John B. Watson

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2024-05-28 2:48 PM CDST

• 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 paradigm.
  • 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 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.
• Watson delivered his famous speech at Columbia University.
  • He argued that psychology “has failed signally...to make its place in the world as an undisputed natural science” (Watson, 1913, p. 163).
  • He claimed that neither Structuralism nor Functionalism had made much progress in advancing psychology because both were wedded to consciousness, albeit in different ways, and neither could provide a coherent scientific account of the discipline. He wished to “never use the terms consciousness, mental states, mind, content, introspectively verifiable, imagery” (p. 166) again. In their place he proposed the study of behaviors only.
  • He noted that there was already a history of success of such research using animals (p. 176):
    • "Psychology, as the behaviorist views it, is a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science which needs introspection as little as do the sciences of chemistry and physics. It is granted that the behavior of animals can be investigated without the appeal to consciousness...The position is taken here that the behavior of man and the behavior of animals must be considered on the same plane; as being equally essential to a general understanding of behavior. It can dispense with consciousness in a psychological sense."
      
  • He also warned, “Should human psychologists fail to look with favor upon our overtures and refuse to modify their position, the behaviorists will be driven to using human beings as subjects and to employ methods of investigation which are exactly comparable to those now employed in animal work” (p. 159).
  • In short, Watson was rejecting the methodology of the structuralists and functionalists, although his greatest fire was reserved for the latter, “I have done my best to understand the difference between functional psychology and structural psychology. Instead of clarity, confusion grows upon me” (p. 165).
• 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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