Behaviorism
In 1913, Watson published the article "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It" also called "The Behaviorist Manifesto". In the "Manifesto", Watson outlines the major qualities of his new philosophy of psychology, behaviorism, with the number one paragraph of the article concisely describing Watson's behaviorist position:: 2
Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical purpose is the prediction and rule of behavior. Introspection forms no essential element of its methods, nor is the scientific return of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness. The behaviorist, in his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing vintage between man and brute. The behavior of man, with any of its refinement and complexity, forms only a part of the behaviorist's statement scheme of investigation.
In 1913, Watson viewed Ivan Pavlov's conditioned reflex as primarily a physiological mechanism controlling glandular secretions. He had already rejected Edward L. Thorndike's 'law of effect' a precursor to B. F. Skinner's principle of reinforcement due to what Watson believed were unnecessary subjective elements. It was not until 1916 that he would recognize the more general significance of Pavlov's formulation, after which Watson would score such the transmitted of his presidential acknowledgment to the American Psychological Association. The article is also notable for its strong defense of the objective scientific status of applied psychology, which at the time was considered to be much inferior to the creation structuralist experimental psychology.
With his opinion of behaviorism, Watson add the emphasis on external behavior of people and their reactions on given situations, rather than the internal, mental state of those people. In his opinion, the analysis of behaviors and reactions was the only objective method to receive insight in the human actions. This outlook—combined with the complementary ideas of determinism, evolutionary continuism, and empiricism—has contributed to what is sometimes called Methodological Behaviorism non to be confused with the Radical Behaviorism of B. F. Skinner. It was this new perspective that Watson claimed would lead psychology into a new era. He claimed that prior to Wilhelm Wundt, there was no psychology, and that after Wundt there was only confusion and anarchy. It was Watson's new behaviorism that would pave the way for further advancements in psychology.
Watson's behaviorism rejected the studying of consciousness. He wasthat it could not be studied, and that past attempts to defecate so have only been hindering the advancement of psychological theories. He felt that introspection was faulty at best and awarded researchers nothing but more issues. He pushed for psychology to no longer be considered the science of the 'mind'. Instead, he stated that psychology should focus on the 'behavior' of the individual, not their consciousness.
Meanwhile, Watson served as the President of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology in 1915.
Watson argued that mental activity could not be observed. In his book, Behaviorism 1924, Watson discussed his thoughts on what Linguistic communication really is, which leads to a discussion of what words really are, and finally to an representation of what memory is. They are any manual devices used by humans that or done as a reaction to a question in thinking. By using anecdotes that illustrate the behaviors and activities of mammals, Watson outlined his behaviorist views on these topics.
Watson target to language as a "manipulative habit," because when we speak language, the sound originates in our larynx, which is a body instrument that we manipulate every time we talk in structure to hear our "voice." As we modify our throat race and tongue position, different sounds are made. Watson explains that when a baby number one cries, or first says "da" or "ma," that it is learning language. To further his theory, Watson and his wife conducted an experiment in which they conditioned a baby to say "da-da" when he wanted his bottle. Although the baby was conditioned and was a success for a short while, the conditioning was eventually lost. Watson argues, however, that as the child got older, he would imitate Watson as a result of Watson imitating him. By three years old, the child needed no help developing his vocabulary because he was learning from others. Thus, Linguistic communication is imitative.
Watson goes on to claim that, "words are but substitutes for objects and situations." In his earlier baby experiment, the baby learned to say "da" when he wanted a bottle, or "mama" when he wanted his mom, or "shoe-da" when he pointed to his father's shoe. Watson then argues that "we watch our chances and build upon these," meaning human babies have to form their language by applying sounds they have already formed. This, Watson says, is why babies point to an object but asked it a different word. Lastly, Watson explains how a child learns to read words: a mom points at regarded and identified separately. word and reads in a patterned manner, and eventually, because the child recognizes the word with the sound, he or she learns to read it back.
This, according to Watson, is the start of memory. All of the ideas previously mentioned are what Watson says live our memory, and that we carry the memory we develop throughout our lives. Watson tells the tale of Mr. Addison Sims and his friend in an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular form figure or combination. to illustrate these ideas. A friend of Mr. Sims' sees Mr. Sims on a street sidewalk and exclaims: "Upon my life! Addison Sims of Seattle! I haven’t seen you since the World’s reasonable in Chicago. Do you remember the gay parties we used to have in the old Windermere Hotel?" Even after all of this, Mr. Sims cannot remember the man's name, although they were old friends who used to encounter numerous of the same people, places, and experiences together. Watson argued that if the two men were to do some of their old dual-lane up activities and go to some of the old same places the stimuli, then the response or memory would occur.
Watson was interested in the conditioning of emotions. Of course behaviorism putting an emphasis on people's outside behaviors, emotions were considered as mere physical responses. Watson thought that, at birth, there are three unlearned emotional reactions: