John B Watson Essay

John Broadus Watson was born in 1878 in Greenville, South Carolina. Born into a morally divided and low-economic family, John did not have what one considers a “picture-perfect,” childhood. His father was a raging addict, while his mother lived by the church. The moral division led to troubles in his adolescent years. He was arrested multiple times due to fighting and illegal activity. His early academic performance suffered as well. He began studying in 1984 at Furman University. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity, however, he leaned on the delinquent side. He received low grades in his psychology classes and refused to turn in assignments. However, he did indeed graduate from Furman 5 years later. He decided in 1900 to study philosophy at the University of Chicago. In his years at Chicago, he pursued a degree in experimental psychology. He also became quite interested in the study of animals in comparison to psychology. It was here that he began to develop his behaviorist theories with the influence of Vladimir Bekhterev and Ivan Pavlov. In 1903, he was the youngest student at the university to graduate with a PhD. After graduation, he was given the position of associate professor of psychology at John Hopkins University in 1908. However, in 1920 he was asked to leave the university due to an affair with one of his students Rosalie Rayner, while still married to his first wife. In 1921 he married Rosalie and they were married for 15 years. Sadly, Rosalie died at the age of 36. After her death, Watson entered into the profession of advertisement. He wanted to use his theories of behaviorism on animals to improve advertisement. He began training at the J Walter Thompson Agency. During his time there, he wrote and sold multiple books on human emotions. He eventually retired from John B. Watson and Emotional Conditioning (Early Life) his time at J Walter in 1945. …show more content…
Throughout his adult and later life, Watson had absent/poor relationships with his children. Watson and Rosalie had two sons, William Rayner and James Broadus Watson. They lived on a farm in Whippoorwill. Sadly, in 1935 Rosalie passed away. Watson then moved from Whippoorwill in the 1950s. He relocated to a smaller farm in Woodburry, Conneticut. He was rumored to be a heavy drinker at this time, however, it was never proven. He lived a very reclusive life in his last years. John B. Watson died on September 25th, 1958 at the age of 80 on his farm in Connecticut. Before his death, he destroyed multiple unpublished works. However, he did receive recognition before and after his death. Watson received a citation from the American Psychological Association in 1957. The psychology labs at Furman University were named after Watson in memory of his years spent at Furman. Then in 1984, he was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Science and Technology. John B. Watson laid the groundwork for behaviorism in psychology. Many concepts and ideals are still used to this day. Behaviorism can be seen used a lot in therapy in regards to patients and helping them change/establish new skills and behaviors. Overall, John B. Watson opened the doors with his theory of behaviorism, and will always be a iconic face in the world of psychology. John B. Watson and Emotional Conditioning (Theory) John B. Watson opened the door to the theory that emotions could be classically conditioned. In his novel, The Ways of Behaviorism, Watson describes behaviorism as a scientific study of behavior. He began by observing certain behaviors and he studied how certain stimuluses could affect behavior. This was proven in his most famous study, also known as, “The Little Albert Experiment.” This study was performed in 1919 with his assistant, Rosalie Rayner. The study featured a young baby known as “Little Albert.” The young infant was shown a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, and multiple masks. Albert, however, showed no signs of fear or rejection of the stimuluses. It was not until the scientists struck a hammer behind him that the infant would burst into tears. Watson continuously showed the white rat and strike the hammer. This would always send Albert into tears. After a few weeks, Albert became conditioned to the fact every time he saw the rat he would think about the hammer and would burst into tears. After a few