John B Watson Perspective

Perspectives
Brooke Torres
PSY/310
July 1, 2013
Lillian Fillpot

Perspectives
Each psychological perspective has pioneers who have done the research to not only present the perspective, but to also prove how beneficial it is. John B. Watson is one of the great pioneers who created and popularized the behavioral perspective. He had many followers who believed in what he said, including B.F. Skinner. Although Skinner was truly influenced by Watson, he had his own ideas and theories that he later proved to be extremely persuasive. With the domination of the behavioral perspective, there also came skepticism, including one skeptic by the name of Edward C. Tolman. Tolman later introduced cognitive psychology, which is still a staple in modern
John B. Watson did not have the most ideal childhood. Perhaps this is why he later went on to become the mouthpiece for the movement that came to be called behaviorism (Goodwin, 2008, p. #338). He was born in 1878, just outside of Greenville, South Carolina. His father was a farmer with severe issues, such as alcoholism, adultery, and anger. His mother was an extremely religious woman who pushed a future in the faith onto Watson. Although Watson was a bright young man, entering Furman University at the age of 16, he was well known as a troublemaker. Watson went on to earn his master’s degree in 1900 before entering the University of Chicago. His intention was to study philosophy and psychology but later decided to focus on functionalist psychology. Watson had a profound interest in animals and found himself extremely comfortable in studying their behaviors, rather than those of human subjects. Watson’s doctoral dissertation,
Watson, Skinner, and Tolman each have their own connection to the behaviorist perspective in one way or another. Watson and Skinner each believe that an individual’s behavior can be conditioned in certain ways. For example, Watson was a firm believer in classical conditioning, while Skinner developed operant conditioning. After extensive research on animals, particularly rats, Watson performed an experiment on Little Albert to test his theory or classical conditioning. Aside from the ethical issues of experimenting on an infant, Watson was successful in proving his theory correct. Little Albert was classically conditioned to fear, not only the white furry rat, but anything else that resembled the rat in any way. This fear was elicited by the loud noise that was associated with the presence of the furry rat. Skinner’s beliefs differed in the sense that he believed an individual’s behavior is influenced primarily by the consequence following that particular behavior. For example, if it is a negative effect the behavior is less likely to occur again. If it is a positive consequence that follows that behavior, the chances of the behavior repeating are more likely. This is the premise of operant conditioning. Tolman’s trademark was little different because he introduced the cognitive theory to the world of psychology. Tolman too performed experiments on rats and their