John B. Watson - 2181 Words

John Broadus Watson was a famous American psychologist who lived between 1878 and 1958. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina to Pickens and Emma Watson and was the fourth of six children. The family was not well off financially and John did not have an easy childhood. In spite of the poverty that engulfed the family, John’s father turned into an alcoholic who cared less for his family. However, Emma, John’s mother was a devoted religious woman who struggled to take care of her children with less support from her husband. In 1891, John’s father left the family and disappeared after engaging in extra marital affairs with other women. The infidelity strained his marriage with Emma and the relationship with his children. After the†¦show more content†¦Dr. Watson was an extremely hard working man and stayed busy as we can witness from his biography. It was this desire and hard work that helped him escape from poverty on a remote farm in Greenville, and reach prosperity as a famous scholar whose work was applauded by fellow scholars worldwide. John B. Watson made many contributions to the study of psychology. Especially with his behaviorism school of thought which later became an entire branch of psychology. Watson defined behaviorism as â€Å"a natural science approach to psychology that focuses on the study of environmental influences on observable behavior.† (Powell, Symbaluk Honey, 2008. p. 14). Watson strongly believed this study should be limited to behavior that can be observed since it is the only one hat can be predicted and controlled objectively without any fictitious constrains as those associated with conscious experiences and beliefs. Watson dismisses the usability of the consciousness concept in psychology. Behaviorism scholars are opposed to the idea that a person’s behavior can be studied using thought or even beliefs. These according to them, are fabricated constructs that mislead the human’s understanding of behavior. Watson was strongly objected to the study of consciousness and mind in general since according to him there is no way these can fully be interpreted in the study of behavior. Mostly, speculations areShow MoreRelatedBiography Of John B. Watson1180 Words   |  5 PagesJohn B. Watson has been credited for founding the school of behaviourism in 1913, his now renown lecture given at Columbia University begun the official founding of behaviourism and he became well-known for his â€Å"Little Albert† study that demonstrated how experience rearranged the stimuli that caused emotional responses such as fear, rage and love. Watson may have founded behaviourism but he paved the way for many individual functionalists such as Ivan Sechenov, Ivan Pavlov, and Vladimir BechterevRead MoreThe Little Albert Experiment By John B. Watson997 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout psychology we have learned a variety of experiments that have made an impact toward the field of psychology. One important e xperiment that was significant in the field was the â€Å"Little Albert Experiment† by John B. Watson. John B. Watson was a behaviorist where he wanted to conduct an experiment that further Ivan Pavlov research on classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a theory engages a new behavior through the process of association. This theory includes three stages of classicalRead MoreJohn B. Watson s Theory Of Psychology1048 Words   |  5 PagesJohn B. Watson was a great American psychologist whose theories, publications, and experiments had an enduring influence on psychology. Possibly his biggest contributions to psychology were his theory of behaviorism and his experiment on Little Albert. Though Watson’s experiments were extremely unethical and behaviorism doesn’t account for biological psychology, Watson was an extremely remarkable psychologist because of his principal of behaviorism and his findings on classical conditioning. BackgroundRead MoreJohn B. Watson s Article Summary Essay1765 Words   |  8 PagesSummary One of the most famous American Psychologists, John B. Watson, conducted numerous experiments that helped establish a clearer understanding of how the human brain associates response to certain situations. In one of his more famous experiments, Watson tested the conditioned emotional response of a small child. This child, Albert, was eleven months old and was one of â€Å"the most developed youngsters ever brought to the hospital† (Watson, 1). It was noted that he never presented fear in any situationRead MoreThe Little Albert Experiment, By John B. Watson And Mary Cover Jones Hope973 Words   |  4 Pagesfear? These are some of the questions that John B. Watson and Mary Cover Jones hope to answer The little Albert Experiment According to Schultz and Schultz (2012), the little Albert Experiment was an example of stimulus generalization. This experiment was conducted by John B. Watson and his graduate student Rosalie Rayner, at Johns Hopkins University. John B. Watson showed evidence of Classical conditioning in his experiment with little Albert. As Mr. Watson began to show the child a series of objectsRead MoreHow Two Incredibly Innovative Behavior Theorists During Their Time Were By John B. Watson1014 Words   |  5 Pagestime were, John B. Watson, and B. F. Skinner. The spark of the behaviorism movement began after Watson published the classic article Psychology as the behaviorist views it in 1913 (McLeod, 2004). John B. Watson’s prestigious career began in 1903 when he learned his doctorate degree in psychology with a minor in philosophy. Soon after Watson was hired as an instructor at the same place he earned his doctorate degree, the University of Chicago (Watson, 1999). A mere year later, Watson was hired asRead MoreJohn B. Watson1440 Words   |  6 Pages[Add to Folder] [Printable Page] Watson, John B. Born : 1878 Died : 1958 Nationality : American Occupation : psychologist RELATED BIOGRAPHIES: †¢ Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich †¢ Skinner, B. F. (Ethics) RELATED ESSAYS: †¢ Ethics in Advertising and Science †¢ Rights of Human Research Participants John Broadus Watson was one of the most controversial leading figures in American psychology. A pioneer in behaviorism, Watson wrote accessible books promotingRead MoreThe Conditioning Of Fear By John B. Watson915 Words   |  4 Pages The Conditioning of Fear John B. Watson was an American psychologist who established behaviorism. He assumed that psychology should study only objective behavior due to the conscience or psyche aspect being difficult to measure. Watson stated that psychology’s â€Å"theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior† (Clavijo 379). Watson believed that â€Å"conditioning procedure† would contribute to analyzing the â€Å"conscious† (Hall 186). In other words, behavior is the relationship between thoughtsRead MoreThe John B Watson s Life860 Words   |  4 Pages` John B Watson In 1878 John B Watson was born to Emma and Pickens Watson. A poor family in Greenville, South Carolina, his mother was very religious. John s father, with whom he was closer, did not follow the same rules of living as his mother. He drank, had extra-marital affairs, and left in 1891. Eventually John married Mary Ikes whom he met at the University of Chicago. Together they had two children, Mary and John. And, like his father, had affairs with a number of women. John and Mary finallyRead MoreJohn B. Watson s Theory Of Psychology1266 Words   |  6 PagesJohn B. Watson Psychologists have been focused on observing and understanding human behavior for centuries, dating back to the Greek philosophers when psychology and philosophy were considered one.Today, Psychology is the study of human behavior, beginning before birth and lasting until death. It is clear that the observance human behavior is a vast and profound source of data for psychologists. Early philosophers relied on methods of observation and logic. A physiologist named Wilhelm Wundt in