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Summary John B Watson - behaviourism theory
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Understanding Watson's theory in detail with photos and evaluating with praises and criticisms.
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John B Watson (1913) claimed that if he were to be given a dozen healthy
infants, he could shape them into anything regardless of
their background or genetic predispositions
he completed experiments with 8-month old Albert and
later he applied his theory when raising his own children.
He applied the scientific method to human psychology,
known as behaviourism
Earlier, Pavlov demonstrated how conditioning can trigger biological responses that are inherited genetically.
Watson hypothesized that we can also instil new behaviours that were not inherited.
With the 'little Albert' experiment, Watson used the method of
classical conditioning to program a baby to be afraid of a lab rat.
To conduct the experiment, Watson and his assistant Rosalie
Rayner placed the boy in a room, where a white rat was allowed
to roam around.
1. First, the boy showed no fear.
2. Then, Rayner struck a steel bar with a hammer every time
Albert reached out to touch the rat, scaring Albert and
causing him to cry.
3. Eventually, Albert tried to get away from the rat showing that he had been conditioned to fear the rat.
4. Weeks later, Albert showed distress towards any furry object, showing that his conditioning had not only
been sustained but also generalised.
He assumed that our behaviour is either a reflex evoked by a stimulus or a consequence of our individual history of
earlier exposure to reinforcements and punishments paired with our current motivational states and stimuli.
Unlike Freud and Young, he was not interested in the thoughts or
the mind because in his opinion, the analysis of actions and
reactions were the only way to apply the scientific method to
psychology and get objective insights into human behaviour.
He thought of psychology as an objective branch of Natural
Science, its goal, the prediction and control of behaviour. Like his
fellow behaviourists, he believed that intelligence, temperament
and personality are determined by the environment in which the child is raised.
Watson published ‘the psychological care of infant and child’. In his book, he advised parents not to touch their
children too often and to keep an emotional distance so as not to spoil them.
Playing with children, he warned, would interrupt their routines.
A happy child doesn't cry or seek attention.
His book became a best seller and soon other scientists of his time
advised against showing affection.
Some Western governments started to hand out leaflets advising
that parents should stop kissing their children. Parents developed
the idea that children should be left to sit quietly during the day.
At night, they should be left crying alone until they fall asleep. A method called sleep training.
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