John B. Watson
By: Gjergji Vishe
Childhood
John B. Watson was born on January 9, 1878 in Travelers Rest S.C. Watson's family was very poor with 7 children. John's mother was very religious and wanted John to become a minister. His father was called a lazy man because he did not provide for his family so he left his family when John was young.
Career
Watson was very upset to be excluded from academic psychology following the scandal that led to his resignation at Hopkins. He moved with his new wife to New York and took a job with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Watson studied advertising and how it motivates people's purchasing. In 1935, Watson switched jobs to become an advertising executive at the William Esty Company where he remained until his retirement in 1945.
Excperent's
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.
Watson Scandal
In January 1920, not long after John B. Watson published his emotion-conditioning research on Little Albert, Johns Hopkins University gave the superstar professor a 50 percent salary hike to ensure he stayed at the university. But by the end of that year, the father of behaviorism and former APA president was fighting to keep his job there. John Watson was involved in love letters to another woman while married to Mary Ickes. Johns Hopkins fired Watson for the public indiscretion, perhaps because the school had recently terminated another Hopkins professor linked to a prostitution raid.
Watsons Theory
In The Ways of Behaviorism, Watson states that behaviorism is the scientific study of human behavior. It is simply the study of what people do. Behaviorism is intended to take psychology up to the same level as other sciences.
Family
John Broadus Watson was born to Emma Watson and Pickens Butler. He was married twice once to Mary Ickes in 1901-1920 and then later married Rosalie Rayner in 1921-1935. John had two children his son John Ickes Watson and his daughter Mary Watson.
John Watson
John Watson in his farm in Westport Conneticut.
Furman University
Picture of John while he was attending Furman University.
Childhood Home
This is a picture of John Watson's home he was raised in South Carolina.
Honoring John Watson
In April 1979 Furman University held a centennial to honor John Watson attended by more than 2000 people from all over the United States.
Interesting Fact
John Watson spent most of his time oh his farm in Conneticut.
Questions
1. How many times was John Watson married?
2. Where was John Watson born?
3. What did John Watson accomplish in his Psychological Career?