JOHN B. WATSON’S EARLY WORK AND COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

John B. Watson’s 1913 “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It,” the so-called behaviorist manifesto,is examined in the context of its time and of its influence on the history of comparative psychology.The key ideas in the article were, a.)reliance on the experimental method,b.)prediction and control as goals of psychology,c.) elimination of the construct of consciousness d.)the importance of continuity of species,e.)direction of knowledge not solely toward humans,and f.)a role for instinctive behavior.These ideas can be seen to have been present before Watson and in the literature of his day.The article itself did not have a great immediate impact on psychology.Comparative psychology around 1913 had been strong but was entering a period of partial dormancy from which it recovered during the 1920s and 1930s.It was then that Watson’ early work, and other work of the time,had their greatest impact.Comparative psychology matured in subsequent decades.The impact of behaviorism varied through different phases of its development.Watson’s primary role was to integrate assorted ideas so as to form a fairly coherent package that he, a master salesman, could label and promulgate first to other psychologists and then to a broader public.His specific influences on comparative psychology are sometimes difficult to evaluate.