John B
John B
John B
John B. Watson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John B. Watson
Contents
1 Early life
2 Dissertation on animal behavior
3 Affair and marriage with Rosalie Rayner
4 Behaviorism
5 "Twelve infants" quotation
6 Psychological Care of Infant and Child and
criticism of it
7 "Little Albert" experiment (1920)
8 Advertising
9 Later life
10 See also
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Born
Died
Founding Behaviorism
Early life
Watson was born in Travelers Rest, South Carolina to Pickens Butler and Emma K. (Roe) Watson.[2] His mother,
Emma Watson, a very religious woman who adhered to prohibitions against drinking, smoking, and dancing, named
Watson after a prominent Baptist minister in hopes that it would help him receive the call to preach the Gospel. In
bringing him up, she subjected Watson to religious training that later led him to develop a lifelong antipathy toward
all forms of religion.[3] His alcoholic father left the family to live with two Indian women when Watson was 13 years
old (a transgression which Watson never forgave).[4] In an attempt to escape poverty, Watsons mother sold their
farm and brought Watson to Greenville, South Carolina to provide him a better opportunity for success.[3] Moving
from an isolated, rural location to the large village of Greenville proved to be important for Watson in providing him
the opportunity to get out in society and see all the different kinds of people, people he learned about and cultivated
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his theories on psychology. Watson understood that college was important to his success as an individual: I know
now that I can never amount to anything in the educational world unless I have better preparation at a real
university.[5]
Despite his poor academic performance and having been arrested twice during high school (first for fighting with
blacks, then for discharging firearms within city limits),[3] Watson was able to use his mother's connections to gain
admission to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Watson considered himself to be a poor student.
Others called him a quiet kid, lazy and insubordinate.[5] He struggled to make that transition from a rural to urban
area, expressed through his weak social skills. A precocious student, he entered college at the age of 16 and left
with a master's degree aged 21. Watson made his way through college with significant effort, succeeding in classes
that other students simply failed. He held a few jobs on campus to pay for his college expenses. He continued to
see himself as unsocial and made few friends. After graduating, he spent a year at "Batesburg Institute", the name
he gave to a one-room school in Greenville. He was principal, janitor, and handyman for the entire school.
After petitioning the President of the University of Chicago, Watson entered the university. His successful petition to
the president of the University of Chicago was imperative to his ascendancy in the psychology world. He began
studying philosophy under John Dewey on the recommendation of Furman professor, Gordon Moore.[6] The
combined influence of Dewey, James Rowland Angell, Henry Herbert Donaldson and Jacques Loeb led Watson to
develop a highly descriptive, objective approach to the analysis of behavior that he would later call "behaviorism."
[7]
In Watsons college experience, he met professors and colleagues that would assist him on his journey to becoming
a well-known psychologist. These peers played an important role in his success in developing psychology into a
credible field of study and his understanding of behaviorism. To Watson, behaviorism was a declaration of faith. It
was based on the idea that a methodology could transform psychology into a science. He wanted to make
psychology more scientifically acceptable. Later, Watson became interested in the work of Ivan Pavlov (1849
1936), and eventually included a highly simplified version of Pavlov's principles in his popular works.[8]
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After the divorce was finalized, Watson and Rayner married in 1921. They remained together until her death in
1935.[11]
Behaviorism
In 1913, Watson published the article "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It" sometimes called "The
Behaviorist Manifesto". In this article, Watson outlined the major features of his new philosophy of psychology,
called "behaviorism". The first paragraph of the article concisely described Watson's behaviorist position:
Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical
goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the
scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of
consciousness. The behaviorist, in his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing line
between man and brute. The behavior of man, with all of its refinement and complexity, forms only a part of the
behaviorist's total scheme of investigation. In 1913, Watson viewed Ivan Pavlov's conditioned reflex as primarily a
physiological mechanism controlling glandular secretions. He had already rejected Edward L. Thorndike's "Law of
Effect" (a precursor to B. F. Skinner's principle of reinforcement) due to what Watson believed were unnecessary
subjective elements. It was not until 1916 that Watson would recognize the more general significance of Pavlov's
formulation and make it the subject of his presidential address to the American Psychological Association. The
article is also notable for its strong defense of the objective scientific status of applied psychology, which at the time
was considered to be much inferior to the established structuralist experimental psychology. With his "behaviorism",
Watson put the emphasis on external behavior of people and their reactions on given situations, rather than the
internal, mental state of those people. In his opinion, the analysis of behaviors and reactions was the only objective
method to get insight in the human actions. This outlook, combined with the complementary ideas of determinism,
evolutionary continuism, and empiricism has contributed to what is now called radical behaviorism. It was this new
outlook that Watson claimed would lead psychology into a new era. He claimed that before Wundt there was no
psychology, and that after Wundt there was only confusion and anarchy. It was Watson's new behaviorism that
would pave the way for further advancements in psychology. Watson's behaviorism rejected the studying of
consciousness. He was convinced that it could not be studied, and that past attempts to do so have only been
hindering the advancement of psychological theories. He felt that introspection was faulty at best and awarded
researchers nothing but more issues. He pushed for psychology to no longer be considered the science of the
"mind". Instead, he stated that psychology should focus on the "behavior" of the individual, not their consciousness.
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man and animal alike, do adjust themselves to their environment by means of hereditary and habit equipments." [13]
Nevertheless, Watson recognized the importance of nurture in the nature versus nurture discussion which was often
neglected by his eugenic contemporaries.[4]
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Suzanne Houk shared similar concerns. She mentions in her article that Watson only shifted his focus to childrearing when he was fired from Johns Hopkins University due to his affair with Rosalie Rayner.[14]
Watson researched many topics in his career, but child-rearing became his most prized interest. His book was
extremely popular and many critics were surprised to see his contemporaries come to accept his views. The book
sold 100,000 copies after just a few months of release.[15]
Watsons emphasis on child development was becoming a new phenomenon and influenced some of his
successors, but there were psychologists before him that delved into the field as well. G. Stanley Hall became very
well known for his 1904 book Adolescence. G. Stanley Halls beliefs differed from behaviorist Watson, believing
that heredity and genetically predetermined factors shaped most of ones behavior, especially during childhood. His
most famous concept, Storm and Stress Theory, normalized adolescents tendency to act out with conflicting
mood swings.[21] Whether Watsons views were controversially radical or not, they garnered a lot of attention and
were accepted as valuable in his time.
Advertising
Thanks to contacts provided by an academic colleague, E. B. Titchener, Watson subsequently began working for
U.S. advertising agency J. Walter Thompson. He learned the advertising business' many facets at ground level,
including a stint working as a shoe salesman in an upscale department store. Despite this modest start, in less than
two years Watson had risen to a vice-presidency at Thompson. His executive's salary, plus bonuses from various
successful ad campaigns, resulted in an income many times higher than his academic salary. Watson headed a
number of high-profile advertising campaigns, particularly for Ponds cold cream and other personal-care
products.[6] In addition, he is credited with popularizing the "coffee break" during an ad campaign for Maxwell
House coffee. He has been widely but erroneously credited with re-introducing the "testimonial" advertisement after
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the tool had fallen out of favor (due to its association with ineffective and dangerous patent medicines). However,
testimonial advertisements had been in use for years before Watson entered advertising. An example of Watson's
use of testimonials was with the campaign he developed for Pebeco toothpaste. The ad featured a seductively
dressed woman, and coaxed women to smoke, as long as they used Pebeco toothpaste. The toothpaste was not a
means to benefit health or hygiene, but as a way to heighten the sexual attraction of the consumer.[5] They were not
only buying toothpaste, they were purchasing sex appeal. Watson stated that he was not making original
contributions, but was just doing what was normal practice in advertising. Watson stopped writing for popular
audiences in 1936, and retired from advertising at about age 65.[4]
Later life
Watson was the maternal grandfather of actress Mariette Hartley, who suffered with psychological issues she
attributed to her being raised with her grandfather's theories.[28]
Rosalie Rayner died in 1935 at age 36. Watson lived on their farm until his death in 1958 at age 80. He was buried
at Willowbrook Cemetery, Westport, Connecticut.[2] In 1957, shortly before his death, he received a Gold Medal
from the American Psychological Association for his contributions to psychology.[6]
Historian John Burnham interviewed Watson late in life, and portrayed him as a man of (still) strong opinions and
some bitterness towards his detractors. Except for a set of reprints of his academic works, Watson burned his very
large collection of letters and personal papers, thus depriving historians of a valuable resource for understanding the
early history of behaviorism and of Watson himself.[29]
See also
Behavior modification
References
1. ^ Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it.Psychological Review, 20, 158-177.
2. ^ a b "Profile data: John Broadus Watson" (http://search.marquiswhoswho.com/profile/200010782413). Marquis
Who's Who. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
3. ^ a b c Buckley, Kerry W. Mechanical Man: John Broadus Watson and the Beginnings of Behaviorism. Guilford
Press, 1989.
4. ^ a b c d Hothersall, D. (2004). History .of psychology. Boston: McGraw Hill.
5. ^ a b c d e Buckley, Kerry W. Mechanical Man: John Broadus Watson and the Beginnings of Behaviorism. New
York: Guilford, 1989. Print.
6. ^ a b c Hergenhahn, B. R. (1992).An introduction to the history of psychology. California: Wadsworth Publishing
Company.
7. ^ a b Fancher, R. E. (1990) Pioneers of Psychology.New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
8. ^ a b Bolles, R. C. (1993). The story of psychology: A thematic history. California: Brooks/Cole Publishing
Company.
9. ^ "John B. Watson" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/637615/John-B-Watson). Encyclopdia
Britannica. 2011. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
10. ^ Watson, J.B. (1903). Animal Education, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11. ^ Murray, D. J. (1988). A history of western psychology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
12. ^ Watson, J. B. (1930). Behaviorism (Revised edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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Further reading
Buckley, Kerry W. Mechanical Man: John Broadus Watson and the Beginnings of Behaviorism.
Guilford Press, 1989.
Buckley, Kerry W. "Misbehaviorism: The Case of John B. Watson's Dismissal from Johns Hopkins
University". In J.T. Todd & E.K. Morris, Modern Perspectives on John B. Watson and Classical
Behaviorism. Greenwood Press, 1994.
Coon, Deborah J. "'Not a Creature of Reason': The Alleged Impact of Watsonian Behaviorism on
Advertising in the 1920s." In J.T. Todd & E.K. Morris, Modern Perspectives on John B. Watson and
Classical Behaviorism. Greenwood Press, 1994.
Curtis, H. S. (1899/1900). "Automatic Movements of the Larynx." American Journal of Psychology 11,
237-39.
Dewsbury, Donald A. (1990). "Early interactions between animal psychologists and animal activists and the
founding of the APA committee on precautions in animal experimentation". American Psychologist 45,
315-27.
Mills, John A. Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology. New York: New York University Press,
1998.
Samelson, F. (1981). "Struggle for Scientific Authority: The Reception of Watson's Behaviorism, 19131920." Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 17, 399-425.
Todd, James T. "What Psychology Has to Say About John B. Watson: Classical Behaviorism in Psychology
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Textbooks, 1920-1989." In J.T. Todd & E.K. Morris, Modern Perspectives on John B. Watson and
Classical Behaviorism. Greenwood Press, 1994.
Todd, James T., & Morris, Edward K. (1986). "The Early Research of John B. Watson: Before the
Behavioral Revolution." The Behavior Analyst 9, 71-88.
Todd, James T., & Morris, Edward K. Modern Perspectives on John B. Watson and Classical
Behaviorism. Greenwood Press, 1994.
Watson, John B. (1907). "Kinaesthetic and Organic Sensations: Their Role in the Reactions of the White rat
to the Maze." Psychological Review Monograph Supplement 8(33), 1-100.
Watson, John B. (1908). "The Behavior of Noddy and Sooty Terns." "Carnegie Institute Publication," 103,
197-255.
Watson, John B. Behavior: An introduction to comparative psychology. Henry Holt, 1914
Watson, John B. (1915). "Recent experiments with homing birds." Harper's Magazine 131, 457-64.
Watson, John B. Behaviorism (revised edition). University of Chicago Press, 1930.
Watson, John B. "John Broadus Watson [Autobiography]." In C. Murchison (Ed.), A History of
Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 3, pp. 27181). Clark University Press, 1936.
Wyczoikowska, A. (1913). "Theoretical and experimental studies in the mechanism of speech."
"Psychological Review," 20, 448-58.
External links
Psychology as the behaviorist views it (1913) (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/views.htm). Watson,
John B., Psychological Review, 20, pp. 158177.
Conditioned emotional reactions (The Little Albert study, 1920).
(http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/emotion.htm) Watson, John B. & Rayner, Rosalie, Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 3(1), pp. 114.
John B. Watson. His Life in Words and Pictures (http://alpha.furman.edu/~einstein/watson/watson1.htm) Furman University Psychology Department
It's All in the Upbringing (http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/0400web/35.html) - A biographical sketch of
Watson's life and work on the website of Johns Hopkins University, where he worked from 1908 to 1920.
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Psych/rwozniak/watson.html
http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~packer/DevPsych/Houk2000.html
Educational offices
Preceded by
Robert Sessions Woodworth
Succeeded by
Raymond Dodge
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