History of Psychology
Chapter 10 Behaviorism:
The Beginnings
I. John B. Watson (1878-1958)
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A. Watson’s life
 1. Rebel personality
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2. Mother:
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wishes him to be a minister
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Father:
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drank heavily
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
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3. 1900: U. of Chicago
a. studied philosophy with Dewey
 b. attracted to psychology through work with
Angell
 c. studied biology and physiology with Loeb
 d. 1903: youngest Ph.D. from Chicago (at his
age of 25)

John B. Watson (1878-1958)
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4. Dissertation on “neurological and psychological
maturation of the white rat”
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5. 1903-1908: faculty at U. of Chicago
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6. 1908: to John Hopkins U.
 a. 1909: chair of the psychology department
 b. 1909: editor of Psychological Review
John B. Watson (1878-1958)

7. 1913: published his article on the
Psychological Review; Behaviorism was
officially launched

8. 1914: book: Behavior: An Introduction to
Comparative Psychology
 a. argued for acceptance of animal
psychology
 b. described advantages of animal subjects
John B. Watson (1878-1958)

9. 1919: Psychology from the Standpoint of a
Behaviorist
 a. argued methods and principles of animal
research appropriate for study of humans

10. 1920: forced to resign from Johns Hopkins
John B. Watson (1878-1958)

11. second career: applied psychology in
advertising
 a. mechanistic view of humans:
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Consumers’ behavior could be predicted and
controlled
b. proposed experimental (lab) study of
consumer behavior
12. publicity for psychology in the popular
media
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
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13. 1925: Behaviorism
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14. 1928: Psychological Care of the Infant and
Child

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
a. focus on environmental factors
b. recommended perfect objectivity in child-rearing
practices
c. had the greatest impact of all his work
John B. Watson (1878-1958)

15. 1935: his wife died; he moved to a
farmhouse

16. burned all of his papers prior to his death
II. The Reaction to Watson’s Program

A. His major points

1. Psychology is the science of behavior

2. a purely objective experimental natural
science
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3. both animal and human behavior are
studied
II. The Reaction to Watson’s Program

A. His major points

4. discard all mentalistic concepts & used
only behavior concepts (e.g., stimulus &
response)

5. Goal of psychology: prediction and
control of behavior
The Reaction to Watson’s Program

B. Initial reactions

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1. behaviorism was not embraced
2. his 1919 book provided the movement’s impact
C. Calkins: adhered to introspection as the sole
method for some processes


D. Washburn: called Watson an enemy of
psychology
The Reaction to Watson’s Program
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E. 1920s

1. university offered courses in behaviorism

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2. the word "behaviorist" appeared in journals
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3. McDougall: against behaviorism publicly

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4. Titchener: complained of its force and extent
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5. Other forms of behaviorism have developed
III. The Methods of Behaviorism

A. Psychology must restrict itself to the
objective study of behavior.

B. Adoption of the methods of the natural
sciences
 1. observation, with and without instruments
 2. testing methods
 3. verbal report method
 4. conditioned reflex method
The Methods of Behaviorism
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C. Observation:


a necessary basis for the other methods
D. Testing methods

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Were already in use
But Watson thought that test results are samples
of behavior, not indices of mental qualities
The Methods of Behaviorism
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D. Verbal reports

1. A controversial issue

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2. speech reactions are objectively observable
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3. thinking is speaking silently
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4. admitted the lack of precision and limitations

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5. limited it to situations where it could be verified
The Methods of Behaviorism
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D. Conditioned reflex method
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1. adopted in 1915
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2. Watson responsible for widespread use
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3. conditioning is stimulus substitution

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4. selected as an objective method of behavior
analysis
The Methods of Behaviorism

5. Reinforced the concept of people as
machines.
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6. human subject: the observed rather than the
observer
 a. designation changed from "observer" to
"subject“
 b. experimenter became the observer
IV. The Subject Matter of Behaviorism

A. Elements of behavior


1. The primary subject matter of behaviorism
was the elements of behavior
2. goal: understand the organism’s total
behavior
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism
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2. explicit versus implicit

a. Responses can be explicit or implicit
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b. explicit responses: overt and observable


c. implicit responses: occur inside of the organism
(e.g., nerve impulses)
 1) observable
 2) must be observable through the use of
instruments
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism

3. simple versus complex stimuli


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a. Stimuli may be simple or complex
B. stimulus situation can be reduced to specific
component stimuli
4. laws of behavior


a. specific behavior can be analyzing the S-R
complexes into their elementary S-R units.
b. all areas of behavior must be considered as
objective S-R events
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism
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B. Instincts

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1. 1914: Watson described 11 instincts
2. 1925: eliminated the concept of instinct
 a. an extreme environmentalist
 b. denied inherited capacities, temperaments,
talents
 c. children can become anything one desires
 d. this viewpoint became popular in America
society
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism

C. Emotions

1. Emotion was physiological responses to
specific stimuli


E.g., threatening (Stimuli)  produces internal
physical changes such as rapid heart rate (response).
2. Denied any conscious perception of emotion
or sensations from internal organs
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism
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C. Emotions



3. Emotion is a form of implicit behavior:
internal responses are evident in physiology
(e.g., pulse rate)
4. Criticized James’s theory of emotion
5. fear, love, and rage are 3 innate emotional
responses
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism

D. Albert, Peter, and the rabbits
 1. the Albert study never
successfully replicated

2. Mary Cover Jones
 a. study of Peter
 b. generalized fear responses
eliminated
 c. Later: modern systematic
desensitization techniques.
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism

E. Thought processes

1. Watson attempted to reduce thinking to
implicit motor behavior
 a. Thought was a type of sensorimotor
behavior.
 b. The behavior of thinking must involve
implicit speech reactions or movements
 c. reduced thinking to subvocal talking
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism

2. Thinking is a way of talking silently.

3. We also express thought through gestures
(e.g., frowns), which are overt reactions to
stimuli
V. Behaviorism’s Popular Appeal

A. Watson called for a society based on
scientifically shaped and controlled behavior

B. Emphasis on childhood environment and
minimization of heredity (Hope to public)
Behaviorism’s Popular Appeal

C. Conditioned reflex experiments



(e.g., Albert study)
1. implied emotional disturbances in adulthood
due to conditioned responses during earlier years
2. implies proper childhood conditioning should
prevent adult disorders
D. Experimental ethics


1. a framework for research
2. elaborated by Skinner
VIII. Criticism of Watson’s Behaviorism

A. McDougall against Watson’s view

a. agreed data of behavior are a proper focus for
psychology

b. argued data of consciousness also necessary
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c. questioned Watson's view that human behavior is
fully determined; left no room for free will
d. critical of Watson’s use of the verbal report method
IX. Contributions of Watson’s Behaviorism

A. Made psychology more objective in methods
and terminology

B. Stimulated a great deal of research


C. Effectively overcame the earlier positions in
psychology

D. Objective methods and language became part
of the mainstream