Mary Louise Northway – Wikipedia

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Canadian psychologist (1909–1987)

Mary Louise Northway ((1909-05-28)May 28, 1909 – (1987-02-27)February 27, 1987)[1] was a Canadian psychologist, recognized for her work in the area of sociometry (the measurement of social relationships). She was a faculty member at the University of Toronto.

Biography[edit]

Northway was born in Toronto on May 28, 1909; she was the only child of Lucy Northway (née MacKellar) and Arthur Garfield Northway.[1] She was educated in Toronto at Branksome Hall, Rosedale Public School, and Bishop Strachan School.[1]

Northway obtained her B.A. in psychology in 1933 and her M.A. in psychology in 1934, both from the University of Toronto.[1][2] In 1935–1936, she travelled to Cambridge, England, to study under psychologist Frederic Bartlett.[1] Northway earned her PhD from the University of Toronto in 1939, with a dissertation titled Bartlett’s Concept of the Schema.[1] This work was published in the British Journal of Psychology in 1940.[3]

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Northway was a faculty member in the psychology department at the University of Toronto from 1933 to 1963.[1][2] She was also a lecturer, and later Supervisor of Research, at the university’s Institute of Child Study (ICS), from 1938 until her retirement in 1968.[2] Northway attributed her resignation to the university’s funding cutbacks to educational, search, and research programs at the ICS.[4]

In 1969, Northway co-founded the Brora Centre, a non-profit organization that conducted child development research that was no longer supported by the university.[2][4] The centre operated until 1978.[2] Northway was awarded an honorary degree from Trent University in 1979.[5]

Northway died in Toronto on February 27, 1987, of pancreatic cancer.[1][6]

Research[edit]

Northway was a pioneering researcher in the field of sociometry, examining children’s social groups.[2][4][6] She coordinated a multi-decade longitudinal sociometric study at the Institute of Child Study.[2][7] Northway examined the forms and functions of children’s social groups, and how these factors were related to individual behaviour.[4][8][9] She also published on sociometric methodology, including methods for visually depicting social relationships.[10][11]

During her career, Northway also published on a range of developmental psychology topics, including adolescent development,[12] parent-child relationships,[13] and She was also interested in summer camp as a context for the healthy development of children,[14] and edited a guide for camp counsellors.[15]

Selected works[edit]

  • Northway, Mary L. (1936). “The Influence of Age and Social Group on Children’s Remembering”. British Journal of Psychology. General Section. 27: 11–29. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1936.tb00813.x.
  • Northway, Mary L. (1940). “A Method for Depicting Social Relationships Obtained by Sociometric Testing”. Sociometry. 3 (2): 144–150. doi:10.2307/2785439. JSTOR 2785439.
  • Northway, Mary L. (1944). “Outsiders: A Study of the Personality Patterns of Children Least Acceptable to Their Age Mates”. Sociometry. 7 (1): 10–25. doi:10.2307/2785534. JSTOR 2785534.
  • Northway, Mary L. (1946). “Sociometry and Some Challenging Problems of Social Relationships”. Sociometry. 9 (2/3): 187–198. doi:10.2307/2785004. JSTOR 2785004.
  • Northway, Mary L.; Wigdor, Blossom T. (1947). “Rorschach Patterns Related to the Sociometric Status of School Children”. Sociometry. 10 (2): 186. doi:10.2307/2785335. JSTOR 2785335.
  • Northway, Mary L.; Rooks, Margaret Mccallum; Moreno, J. L. (1955). “Creativity and Sociometric Status in Children”. Sociometry. 18 (4): 194. doi:10.2307/2785854. JSTOR 2785854.
  • Northway, Mary L. (1968). “The Stability of Young Children’s Social Relations”. Educational Research. 11: 54–57. doi:10.1080/0013188680110109.

References[edit]

External links[edit]



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