John Broadus Watson (1878–1958). In a recent study of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century, Watson was ranked 17th among such pioneers as B.F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, and Carl Rogers (Haggbloom et al. 2002). Known as the father of behaviorism, Watson’s influence involved the codification and publication of behaviorism into prominence within the field of psychology as well as the initiation of the movement away from purely introspective methodology in psychological research. Still, it may be argued that Watson’s views are often misunderstood, oversimplified, or biased by subsequent generations (Malone 2017).
Early Life and Educational Background
Watson was born on January 9, 1878, outside of Greenville, South Carolina, in a small city called Travelers Rest. He died on September 25, 1958, in Woodbury, Connecticut. The second of five children, Watson was primarily raised by his mother Emma, a devout Baptist (Houk 2000). Emma Watson moved the family to Greenville...
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References
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Selected Bibliography
Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158.
Watson, J. B. (1919). Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Watson, J. B. (1925). Experimental studies on the growth of the emotions. Pedagogical Seminary, 32, 328–348.
Watson, J. B. (1928). Psychological care of infant and child. New York, NY, US: W.W. Norton & Co.
Watson, J. B., & Morgan, J. J. B. (1917). Emotional reactions and psychological experimentation. The American Journal of Psychology, 28, 163–174.
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Hansen, L.K., Jordan, S.S. (2019). Watson, John. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_352-1
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