JOHN WATSON’S THEORY OF BEHAVIORISM

Toria Baker, Sabrina Fischer, and Emily Jackson

Watson’s Early Days

Born in South Carolina; grew up on a farm

Was a rebel when younger but had an ambition that made him want to go to college

Went to Furman University at age 16 and then went on the the University of Chicago

Later became a professor of experimental and comparative psychology at Johns Hopkins University

His Early Work

1913- published an article about his new ideas that animals responded to events according to their "wiring," or nerve pathways that were conditioned by experience

This was very different and new Watson disagreed with Freud Didn’t think that the heredity of a person

shaped their behavior

His Findings

Watson’s experiments were interrupted by WWI where he served as a psychologist

Realized that he hated the military Went back to Johns Hopkins where he

continued his academic career until some unfortunate events happened and he was asked to leave the university

And now onto the experiment!

Watson’s Inspirations

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov Studied animal learning

Noticed dogs salivate before being presented with food

Taught the dogs to salivate when he rang a bell by presenting food

Had discovered classical conditioning

Watson’s Ideas

Watson wanted to apply classical conditioning to children behavior

Experiment: Taught 11 month old

Albert to fear a rat by making loud noises whenever he touched the rat

Albert developed a fear of the white rat

John Watson

http://www.noodle.org/learn/details/150653/watson-behaviorism-rayner-baby-albert-david-peterzell-classes

Responses

Albert developed a fear of white fur and even Watson’s white hair.

Because Albert’s fear was so apparent, people thought it was morally corrupt and considered cruel and changed the ethics of studies such as Watson’s. Albert developed a fear of the

animals used in the experiment such as rats and avoided them all his life.

Watson’s Beliefs

Watson defined behaviorism as what people do.

“Life’s most complicated acts are but combinations of these simple stimulus-response patterns of behavior” ~John Watson

Experiment

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/watson-and-little-albert.html

Origin of the Theory

Happened after World War I During the roaring 20’s Flapper era Large social hierarchy During the time where children should be

seen but not heard

Continuing Development

Albert’s responses to the experiment/rat gradually increased with his age placing the experiment as a continuous experiment

Contributions to Society

Found a new way for parents to raise their children By Molding their behavior

using Watson’s theory Also gave moral boundaries

to experiments Testing on children, cruelty,

ethics, etc. Example: children do

something bad, they get spanked Taught the children to not do

anything bad or they would be punished

Conclusions

“Watson concluded that environment is the supreme force in development and that adults can mold children’s behavior by carefully controlling stimulus-response associations” (Burke,17).

Bibliography

Berk, Laura E. Infants, Children, and Adolescents. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996. Print.

"John B. Watson." Psychology History. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.

"John Watson." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhwats.html>.

Simpson, Joanne C. "Johns Hopkins Magazine -- April 2000." Johns Hopkins Magazine. N.p., Apr. 2000. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.

"Watson and Little Albert." Education Portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.

"Watson Behaviorism Rayner Baby Albert." Beta Noodle. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.

Bibliography cont.

Images http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/files/2012/01/albert1-

11.jpeg http://mybrainnotes.com/john-watson-hospitalism.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/

Ivan_Pavlov_NLM3.jpg http://education-portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/

Little_Albert_John_Watson.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/105/4559862181_1e2b8aa7ec.jpg http://listverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/albert.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/

John_Broadus_Watson.JPG http://pavlov.psicol.unam.mx:8080/Cim2000/Imagenes/

littlealbert.jpg http://eweb.furman.edu/~einstein/watson/jbwover.jpg