Placing Women in the History of Comparative Psychology

Women tend to be invisible in the history of psychology, and women in comparative psychology are no exception. A recent example of this practice is provided by Gottlieb in his chapter “Comparative Psychology and Ethology” included in a collection of historical papers marking the first century of experimental psychology (Hearst, 1979). He does not identify any contributors to the fields of comparative psychology or ethology as women. Although names of some women are listed in the references (e.g., S. J. Shettleworth, J. Stevenson-Hinde, M. F. Washburn), there is no way of knowing that they are women from the contents of the chapter or the initials-only style used in the reference list. Furthermore, the dozen photographs of contributors to the field appearing at the end of the chapter are all of men.