John B. Watson

(proper noun)

(1878–1958) An American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism, and is known for his controversial "Little Albert" experiment.

Related Terms

Examples of John B. Watson in the following topics:

  • Behavioral Psychology

    • The primary developments in behaviorism came from the work of Ivan Pavlov, John B.
    • Watson, Edward Lee Thorndike, and B.
    • As Pavlov's work became known in the West, particularly through the writings of John B.
    • John B.
    • "Operant conditioning," a term coined by psychologist B.

  • Applications of Classical Conditioning to Human Behavior

    • In the early 1900s, John B.
    • Watson carried out a controversial classical conditioning experiment on an infant boy called "Little Albert."
    • Watson then allowed Albert to play with the rat, but as Albert played, Watson suddenly banged a hammer on a metal bar.
    • Each time Albert touched the rat, Watson again banged the hammer on the bar.
    • Watson was able to successfully condition Albert to fear the rat because of its association with the loud noise.

  • Cognitive and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies

    • Groundbreaking work of behavioralism began with Watson's and Rayner's studies of conditioning in 1920.
    • During the 1950s and 1960s, behavioral therapy became widely utilized by researchers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, who were inspired by the behaviorist learning theories of Ivan Pavlov, John B.
    • Watson, and Clark L.

  • Case Studies

    • Little Albert: John Watson's study of classical conditioning in a 9-month-old boy named Albert examined whether it was possible to condition an otherwise emotionally stable child to fear a stimulus that most children would not find fearful.
    • John Money and the John/Joan case: An examination of the impacts of sexual reassignment surgery on David Reimer.

  • Comparative Psychology

    • George John Romanes was also highly influential in the development of comparative psychology; following Darwin's work, he set out to prove that animals had a “rudimentary human mind.”
    • Ivan Pavlov's early work used dogs; Edward Thorndike began his studies with cats; and B.

  • History of Intelligence Testing

    • In order to develop an IQ test that separated environmental from genetic factors, Raymond B.
    • Another supposedly culture-fair test is Raven's Progressive Matrices, developed by John C.

  • Defining Intelligence

    • In the mid-20th century, Raymond B.
    • In 1990, Peter Salovey and John Mayer coined the term "emotional intelligence" and defined it as "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions. " Hendrie Weisinger also worked with theories of emotional intelligence.

  • Early Roots of Psychology

    • Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were English philosophers from the 17th century who disagreed with the concept of dualism.
    • Edward B.