John B. Watson famously claimed that if he were to be given a dozen healthy infants
he could shape them into anything: doctors, lawyers, artists, beggars or
thieves, regardless of their background or genetic predispositions. First he
completed experiments with eight-month old Albert and later he applied his
theory when raising his own children. In essence he applied the scientific method
to human psychology which he called behaviorism. With the little Albert
experiment Watson used the method of classical
conditioning to program a baby to be afraid of a lab rat. Earlier Pavlov
demonstrated how conditioning can trigger biological responses that are
inherited genetically. Watson hypothesized that we can also instill
new behaviors that were not inherited. To conduct the experiment Watson and his
assistant Rosalie Rayner placed the boy in a room where a white rat was allowed
to roam around. First, the boy showed no fear.
Then Rayner struck a steel bar with a hammer every time Albert reached out to
touch the rat, scaring Albert and causing him to cry. Eventually, Albert tried to
get away from the rat showing that he had been conditioned to fear the rat.
Weeks later Albert showed distress towards any furry object showing that
his conditioning had not only been sustained but also generalized. Watson
assumed that our behavior is either a reflex evoked by a stimulus or a
consequence of our individual history of earlier exposure to reinforcements and
punishments paired with our current motivational states and stimuli.
Unlike Freud and Jung he was not interested in thoughts or the mind
because in his opinion the analysis of actions and reactions were the only way
to apply the scientific method to psychology and get objective insights
into human behavior. He thought of psychology as an objective
branch of Natural Science, its goal the prediction and control of behavior. Like
his fellow behaviorists he believed that intelligence, temperament, and personality
are determined by the environment in which the child is raised. Watson
published "the psychological care of infant and child". In his book he advised
parents not to touch their children too often and to keep an emotional distance so
as not to spoil them. Playing with children, he warned, would interrupt their
routines. A happy child doesn't cry or seek attention. His book became a
best-seller and soon other scientists of his time advised against showing
affection. Some Western governments started to hand out leaflets advising
that parents should stop kissing their children. Parents developed the idea that
children should be left to sit quietly during the day at night, they should be
left crying alone until they fall asleep. A method called sleep training. Watson
who had a difficult childhood wanted to be a good father and applied his methods
to his four children John, Mary, James, and William. Unfortunately things didn't turn
out as planned: John complained throughout his entire life about
intolerable headaches and died early in his 50s. Mary developed a drinking
problem and attempted suicide, like her brother James. William took his own life
at age 40. Watson allegedly admitted that he regretted writing about child-rearing
as he realized he didn't know enough about it to do so. Towards the end of his
life he became reclusive and prior to his death in 1958
he burned all of his recent papers. What do you think? Watson was convinced that
the kind of nurturing we receive can determine our life path claiming that he
could turn an infant into any man he wishes, in his own family though
depression and bad habits were passed on from generation to generation. Does this
happen due to genetic predispositions or is it the effect of a child's
unfortunate upbringing?
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