John Watson: biography, photo of John Brodes Watson

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

John Brodes Watson is a figure firmly established in the history of psychological studies. Not so long ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, the scientific world learned about the theory of behaviorism. Then it instantly caused a lot of controversy in the relevant circles, but still continued to develop. Today it is unlikely to meet its followers, but the influence of behaviorism has spread to almost all areas of life, and its techniques continue to be applied everywhere.

Childhood

John Watson (1878–1958) was born in South Carolina, in the small town of Travelers Rest. His father, Pikens Watson, led a wild life, because of which discord constantly occurred in the house and scandals did not stop. This led to the fact that 13 years after the birth of his son, his dad left the family. As a result, the boy was left with a deep emotional trauma. His mother, Emma, was very religious in nature, which led to strict child-rearing methods, as well as almost no freedom to choose further directions. And if at the age of 22 John Watson had not lost his mother, then it is quite possible that the world would not have heard of such an outstanding psychologist, since she passionately desired a career for her sonpriest.

Youth

After graduating from Fermanagh University Baptist School in 1900, he leaves his hometown for Chicago for his next education. John Watson enters the local department of philosophy, but due to the specifics of teaching, he refuses to be a supervisor and turns his eyes to psychology. After only 3 years, he completes his doctoral dissertation on animal learning, for which he conducted numerous experiments on rats. In addition to becoming the youngest student in the history of the institution to receive a degree, he is also the first to devote such a large-scale work to experiments on these rodents. This moment determined the direction of John's future activities and outlined the boundaries of future research.

Behaviorism

After two years since his Ph. D., John Brodes Watson is invited to chair the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of B altimore. He willingly agrees, thereby opening up more and more opportunities for immersion in his own research and experiments. This period of his life is associated with the development of the concept, thanks to which the name of the scientist entered the annals of history. He became the author and follower of the theory of behaviorism, which he describes in detail in his manifesto en titled "Psychology from the point of view of the behaviorist." He read it publicly on February 24, 1913, the day that can rightly be considered the birth of thisdirections. Watson declares to the whole world that psychology is rather an objective science, belonging to the realm of natural science. He criticizes its current position and significance, saying that its study is erroneously based on the inner world of a person, his thoughts and feelings. Whereas it would be right to focus on external behavior as well as data that can be confirmed experimentally.

Scientific career

Thanks to the novelty of the theory and its subsequent development, John Watson is at the pinnacle of greatness in scientific circles. His salary is doubling, his research lab is getting bigger, and there's no end to students who want to attend lectures. In 1915 he was appointed president of the American Psychological Association. These years can be called the heyday of behaviorism. The publications of the famous scientist now and then appear in various publications, and 2 scientific journals are published under his editorship. In 1914, his bibliography was supplemented by a very significant work, Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology, in which consciousness as a subject of psychology is completely rejected. His theories are also being put into practice, and Watson himself is mastering the art of manipulating human behavior.

Private life

While teaching at the university, the founder of behaviorism married his student Mary Ickes. Despite the fact that the couple had two children, their marriage could not be called successful. In 1920another passion of the scientist for a young graduate student destroyed not only the marriage, but also the entire successful career that he had built for so many years. The wife discovered evidence of her husband's romantic correspondence and published it in the press, which caused a stormy scandal. From now on, there can be no question of any teaching activity. The divorce was very loud, but despite this, Rosalia Rayner and John Watson, whose photo is presented below, immediately got married. And as a result of this marriage, which turned out to be more successful than the previous one, two more Watsons were born, both boys. Rosalia left this world early, 23 years earlier than her husband. John took the loss hard, but continued to work anyway. True, already in a slightly different direction.

Advertising

In his student years, he managed to be a laboratory assistant, a janitor and even a waiter, but in the future, few people cared, because he became known to the world as John Watson, a psychologist. The scandal with treason forced him to look for new directions for implementation, and he chooses the practical scope of the acquired knowledge. To be more specific, he goes headlong into advertising. At that time, this relatively new area required a detailed study in order to find out the mechanisms for controlling consumer behavior. And it was precisely this control that was central to the psychology of the industry, so John plunged headlong into an advertising career. He starts, like any other, from the bottom, in one of the New York agencies under the direction of Stanley Rizor. Together with other candidates, he goes through all the stagesemployment, even despite their extensive knowledge and scientific merits. Over time, he liberates himself, acquires new skills and completely immerses himself in the psychology of trading, applying the provisions of his theories in practice. So, he manages to rise to the rank of vice president of the company and stay in this position for several years.

Watson's legacy

While working in the advertising industry, John Watson continues to put his scientific theories into books. After his death, future generations of psychologists and theorists are left with several more works, including "Behaviorism", "Ways of Behaviorism" and "Psychological Care of the Child". Among his most famous followers, who worked on the theory further, one can single out Burres Skinner, who, along with other colleagues, managed to popularize behaviorism. However, the concept was repeatedly criticized severely, mostly due to the fact that it looked more like a tool of coercion. In subsequent years, its study declined, leaving behind only a set of some techniques that are still used in trade, politics and other areas.

Last years of life and death

A few years after the death of his wife, the former teacher decides to leave the advertising business and settle on a quiet farm. There John Watson lives out his last days. The biography of his life ends in 1958. A few months earlier, the association, of which he had once been president, had included him in the list of its honorary members. However, it did not help to forgetresentment for the fact that he was once deprived of his beloved job and the right to occupy certain positions, therefore, in the same year in which he left this world, he sets a fire in the yard, giving away numerous scientific works to the flame. This becomes the last echo of at least some of Watson's activities, but this act did not affect the reputation, because it was Watson's contribution to psychology that made him one of the most prominent scientists of the last century.