Psychologists And Psychoanalysts Codexery

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism who transformed psychology into a science of observable behavior.

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The individual who established behaviorism as a recognized school of thought in psychology was John Broadus Watson, an American.[1] His investigations spanned animal behavior, child-rearing practices, and advertising; the "Little Albert" experiment, which sparked debate, was among his studies.[1]

Key facts and history

His mother subjected him to harsh religious training, leading him to become an atheist.[2] Watson's affair with student Rosalie Rayner led to a divorce and his resignation from Johns Hopkins in 1920.[3][4] He married Rayner in 1921 and they had two sons raised with behaviorist principles.[4] The University of Chicago awarded Watson his PhD in 1903.[5]

Historians lost a valuable resource for early behaviorism because Watson destroyed his personal letters and papers.[6] The American Psychological Association awarded Watson a Gold Medal in 1957.[7]

What the research sources say

The Psychology's Feminist Voices profile states that Watson believed very few emotional responses were hardwired at birth.[8] According to that profile, Watson and Rayner's "Little Albert" experiments aimed to prove responses could be learned through conditioning.[8] The profile notes that Watson was forced to leave academia after his divorce and worked for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.[8] A HeadStuff article reports that Watson was arrested for attacks on local black people, considered extreme even by 1890s standards.[9]

The same article states Watson received his PhD at age 25, notably young for such a qualification.[9] A Sun-Sentinel article describes Watson's legacy of misery culminating in his granddaughter Mariette Hartley's life.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cohn, Aaron S. 2014. "Watson, John B.." Pp. 1429–1430 in The Social History of the American Family: An Encyclopedia, edited by M. J. Coleman and L. H. Ganong. T; Watson, "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.", Psychological Review, 1913, p. 158–177 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kimble, Gregory A., Michael Wertheimer, and Charlotte White. 2013.Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology. Psychology Press. "Watson's outspoken atheism repelled ma; Martin, Michael. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. "Among celebrity atheists with much biographical data, we find; Buckley, "Mechanical Man: John Broadus Watson and the Beginnings of Behaviorism", Guilford Press, 1989 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Reevy, "Encyclopedia of Emotion", ABC-CLIO, 2010; Hothersall, D. (2004). History of Psychology. Boston: McGraw Hill (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Washington Times. January 2, 1921. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "John B. Watson." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2020 [1998]. Retrieved May 16, 2020.; Watson, John B. 1903. "Animal Education: An Experimental Study on the Psychical Development of the White Rat, Correlated with the Growth of its Nervous System" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burnham, John C. 1994. "John B. Watson: Interviewee, Professional Figure, Symbol." Modern Perspectives on John B. Watson and Classical Behaviorism. Greenwood Pr (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "John B. Watson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burnham, John C. 1994. "John B. Watson: Interviewee, Professional Figure, Symbol." Modern Perspectives on John B. Watson and Classical Behaviorism. Greenwood Pr; Hergenhahn, B. R. (1992). An Introduction to the History of Psychology. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Smirle, Corinne. 2013. "Profile of Rosalie Rayner ." Psychology's Feminist Voices, edited by A. Rutherford. Retrieved May 16, 2020.. facts only, no text reused. feministvoices.com
  9. Conliffe, "John B Watson, Dark Psychologist", HeadStuff, 2016-11-28. facts only, no text reused. headstuff.org
  10. Strand, "Picture Imperfect: Shunned by parents, battered by a husband, actress Mariette Hartley could have filled her scrapbook with pain and suffering", Sun-Sentinel.com, November 18, 1990. facts only, no text reused. sun-sentinel.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article John B. Watson (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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