John B. Watson
Modified: 2020-02-27
John B. Watson was destined to become a Baptist preacher until his
mother died and he felt relieved of his promise to her of attending
the seminary. Instead, he went to the newly-formed University of
Chicago. There, he studied under Angell and was influenced by Loeb's
theory of tropisms. Soon after graduation he moved to the Johns
Hopkins University, and soon thereafter became chair because of
Baldwin's sexual indiscretions. All along, Watson was thinking about
behaviorism. In 1913, he finally published "Psychology as the
behaviorist views it." That manifesto revolutionized psychology and,
when combined with Pavlov's classical conditioning,
became a new approach to psychology: Behaviorism. Watson, like Baldwin before him, paid for his
sexual indiscretions by the loss of his job. Interestingly, even in
his love letters to Rosalie Rayner, his research assistant and later his second wife, he used behaviorist language,
"...every fiber of my being resonates..." However, he landed on his
feet working for J. Walter Thompson. He kept his hand in psychology
somewhat, writing popular articles and even debating McDougall.
Comments
Watson founded Behaviorism and agitated for its use in
psychological theorizing. His own theorizing in behaviorism was
primitive and limited because of his premature exit from academe. He
did do much, however, in his new role to popularize behaviorism and
to help remake psychology.
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