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Watson, John Broadus

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The American psychologist, John Broadus Watson, was born on January 9, 1878, in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and died on September 25, 1958, in New York City. He is recognized as the founder of behaviorism and among the most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century (Buckley 1989).

After graduating from Furman University (1894–1899) with a master’s degree in philosophy, Watson enrolled at the University of Chicago (1900–1903), where he earned a doctoral degree in psychology for research on the developmental psychobiology of the rat (Watson 1903). He also earned minors in neurology and philosophy. As an instructor at Chicago (1903–1908), he extended his research to the sensory systems involved in animal learning and investigated the evolutionary basis of behavior in ethological studies of terns. Moving to Johns Hopkins University (1908–1920), he became the department chairperson, continued his ethological studies, conducted research on animal...

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References

  • Buckley, K. W. (1989). Mechanical man: John Broadus Watson and the beginnings of behaviorism. New York: Guilford.

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  • Watson, J. B. (1903). Animal education. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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  • Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158–177.

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  • Watson, J. B. (1919). Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist. Philadelphia: Lippincott.

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  • Watson, J. B. (1924). Behaviorism. New York: People's Institue.

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  • Watson, J. B. (1930). Behaviorism (rev. ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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  • Watson, J. B. (1936). John Broadus Watson. In C. Murchison (Ed.), A history of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 3, pp. 271–281). Worcester: Clark University Press.

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  • Watson, J. B., & Watson, R. R. (1928). Psychological care of infant and child. New York: Norton.

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Correspondence to Edward K. Morris .

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Morris, E.K. (2012). Watson, John Broadus. In: Rieber, R.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_136

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_136

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0425-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0463-8

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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