ladd-Franklin was finally accepted as a full-time student, albeit with "special" treatment.

Training in logic and mathematics

James J. Sylvester was a well-known academic; She, among other things, is credited with coining the terms "matrix" and the theory of algebraic invariants. Along with him, Christine Ladd-Franklin trained in mathematics. On the other hand, trained in symbolic logic under Charles S. Peirce, one of the philosophers who founded pragmatism. Christine Ladd-Franklin who became the first American woman to receive a formal education with such scientists.

She completed her doctoral training in logic and mathematics in 1882, with a thesis that was later included in one of Pierce's most important volumes on logic and syllogisms. However, and under the argument that coeducation was not typical of civilized communities, His doctoral degree was not officially recognized by the university.. 44 years passed, and on the 50th anniversary of Johns Hopkins University, when Ladd-Franklin was 79 years old, she was finally awarded that degree.

She, however, did work as a professor at the same university during the early 1900s, to which were added more difficulties, because he decided to marry and start a family together with the mathematician Fabian Franklin (from whom he took the last name). In this context, married women had even more problems accessing and sustaining official academic activities.

Likewise, Christine Ladd-Franklin protested in an important way before British psychologist Edward Titchener's refusal to admit women to the Society of Experimental Psychologists that he had founded as an alternative option to the American Psychological Association (APA) meetings. Where, in fact, Christine Ladd-Franklin did regularly participate.

• You may be interested in: "Edward Titchener and structuralist psychology"

Development in Experimental Psychology

Christine Ladd-Franklin moved to Germany with Fabian Franklin, where she developed her research in color vision. In the beginning she worked in the Göttingen laboratory with Georg Elias Müller (one of the founders of experimental psychology). Later he was in Berlin, in a laboratory together with Hermann von Helmholtz, a pioneering physicist and philosopher in physiological psychology.

After working with them and other experimental psychologists, Christine Ladd-Franklin developed her own theory of how our photoreceptors work in connection with the chemical functioning of the nervous system, allowing us to perceive different colors.

Ladd-Franklin theory of color vision

During the 19th century there were two main theories on color vision, whose validity continues, at least in part, to this day. On the one hand, in 1803, the English scientist Thomas Young had proposed that our retina is prepared to perceive three “primary colors”: red, green, blue or violet. On the other hand, the German physiologist Ewald Hering had proposed that there are three pairs of these colors: red-green, yellow-blue, and white and black; and she studied how the photosensitive reaction of the nerves ensures that we can perceive them.

What Ladd-Franklin proposed is that there is rather a process composed of three stages in the development of color vision. Black and white vision is the most primitive of the stages, because it can occur under very low lighting. Then, the white color is the one that allows the differentiation between blue and yellow, and the latter, yellow, allows the differentiated vision of red-green.

In very broad strokes, Christine Ladd-Franklin managed to unite the two great theoretical proposals of color vision in an evolutionary photochemical hypothesis. Specifically she described the process of action of ether waves on the retina; understood as one of the main generators of light sensations.

Her theory was very well received in the scientific context of the early 20th century, and her influence has been maintained to this day, especially the emphasis she placed on the evolutionary factor of our vision of color.

Bibliographic references:

• Vaughn, K. (2010). Profile. Christine Ladd-Franklin. Retrieved June 26, 2018. Available in http://www.feministvoices.com/christine-ladd-franklin/.
• Vassar Encyclopedia. (2008). Christine Ladd-Franklin. Retrieved June 26, 2018. Available in http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/alumni/christine-ladd-franklin.html.
• Dauder Garcia, S. (2005). Psychology and feminism. Forgotten history of pioneering women in psychology. Narcea: Madrid.