How Did Watson Contribute To Psychology

John Watson originally was born and raised in South Carolina. Despite in believing that he was a poor student, Watson attended many qualified universities such as, Furman University and the University of Chicago. The highest level of education that he reached was obtaining a Ph.D. in psychology in the year 1903. John Watson was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism. Watson contributed to the role of psychology with the development of behaviorist views. Throughout his teaching career at Colombia University, he introduced his very own seminal lecture called “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It,” which empathized the behaviorist position. Watson strongly emphasized the belief of psychology as a science
The first principle is based on the stimulus and response, which defines behavior as a response to specific signals. The second principle is habit formation, which accentuated that behavioral responses can learn to become complex and retained. The final principle is habit integration, which stresses the idea that simple responses eventually turn into complex acts. Watson also contributed in the learning of animal subjects and observing the variations of behaviors in these subjects. This lead to the creation of the Little Albert experiment, where he used the help of a little boy named Albert to support his theory of the three basic emotional reactions in children. These reactions included fear, rage and love. Watson would show Albert the white rat with an additional loud sound to create or condition fear. He would repeat this process several times. As a result, Albert was afraid, and he started to generalize other objects that were white and furry. Watson was quite successful at publishing his own books, and voicing his opinions in the world of behaviorism. In 1925, he published the book “Behaviorism”, which was targeted for the average person, in understanding the basic concepts of the behaviorist perspective. In 1928, he published the book “Psychological Care of Infant and Child”, which helped apply behaviorism in parenting styles. Watson also believed that parenting should be detached, to which he created the “detached” theory of parenting. In this theory, he stressed the importance of seven key principles. The first principle is about the negative aspect of forming attachments with children. The second principle reflects the unimportance of the child’s conscious states such as needs and desires.