2. WATSON’S LIFE
John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878 – September 25, 1958)
Nationality
American
Fields
Psychology
Doctoral advisor
J. R. Angell
Other academic advisors
John Dewey, H. H. Donalds, Jacques Loeb
Known for Founding Behaviorism
3. WATSON’S EDCATION
Despite his poor academic performance and having been arrested
twice during high school (first for fighting with African Americans,
then for discharging firearms within city limits),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. 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.
4. WATSON’S THEORY
Watson was interested in the conditioning of
emotions. Of course behaviorism putting an
emphasis on people's external behaviors,
emotions were considered as mere physical
responses. Watson thought that, at birth,
there are three unlearned emotional
reactions: Fear, rage and love.
5. WATSON’ RESEARCH
Watson was interested in the conditioning of
emotions. Of course behaviorism putting an
emphasis on people's external behaviors,
emotions were considered as mere physical
responses. Watson thought that, at birth,
there are three unlearned emotional
reactions: Fear, rage and love. It was Watson's
new behaviorism that would pave the way for
further advancements in psychology.
6. JOHN WATSON’S REJECTION OF OTHER
THEORISTS
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.
7. QUOTES
• “We haven't had any fatalities yet, but still we have severely
dehydrated patients coming in.”
• “He makes certain that when the governor is out in public, it is as
flawless and seamless as possible.”
• “Even a big helicopter can bring in only 50 [tents] at a time and we
need tens of thousands.”
“When they said it was over, we figured it was over. We didn't really
believe that it was possible for Patti and her group to change the
minds of the network.”
• “In practice, the likelihood of preventing spread of infection in tho
those circumstances is very limited.”
8. QUOTES
• “We've got quite a diversity on our team this year. On one
side-the boys-we have loads of talent and experience with
all the guys back from last year. But the girls team is the
most inexperienced group I've ever had.”
• “Those kids make up a very solid class on our team.”
• “All of them have bright futures.”
• “Today was a real solid day for us. I thought both our guys
and girls got after it really well in both matches and
everyone got to play, which is always good.”
9. QUOTES
• “We haven't had any fatalities yet, but still we
have severely dehydrated patients coming in.”
“He makes certain that when the governor is
out in public, it is as flawless and seamless as
possible.”
10. CONCLUSION
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.
11. REFERENCES
• "Classics in the History of Psychology": "Watson obtained his Ph.D. under
the supervision of Angell 1903.“
• Watson, J. B. (1913). "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it.".
• Psychological Review 20: 158–177. doi:10.1037/h0074428 Kintsch, Walter;
Cacioppo, John T. (1994).
• "Introduction to the 100th Anniversary Issue of the Psychological Review".
Psychological Review 101 (2): 195–199. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.101.2.195.
• Haggbloom, Steven J.; Warnick, Jason E.; Jones, Vinessa K.; Yarbrough,
Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan; et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century.”
• Review of General Psychology 6 (2): 139–152. doi:10.1037/1089-
2680.6.2.139. "Profile data: John Broadus Watson.”
• Marquis Who's Who. Retrieved August 7, 2012. Buckley, Kerry W.
Mechanical Man: John Broadus Watson and the Beginnings of
Behaviorism. Guilford Press, 1989
