Final answer:
The first American Ph.D. in psychology awarded in 1883 is not specified, but the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology was Margaret Floy Washburn in 1894, and the first African American was Francis Cecil Sumner in 1920.
Step-by-step explanation:
The individual who earned the first American Ph.D. in psychology in 1883 is not explicitly mentioned in the provided references. However, it is stated that William James is considered the first American psychologist, which might lead students to infer that he could have been the recipient of the first American Ph.D. in psychology. To provide a clear answer, it is critical to cross-reference historical academic records. Notably, Margaret Floy Washburn was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology in 1894, and Francis Cecil Sumner was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology in 1920. Sumner's pioneering work and his establishment of a psychology degree program at Howard University significantly contributed to the advance of the field. Mary Whiton Calkins, another early trailblazer in psychology, completed her Ph.D. requirements but was not granted the degree due to her gender, nonetheless, her contributions to memory research and the foundational ideas in psychology were widely recognized.