What does this quote tell us about Watson's approach to the study of psychology - Essay Example

?What does this quote tell us about Watson's approach to the study of psychology? “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specifiedworld to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select-doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even a beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talent, penchants, tendencies, abilities vocations and race of his ancestors" (J.B. Watson, 1930) Considered as the most prominent psychologists of the twentieth century and a prominent lecturer at John Hopkins University, Watson’s work is generally used as a basic context in majority of the educational and introductory psychology books. In spite of that, his educational career was short, which lasted for just fourteen years, but his approach has been fiercely discussed for almost a century. Watson assisted to describe the theory of behaviour, the stress on operant conditioning by Skinner, and highlighted the significance of understanding, learning and development of humans due to the influence of the environmental surroundings. According to Glassman “ in 1913, Watson began publishing the first of a series of publications which outlined his behaviourist approach, which quickly gained him both fame and notoriety-his statement about shaping healthy infant in any way desired is characteristic of his assertive style.” The theory that every behavior is attained due to training and conditioning is known as Behaviorism which is a concept of learning. Conditioning or training happens due to the contact with the surroundings. The theory of behaviorism states that, behavior should be considered in a methodical and apparent way with no thought of the inner state of mind. According to Diane H. Tracey “two underlying assumptions are present in all theoretical versions of behaviorism. The first is the belief that behavior is the result of an organism’s or person’s response to stimuli. The second is the belief that external stimuli can be manipulated to strengthen or reduce an organism’s or an individual’s behavior.” The two main forms of conditioning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning demonstrates Behaviorism for the reason that it centers on apparent alterations in behavior and reaction to incentive or stimuli as representative of learning. Pavlov was the creator of classical conditioning as he observed that his dogs started to salivate as soon as they saw their bowls in which they were fed, despite the fact they were empty. He assumed that the dogs salivated as they had formed a connection between the existence of their bowls with the occurrence of their dinner. That means, the dog had “learned through association to connect their food bowls with their, dinners. Eventually Pavlov was able to produce salivation in his dogs by sampling ringing a bell” (Diana H. Tracey) This experiment proved that a response can be brought with the right conditioning and training. It is a practice applied in behavioral training which involves the pairing of stimulus that takes place naturally with a reaction. After that, the former impartial stimulus is associated with the stimulus that occurs naturally. Finally, the former impartial stimulus leads to provoke the reaction devoid of the existence of the stimulus which occurs naturally. According to E. Bruce Goldstein “psychology as the behaviorist sees it is a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness… what we need to do is to start working upon psychology making behavior, not consciousness, the objective point of our attack. (Watson)” Watson objective has been to eradicate the study of mind in psychology and to substitute it with the examination of the behavior that can be observed directly. By using the conditioning of Albert, Watson, put forward the fact that even without any consideration to the mind actions can be examined. According to Watson, whatever goes inside the head of Albert, whether mentally or physiologically was unrelated. His only concern was to analyze how the coupling of one stimulus with the other, influenced behavior. Another theory that emerged to ensure the approach of behaviorism was the Skinner’s operant conditioning. It was a technique of learning that took place due to the prize and penalty for an action. Because of the operant conditioning, a connection is developed amongst the behavior and the result of that behavior. According to Skinner’s believe the inner feelings and inspirations can not be utilized to explain and describe behavior. In its place, he proposed that one should only observe and study the exterior and apparent reasons of the behavior of humans. In his experiment, he demonstrated that motivating a rat with food encouraged the rat to press a bar and thereby improved the rate at which he pressed it. “Watson’s ideas are associated with classical conditioning, which focused on how pairing one stimulus (such as the loud noise presented to Albert) with another, previously neutral stimulus (such as rat) causes changes in the response to the neutral stimulus (Pavlov 1927)” (E. Bruce. Goldstein) A repeated topic in literature of psychology is the argument over the nurture and nature. The question of whether the humans are initially a creation of hereditary or are they molded and formed mostly by the surroundings is a constant debate. According to Guy R. Lefrancois “Watson was convinced that there are no individual differences at birth, that what people become is a function of their experiences. “There is no such thing” claimed Watson “as an inheritance of capacity, talent, temperament, mental constitution and characteristics.” The firm belief that practice and exposure decide every action of the humans leads the people to consider that every human being is essentially equivalent and alike. “The difference between the eminent and unknown, the rich and the poor, the brave and the timid are simply a question of different experiences and opportunities. (Guy R. Lefrancio). For example, a phobia may be obtained by classical conditioning and an individual can get rid of it by applying the same technique. These principles were a type of psychology that set aside intellectual and other theoretical traits as worthless to study, whereas lay emphasis on the significance of communal factors, such as the mother, in forming and shaping up the personality of a child. According to Carol K.Sigelman “Watson rejected psychoanalytic theory and devoted a good deal of effort trying to explain Freud’s fascinating discoveries about humans in terms of basic learning principles. He maintained that learned associations between external stimuli and observable responses are the building blocks of both normal and abnormal human development.” Similar to John lock, he had a firm belief that children don’t have any natural qualities or traits, and how they shape up as a person depends completely on their surroundings in which they are brought up. All the characteristics they adopt are basically the ones they have learned from their parents or other significant people in their lives. As Watson states “behaviorism ought to be a science that prepares men and women for understanding the principles of their own behavior. It ought to make men and women eager to rearrange their own lives, and especially eager to prepare themselves to bring up their own children in a healthy way. I wish… rich individual we should make of every healthy child if only we could let it shapes itself properly… provide a universe in which it could exercise the organization.” Work cited: Lefranc?ois, Guy R. Theories of Human Learning: What the Professor Said. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. Sigelman, Carol K, and David R. Shaffer. Life-span Human Development. Pacific Grove, Calif: Brooks/Cole Pub, 1991. Print. Goldstein, E B. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. Print. Tracey, Diane H, and Lesley M. Morrow. Lenses on Reading: An Introduction to Theories and Models. New York: Guilford Press, 2006. Print. Glassman, William E. Approaches to Psychology. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1995. Print. Read More