John B. Watson
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Watson, John B.
Born : 1878 Died : 1958 Nationality : American Occupation : psychologist
RELATED BIOGRAPHIES: • Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich
• Skinner, B. F. (Ethics) RELATED ESSAYS: • Ethics in Advertising and Science
• Rights of Human Research Participants
John Broadus Watson was one of the most controversial leading figures in American psychology. A pioneer in behaviorism, Watson wrote accessible books promoting the behaviorist agenda that garnered considerable public attention. The cornerstone of behaviorist psychology was the view that behavior should be studied as a product of objectively observable external events instead of appealing to internal processes of the mind. Watson quickly became disillusioned with the technique of introspection (or looking inward) that was in vogue in academic psychology around the turn of the 20th century. This experience prompted him to conduct research using animal subjects.
In 1903, Watson accepted a teaching position at the University of Chicago and five years later moved on to Johns Hopkins University where he was appointed as a full professor. The next 12 years at Johns Hopkins were the most academically productive of his life and projected him into the limelight as an iconoclast in the field.
A year after Watson arrived at Hopkins, the man who had hired him, J. Mark Baldwin, was arrested in a police raid on a Baltimore brothel and was forced to resign. Watson took up the reins as chairman of the psychology department and also acquired Baldwin's role as editor of the influential journal Psychological Review. At the age of 31, he had become one of the most eminent figures in academic psychology.
Watson enjoyed a dazzlingly successful career at Hopkins. He was academically productive and was exceptionally popular with students. A year after his arrival, the students dedicated their yearbook to him. In 1919, he was
Watson, John B.
Born : 1878 Died : 1958 Nationality : American Occupation : psychologist
RELATED BIOGRAPHIES: • Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich
• Skinner, B. F. (Ethics) RELATED ESSAYS: • Ethics in Advertising and Science
• Rights of Human Research Participants
John Broadus Watson was one of the most controversial leading figures in American psychology. A pioneer in behaviorism, Watson wrote accessible books promoting the behaviorist agenda that garnered considerable public attention. The cornerstone of behaviorist psychology was the view that behavior should be studied as a product of objectively observable external events instead of appealing to internal processes of the mind. Watson quickly became disillusioned with the technique of introspection (or looking inward) that was in vogue in academic psychology around the turn of the 20th century. This experience prompted him to conduct research using animal subjects.
In 1903, Watson accepted a teaching position at the University of Chicago and five years later moved on to Johns Hopkins University where he was appointed as a full professor. The next 12 years at Johns Hopkins were the most academically productive of his life and projected him into the limelight as an iconoclast in the field.
A year after Watson arrived at Hopkins, the man who had hired him, J. Mark Baldwin, was arrested in a police raid on a Baltimore brothel and was forced to resign. Watson took up the reins as chairman of the psychology department and also acquired Baldwin's role as editor of the influential journal Psychological Review. At the age of 31, he had become one of the most eminent figures in academic psychology.
Watson enjoyed a dazzlingly successful career at Hopkins. He was academically productive and was exceptionally popular with students. A year after his arrival, the students dedicated their yearbook to him. In 1919, he was