John Watson: The Remarkable Journey of a Behaviorism Founder

John Watson, the founder of behaviorism, was born in South Carolina on January 9th, 1878. Watson grew up in a very religious family, however he ended up entering adulthood opposing religion. Watson was a very troubled adolescence he got into fights and had disorderly behavior and even got arrested, He performed poorly academically. Luckily Watson’s life turned around when he got accepted to Furman University, with the help of his mother and her connections, his academic career took a turn for the better-graduating with a masters degree at 21. Later on Watson entered a graduate program at the University of Chicago this is where he studied psychology and began to develop his behaviorist ideas. Vladimir Bekhterev and Ivan Pavlov strongly influenced

He minored in philosophy. Watson went on to earn his P.H.D at the age of 25. Watson began his long essay or (dissertation) on the nervous system and behavior of white rats. After graduating the university of chicago Watson stayed there as an assistant teacher. Watson surprisingly he married one of his students, Mary Amelia Ickes. They had their first child in 1905 and named her Mary. Later on they ended up having a second child. However Watson started picking up his father’s behavior. He started seeing another woman on the campus. Watson becamethe gossip of the university, he almost risked losing his position at the college. In Watson’s best interests, and to avoid any future issues, he left the University of Chicago.

This is one of the biggest arguments in psychological history. Nature Vs Nurture concerns whether “aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e genetic) or acquired (i.e learned) characteristics” according to (simple psychology). Watson clarified or explained the role early experiences help form and develop a personality. Watson introduced the way for later behaviorists, like B.F Skinner. Behaviorism is a remains a common trending procedure of animal training. Many health professionals today use behaviorism as a way to get rid of phobias and fears, conditioning them away. Advertisers commonly use behaviorist conditioning to convince consumers to buy their products. (Simply Psychology)

John Watson Influenced the world of Psychology heavily. Watson’s behaviorism helped move psychology away from its philosophic origin and helped custom it into a science. In many areas such as learning, behaviorism controlled American psychology throughout much of the twentieth century. B.F Skinner, one of the most famous twentieth century psychologists, who was a strong advocate of behaviorism as well.