Abstract
It is described some aspects of the personal, familial and academic life of one of the most important psychologists in the history of psychology trying to get a double purpose: humanize and demythologize his profile to be in better position to understand the original and rebellious character of his contribution. It is outlined also the most important characteristics of his contribution to the scientific development of psychology (Kantor, 2005). Finally, adopting the meta-theory offered by Kantor (1959), Kantor (2005), Kantor y Smith (1975) y Kantor (1971a, 1971b) the author does a critical examination of Watson’s object of study using two examples conceptualized in terms of field theory: the experiment of little Albert (Watson y Rayner, 1920b) and one from the posmodern world of electronic communication.
References
Ardila, R. (1989, revised edition). Los pioneros de la psicología. Bogotá: ABC.
Ardila, R. (2013). Los orígenes del conductismo, Watson y el manifiesto conductista de 1913. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 45, 2, 315-319.
Bechterew, V.M. (1913). Objektive Psychologie oder Psychoreflexologie: Die Lehre von den Assoziationsreflexen. Leipzig: Teubner.
Bergmann, G. (1956). The contributions of John B. Watson. Psychological Review, 63, 265-276. doi.org/10.1037/h0049200
Birnbaum, L. T. (1955). Behaviorism in the 1920’s. American Quarterly, 7, 15-30.
Boring, E. G. (1979,1st. reprint in Spanish). Historia de la psicología experimental. México: Trillas.
Brett, G. S. (1972). Historia de la psicología. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
Brewer, C. L. (1991). Perspectives on John B. Watson. In G. A. Kimble, M. Wertheimer, & C. L. White (Eds.), Portraits of pioneers in psychology (pp. 171-186) Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Buckley, K. W. (1982a). The selling of a psychologist: John Broadus Watson and the application of behavioral techniques to advertising. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 18, 207-221. doi: 10.1002/1520-6696(198207)18:3<207::AID-JHBS2300180302>3.0.CO; 2-8
Buckley, K. W. (1982b). Behaviorism and the professionalization of American psychology: A study of John Broadus Watson, 1878-1958. (Ph. D. thesis). Amherst: University of Massachusetts.
Buckley, K. W. (1989). Mechanical man: John Broadus Watson and the beginnings of behaviorism. New York: Guilford Press.
Burnham, J. C. (1968). On the origins of behaviorism. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 4, 2, 143-151. doi: 10.1002/1520-6696(196804)4:2<::AID- JHBS2300040201>3.0.CO;2-F
Buss, A. H. (1973). General psychology: Man in perspective. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Cohen, D. (1979). John B. Watson, the founder of behaviorism: A biography. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Darwin, C. R. (1859. 1st. edition). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. London: John Murray.
Díaz Guerrero, R. & Díaz Loving, R. (1991). Introducción a la psicología. Un enfoque ecosistémico. México: Trillas.
García Cadena, C. H. (2009). Como investigar en psicología. México: Trillas.
Harris, B. (1979). Whatever happened to little Albert? American Psychologist, 34, 2, 151-160. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.34.2.151
Harzem, P. (1993). The discrediting of John Broadus Watson. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta, 19, 33-67.
Hothersall, D. (2005, 2nd. edition in Spanish). Historia de la psicología. México: McGraw-Hill/Interamericana Editores.
Kantor, J. R. (1959). Interbehavioral psychology: A sample of scientific system construction (revised edition). Granville, OH: Principia Press.
Kantor, J. R. (1971a). Behaviorism: Whose image? In J. R. Kantor (Ed.), The aim and progress of psychology and other sciences (pp. 521-533). Chicago: Principia Press.
Kantor, J. R. (1971b). Behaviorism in the history of psychology. In J. R. Kantor (Ed.), The aim and progress of psychology and other sciences (pp. 534-548). Chicago: Principia Press.
Kantor, J. R. & Smith, N. W. (1975). The science of psychology: An interbehavioral survey. Chicago: Principia Press.
Kantor, J. R. (2005, 2nd. reprint in Spanish). La evolución científica de la psicología. México: Trillas.
Kuhn, T. S. (1971). La estructura de las revoluciones científicas. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Marx, M. H. & Hillis, W. A. (1974). Sistemas y teorías psicológicos contemporáneos. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
Rachlin, H. (1977). Introducción al conductismo moderno. Madrid: Editorial Debate.
Ribes Iñesta, E. (1993). John B. Watson legacy: concepts, method or institutional rupture? Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta, 19, 151-166.
Ribes Iñesta, E. (1995). John B. Watson: el conductismo y la fundación de una psicología científica. Acta Comportamentalia, 3, 66-78.
Ribes Iñesta, E. (2007). Estados y límites del campo, medios de contacto y análisis molar del comportamiento: reflexiones teóricas. Acta Comportamentalia, 15, 2, 229-259.
Samelson, F. (1981). Struggle for scientific authority: The reception of Watson’s behaviorism, 1913-1920. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 17, 399-425. doi: 10.1002/1520-6696(198107)17:3<399::AID-JHBS2300170310>3.0.CO;2-2
Schoenfeld, W. N. (1993). John Broadus Watson, 1878-1958. Two interviews, in 1958 and 1993, with W. N. Schoenfeld. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta, 19, 5-
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: Macmillan.
Skinner, B. F. (1959). John Broadus Watson, behaviorist. Science, 129, 3343, 197-198. doi:
1126/science.129.3343.197.
Thorndike, E. L. & Herrick, C. J. (1915). Watson’s “behavior”. Journal of Animal Behavior, 5(6), 462-470. doi:10.1037/h0071150
Todd, J. T. & Morris, E. K. (1986). The early research of John B. Watson: Before the Behavioral Revolution. The Behavior Analyst, 9(1), 71-88.
Todd, J. T. & Morris, E. K. (1994). Modern perspectives on John B. Watson and classical behaviorism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Watson, J. B. (1907). Kinaesthetic and organic sensations: Their role in the reactions of the white rat to the maze (additional monograph). Psychological Review, 4, 211-212.
Watson, J. B. (1908). The behavior of noddy and sooty terns. Publication of the Carnegie Institution, 2, 187-255.
Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behavioristic sees it. Psychological Review, 20(2), 158-177. doi:10.1037/h0074428
Watson, J. B. & Morgan, J. J. B. (1917). Emotional reactions and psychological experimentation. American Journal of Psychology, 28, 163-174.
Watson, J. B. (1919). Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist. Philadelphia:
Lippincott.
Watson, J. B. (1920a). Is thinking merely the action of language mechanisms? British Journal of Psychology, 11, 87-104.
Watson, J. B. & Rayner, R. (1920b). Conditioned emotional rections. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3(1), 1-14. doi:10.1037/h0069608
Watson, J. B. (1924). Behaviorism. New York: Norton.
Watson, J. B. (1936). John Broadus Watson. In C. A. Murchison (Ed.), A history of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 3, pp. 271-281). Worcester, MA: Clark University
Press.
Watson, R. I. (1968/1978). The great psychologists from Aristotle to Freud (1st. ed. 1968; 4th. ed. 1978). New York: Lippincott.
Wolman, B. B. (1968). Teorías y sistemas contemporáneos en psicología. Barcelona: Martinez Roca.
Woodworth, R. S. (1959). John B. Watson: 1878-1958. American Journal of Psychology, 72, 2, 301-310.
Yaroshesvky, M. G. (1979, 3rd. ed. in Spanish). La psicología en el siglo XX. El desarrollo de la psicología y sus problemas teóricos. México: Grijalbo.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, with the work [SPECIFY PERIOD OF TIME] after publication simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).