Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10
BEHAVIORISM:
THE BEGINNINGS
Chapter 10
Lecture Prepared By: Dr. M. Sawhney
Topics
1. John B. Watson (1878-1958)
2. The Methods of Behaviorism
3. The Subject Matter of Behaviorism
4. The Psychologist, the Baby, and the Hammer: Don’t Try This at Home!
6. Behaviorism’s Popular Appeal
7. An Outbreak of Psychology
8. Criticisms of Watson’s Behaviorism
William McDouggall
Karl Lashley
9. Contributions of Watson’s Behaviorism
Student Presentation
Charles Tarnasky John B. Watson
• Seth Ebach William McDouggall_
• Maisie Muller Karl Lashley
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
• Founded behaviorism (did not originate it)
• His efforts are a crystallization of the ideas

already emerging within psychology
• Distinction between Watson and his
predecessors:
• Watson announced an intentional goal
of founding a new school
John B. Watson (1878-1958)

The Development of Behaviorism
• Watson:
• 1903-1908: Instructor, at University of Chicago
• Psychic or mental concepts have no value for a science of psychology
• Official launch of behaviorism: Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it.
Psychological Review (Watson, 1913)
• Argued for the acceptance of animal psychology and described the
advantages of using animal subjects in psychological research
• Wanted behaviorism to be of practical value; applied to the real world as
well
The Reaction to Watson’s Program
Major points of Watson’s Psychology:
• Psychology is the science of behavior
• Rejected the introspective method
• Use of animals
• Psychologists should discard all mentalists ideas and use only behavior concepts such
as stimulus and response
• Psychology’s goal is to predict and control behavior
• Watson’s program was not embraced immediately or universally

• Critics questioned his rejection of introspection
• By the 1920s:
• Universities were offering courses in behaviorism
• Term was becoming acceptable in the professional journals
The Methods of Behaviorism
• Watson insisted that psychology restrict itself to the data of the

natural sciences (what could be observed)
• Methods:
• Observation with and without the use of instruments
• Testing methods
• The verbal report method
• The conditioned reflex method
• New methods = change in the nature and role of the human subject in
the psychology laboratory
• Subjects no longer responsible for the observing
• Role of experimenter is now more important than the subject
• Subjects merely behaved: reinforced the view of people as machines
The Subject Matter of Behaviorism
• Focus on elements of behavior: body’s muscular movements and glandular secretions
• Psychology would deal only with acts that could be described objectively, without using
subjective or mentalistic terminology
• Four types of behavior
• Explicit (overt) learned behavior
• talking, writing, etc.
• Implicit (covert) learned behavior
• increased heart rate caused by a feared stimulus
• Explicit unlearned behavior
• grasping, blinking, sneezing, etc.
• Implicit learned behavior
• glandular secretions
• Underlying belief: all areas of behavior would be considered in objective S-R terms
Instincts
• 1914, Watson accepted the role of
instincts in behavior
• 1925: Watson revised his position and
eliminated the concept of instinct
• Refused to admit to his system any
inherited capacities, temperaments, or
talents of any kind
• Behaviors that seemed inherited were
traced to early childhood training
• Optimistic viewpoint: children could be
trained to be whatever one wanted
them to be
Emotions
• Emotions: physiological responses to specific

stimuli
• Physical manifestations: blushing, perspiration,
increased pulse rate
• Denies any conscious perception of the emotion
or the sensations from the internal organs
• Three primary unlearned emotions:
• Fear-produced by loud noises and loss of support
• Rage-restriction of bodily movements
• Love-rocking, patting, caressing
Thought Processes
• Watson: thought processes occur in the absence
of muscular movements
• They are not accessible to observation and
experimentation
• Attempted to reduce thinking to implicit motor
behavior
• Reduced thinking to sub-vocal talking that relies
on the same muscular habits we learn for overt
speech
On Childrearing Practices
Psychological Care of the Infant (1928)
The Psychologist, the Baby, and the Hammer:
Don’t Try This at Home!
• “Little Albert” study:
• John Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted experiments
to test learning
• A child is distracted while Watson strikes a steel rod with a
hammer
• The child reacts violently and begins crying
• Once the hammer strike is paired with previously neutral
stimuli (white rat), the stimuli begins to elicit fear response
• Watson’s conditioning works when associations are made
between stimuli and response
• Fear generalized to other fuzzy objects (e.g., dog, fur coat,
Santa Claus mask)
Little Albert
• Conclusion: adult fears, anxieties, and phobias are conditioned emotional

responses that were established in infancy and childhood and stay with us
throughout our lives
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI
Albert, Peter, and the Rabbits
• Conditioning of little Albert leads Watson to reject the
notion of the unconscious because it could not be
objectively observed
• Mary Cover Jones: conducts a study with three-year-
old Peter, who already showed a fear of rabbits
• The rabbit cage was placed at a distance
• Each day the cage was moved closer to Peter
• Successfully eliminates the fear response through
counter conditioning
• Precursor to behavioral therapy
Behaviorism’s Popular Appeal
• Reasons for popularity of behaviorism
• Possibility of controlled behavior; free of myths, customs, and
conventional behaviors
• Studies provide evidence that all undesirable behaviors can be
eliminated, especially in childhood
• Theory does not blame individual for negative behaviors
• Replace religion-based ethics with experimental ethics
An Outbreak of Psychology
• 1920s, following behaviorism’s announcement:
• General public was convinced that psychology
provided the path to health, happiness, and
prosperity
• Practical topics: curing the blues, the psychology
of crooks, fears and worries, the meaning of IQ
scores, inferiority complexes, family conflicts, and
why we drink coffee
• Teaches the public how to explore one’s mind
Criticisms of Watson’s Behaviorism
• Criticized because system:
• Proposes sweeping revision
• Blatantly attacks the existing order
• Suggests that the earlier version of
the truth be discarded
• Is said to have omitted important
components (e.g., sensory and
perceptual processes)
Criticisms of Watson’s Behaviorism
(cont’d.)
• Karl Lashley (1890-1958):
• Former advocate of Watson’s behaviorism
• Two famous principles:
• Law of mass action
• Principle of equipotentiality
• William McDougall (1871-1938):

• Forceful opponent of Watson
• Known for his instinct theory of behavior: suggests there are innate tendencies
to thought and action
Contributions of Watson’s Behaviorism
• An effective agent of the Zeitgeist
• More objective in methods and terminology
• Overcame earlier positions in psychology
• Strong conceptual base for modern psychology
• Watsonian behaviorism was replaced by other forms of psychological objectivism
that built on it

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CHAPTER 10

• His efforts are a crystallization of the ideas

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

• Watson’s program was not embraced immediately or universally

• Watson insisted that psychology restrict itself to the data of the

• Emotions: physiological responses to specific

• Conclusion: adult fears, anxieties, and phobias are conditioned emotional

• William McDougall (1871-1938):

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