Stanford University Catharine Morris Cox Miles (May 20, 1890 – October 11, 1984) [1] was an American psychologist known for her work on intelligence and genius.
Born in San Jose, CA, to Lydia Shipley Bean and Charles Ellwood Cox.
Earlier she worked at Stanford with Stanford-Binet creator Lewis Terman in issues related to IQ.
She returned to San Jose, California, where she taught physical education and German at the College of the Pacific.
Cox returned to Germany and joined the American Friends Service Committee in its relief efforts to provide food to starving children who were affected by World War I.
Returning to Stanford University to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology under the supervision of Lewis Terman, Cox began her study of geniuses.
[3] Using biographical sources, Cox applied the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales to assign IQ scores to eminent people from when they were children.
She concluded that higher IQ scores and eminence were related for those who worked in the fields of science, literature, and the arts.
[3] In 1932, Cox accepted the position of lead clinical psychologist at Yale University where she worked as a professor in the Psychology and Psychiatry departments.
[4] They also had two children of their own; a girl, Anna Mary Miles (Jones) and a son, Charles Elwood, who died at birth.
[4] Cox-Miles was a student of Termans but as the process of writing Sex and Personality dragged on, they become more distant of each other and it was a struggle to get it published in their expected time frame.
The argument that started stemming between Terman and Cox-Miles was the decision of what the terms masculine and feminine were to be defined as in the published research.
She acted as a clinician, a professor, and a researcher; all rare occupations for women in the pre World War II era.