History of Psychology,Chapter 10 Behaviorism:The Beginnings,I. John B. Watson (1878-1958),A. Watsons life 1. Rebel personality2. Mother: wishes him to be a minister Father: drank heavily,John B. Watson (1878-1958),3. 1900: U. of Chicago a. studied philosophy with Dewey b. attracted to psychology through work with Angell c. studied biology and physiology with Loeb d. 1903: youngest Ph.D. from Chicago (at his age of 25),John B. Watson (1878-1958),4. Dissertation on “neurological and psychological maturation of the white rat”5. 1903-1908: faculty at U. of Chicago 6. 1908: to John Hopkins U. a. 1909: chair of the psychology department b. 1909: editor of Psychological Review,John B. Watson (1878-1958),7. 1913: published his article on the Psychological Review; Behaviorism was officially launched8. 1914: book: Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology a. argued for acceptance of animal psychology b. described advantages of animal subjects,John B. Watson (1878-1958),9. 1919: Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist a. argued methods and principles of animal research appropriate for study of humans10. 1920: forced to resign from Johns Hopkins,John B. Watson (1878-1958),11. second career: applied psychology in advertising a. mechanistic view of humans: Consumers behavior could be predicted and controlled b. proposed experimental (lab) study of consumer behavior 12. publicity for psychology in the popular media,John B. Watson (1878-1958),13. 1925: Behaviorism 14. 1928: Psychological Care of the Infant and Child a. focus on environmental factors b. recommended perfect objectivity in child-rearing practices c. had the greatest impact of all his work,John B. Watson (1878-1958),15. 1935: his wife died; he moved to a farmhouse16. burned all of his papers prior to his death,II. The Reaction to Watsons Program,A. His major points 1. Psychology is the science of behavior 2. a purely objective experimental natural science 3. both animal and human behavior are studied,II. The Reaction to Watsons Program,A. His major points 4. discard all mentalistic concepts & used only behavior concepts (e.g., stimulus & response) 5. Goal of psychology: prediction and control of behavior,The Reaction to Watsons Program,B. Initial reactions 1. behaviorism was not embraced 2. his 1919 book provided the movements impact C. Calkins: adhered to introspection as the sole method for some processesD. Washburn: called Watson an enemy of psychology,The Reaction to Watsons Program,E. 1920s 1. university offered courses in behaviorism2. the word “behaviorist“ appeared in journals 3. McDougall: against behaviorism publicly4. Titchener: complained of its force and extent 5. Other forms of behaviorism have developed,III. The Methods of Behaviorism,A. Psychology must restrict itself to the objective study of behavior.B. Adoption of the methods of the natural sciences 1. observation, with and without instruments 2. testing methods 3. verbal report method 4. conditioned reflex method,The Methods of Behaviorism,C. Observation: a necessary basis for the other methods D. Testing methods Were already in use But Watson thought that test results are samples of behavior, not indices of mental qualities,The Methods of Behaviorism,D. Verbal reports 1. A controversial issue2. speech reactions are objectively observable3. thinking is speaking silently4. admitted the lack of precision and limitations5. limited it to situations where it could be verified,The Methods of Behaviorism,D. Conditioned reflex method 1. adopted in 1915 2. Watson responsible for widespread use3. conditioning is stimulus substitution4. selected as an objective method of behavior analysis,The Methods of Behaviorism,5. Reinforced the concept of people as machines.6. human subject: the observed rather than the observer a. designation changed from “observer“ to “subject“ b. experimenter became the observer,IV. The Subject Matter of Behaviorism,A. Elements of behavior 1. The primary subject matter of behaviorism was the elements of behavior 2. goal: understand the organisms total behavior,The Subject Matter of Behaviorism,2. explicit versus implicit a. Responses can be explicit or implicitb. explicit responses: overt and observablec. implicit responses: occur inside of the organism (e.g., nerve impulses) 1) observable 2) must be observable through the use of instruments,The Subject Matter of Behaviorism,3. simple versus complex stimuli a. Stimuli may be simple or complex B. stimulus situation can be reduced to specific component stimuli4. laws of behavior a. specific behavior can be analyzing the S-R complexes into their elementary S-R units. b. all areas of behavior must be considered as objective S-R events,The Subject Matter of Behaviorism,B. Instincts 1. 1914: Watson described 11 instincts 2. 1925: eliminated the concept of instinct a. an extreme environmentalist b. denied inherited capacities, temperaments, talents c. children can become anything one desires d. this viewpoint became popular in America society,