~ Behaviorism ~
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.American psychologist (and later on, marketing guru) extraordinaire, John Broadus Watson is inarguably known as the Father of Behaviorism. Like most inventions or theories that are brand new, there is a proverbial pendulum that swings to the extremes before it can sit comfortably in the middle. Such is the case with Behaviorism which when systematically laid out in Watson's seminal 1913 paper, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, is currently practiced with a somewhat softer clinical touch while still retaining its main features. And like many theories in nearly all academic fields, especially in psychology, a new theory is oftentimes a reaction to the current and long-held theory of the day. In this instance, Behaviorism was a direct reaction (some say 'attack') on Freud's psychoanalysis. Although psychoanalytic practice is still around, it has dwindled considerably as a clinical practice as a direct result of Behaviorism and Cognitive Behaviorism as well as the neurosciences. As an academic component, psychoanalytic theory remains a robust part of nearly all undergraduate psychology programs, but is less available in graduate programs.
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In the later years of Watson's graduate studies and training he was exposed to and became enamored with biology and particularly neurology, and the rigorous scientific research that is the defining lynchpin of those fields. During the turn of the 20th century, and heavily influenced by the sciences, Watson believed that psychology needed to sever its long-held ties with philosophy, and adapt a much more rigorous and scientific approach. While a full professor at the well-respected Johns-Hopkins University by 1909, and at the age of just 31, Watson was nominated to become the psychology department chair. This was a position that afforded him an enormous amount of influence and public exposure. Watson was direct, outspoken, charming and radical, all of which was counter, if not unheard of, to the typically conservative demeanor and expectations of academia, including psychology.
For Watson, psychology was about the science of behavior, and in keeping with this premise, had absolutely no business mucking about in the unverifiable contents of the unconscious mind. It wasn't so much that Watson found psychoanalytic theory to be a bunch of bunk, it was just that it had no place whatsoever being associated with 'psychology'. If psychology was to be taken seriously and therefore able to be subjected to the rigors of scientific research, then it could only be so when the subject matter under study is what Karl Popper refers to as having falsifiability (learn more about this important concept here), the most basic tenet in scientific research. The principle of falsifiability demands the following of all research; that the subject under study can be falsified or disproven (i.e., the notion of God cannot be researched and can not therefore be considered a scientific endeavor because there is no way to prove that God does not exist). Additionally, all true scientific studies must be observable and measurable, and subjected to empirical verifiability. Without these three criteria, the subject matter cannot be construed as having any part of science, and therefore would fall under the dubious distinction of being pseudoscientific which is to say, non-science. To Watson, psychology is about the ability to predict and control.
In Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, Watson established what in psychological parlance might be referred to as the new world order. He demands that this new psychology be ...a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science... As a practicing behaviorist, I couldn't agree more!