Mary Collins (1895–1989) was an expert in

colour vision Color vision, a feature of visual perception, is an ability to perceive differences between light composed of different wavelengths (i.e., different spectral power distributions) independently of light intensity. Color perception is a part of t ...

, and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

lecturer at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

Academic career

Mary Collins gained her MA in 1917 from Edinburgh University, her BEd in 1919 and PhD in 1923. She was then appointed lecturer in psychology at the University. Her first book, ''Colour blindness'' was published in 1925 covering her initial work in studying aspects of color vision. Subsequently, she worked extensively with Sir

James Drever James Drever FRSE (1910–1991) was a Scottish academic who served as the first Principal of the University of Dundee. He has been described as 'one of the most pivotal figures in the University's history'. Early life and career James Dreve ...

, head of department, and subsequently with Boris Semeonoff (1910-1998). Collins became senior lecturer by 1950 and reader by 1956, retiring "before 1962".

Performance tests

Collins' time working with Drever was involved with developing test methods for determining the form of color blindness that patients may have, especially for those that would be most informative both in the teaching classroom and in the research lab. The insights she gained focused her testing on color development in children and how new education methods could be created to assist in those with disabilities, primarily those with deafness due to a shift in Drever's focus. Together, this resulted in the Drever-Collins Performance Tests for intelligence being produced in 1928. These were non-

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

tests that enabled children to show their understanding of color, shapes, sizes, and weights without having to be told verbally what to do and only using printed instructions. The unique part of this testing system was that they were all created as a part of a wooden box containing different tests, with parts and objects filling the box. Such a testing tool could then be mass-produced, which was done by Edinburgh's own instrument manufacturer Andrew H. Baird. The eventual national testing protocols for skills and intelligence in Scotland, as established by the

Scottish Council for Research in Education The Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) was set up by the Scottish teachers’ union (The Educational Institute of Scotland, EIS) and the Association of Directors of Education in 1928. At that time, there were no similar organisatio ...

, would rely heavily on the performance tests made by Collins and Drever.

Select publications

* ''Colour-Blindness: With a Comparison of Different Methods of Testing Colour-Blindness (1923)'' With Sir

* ''Experimental Psychology'' (1926) * ''A First Laboratory Guide in Psychology'' (1926) * ''Performance Tests of Intelligence'' (1928) * ''Psychology and Practical Life'' (1936) Obituary * ''James Drever'' (1951) British Psychological Journal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Mary 1895 births 1989 deaths British women psychologists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century British psychologists