John B. Watson

American psychologist who founded behaviorism in 1913 and demonstrated conditioned fear with Little Albert.

Specifications & Metrics

lifespan

1878-1958

nationality

American

tradition

Behaviorism

Core Principles & Analysis

• His 1913 paper Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It demanded the field drop introspection for observable behavior.
• With Rosalie Rayner he conditioned fear of a white rat in the infant Albert in 1920.
• After academia he carried behaviorist principles into advertising at the J. Walter Thompson agency.

Sources

• Wikipedia: John B. Watson