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Understanding Watson's Behaviorism

John Watson was an American psychologist born in 1878 who is known for establishing the psychological school of behaviorism. He conducted an experiment called the Little Albert experiment in 1920 which demonstrated that classical conditioning could be used to induce a learned fear in humans. Watson believed that humans are born with blank mental slates and that environment and learning alone shape our behavior, not innate factors. He saw behavior as influenced solely by conditioning processes like classical and operant conditioning.

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442 views5 pages

Understanding Watson's Behaviorism

John Watson was an American psychologist born in 1878 who is known for establishing the psychological school of behaviorism. He conducted an experiment called the Little Albert experiment in 1920 which demonstrated that classical conditioning could be used to induce a learned fear in humans. Watson believed that humans are born with blank mental slates and that environment and learning alone shape our behavior, not innate factors. He saw behavior as influenced solely by conditioning processes like classical and operant conditioning.

Uploaded by

Amna Albraiky
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Personal Information
  • Famous Quote
  • Little Albert Experiment
  • Key Vocabulary
  • Theory: Behaviorism

JOHN WATSON

Personal information

• 1878- 1958
• American
• Psychologist
Watson famously said:
 

"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 the
race of his ancestors” (Watson, 1924).
JOHN WATSON
Little Albert experiment
• Here, Watson wanted to show that Pavlov’s classical conditioning (applied to animals)
could also apply to humans.
• Little Albert was a 9-month-old infant who was tested on his reactions to various stimuli.
• He was shown a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey and various masks. Albert showed no fear
of any of these stimuli. However, when a hammer was struck against a steel bar behind
his head Albert started to cry.
• Then, the white rat was presented to Albert and, seconds later, the hammer was struck
against the steel bar. After 7 weeks, little Albert only had to see the rat and he
immediately showed every sign of fear and cried. He would cry (whether or not the
hammer was hit against the steel bar) and he would attempt to crawl away.
• Watson and Rayner had shown that classical conditioning could be used to create a
phobia (a fear) through a learned association. 
JOHN WATSON
Key words (vocabulary)

• Tabula rasa: blank slate (empty!)


Watson believed that “when we are born, our mind is 'tabula rasa‘ it is
empty, it is a blank slate)”. Hence, our behavior is not shaped by
biology/nature; it is shaped by our environment (what we learn from our
environment)

• Methodological behaviorism: methodological behaviorism asserts that “the


mind is tabula rasa (a blank slate) at birth” and that the environment influences
our behavior.

Methodological behaviorism emphasizes the role of nurture (learning) as opposed


to the role of biology and genes. It does not emphasize the view that humans and
animals are born with innate (inborn) behaviors.
JOHN WATSON
Theory: Behaviorism

• Environmental factors influence behavior, to the near exclusion of


innate of inherited (biological/natural) factors.
In other words, behavior is a result of ‘learning’ (nurture) –
NOT nature/biology.

• We learn new behavior through classical or operant conditioning


(known as 'learning theory').

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