John B. Watson

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-08-03 10:54 AM 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 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.