Contributions to the History of Psychology: CXI. Factual Errors and Watson's Autobiographical Essay

Abstract

The possible reasons for the overly self-critical nature of John B. Watson's autobiographical essay are examined. Of particular interest are the date and events surrounding the terminal illness of Watson's second wife, Rosalie Rayner. The central question—Did Rayner die before or after Watson wrote his essay?—is impossible to answer from the contradictory information in the current historical literature. Based on a contemporary source, it is almost certain that Watson wrote the essay after his wife's untimely death, but this may not be the reason for the negative tone of his piece. The errors in the literature dealing with this event in Watson's life suggest that greater care should be taken in historical research.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Benjamin

L. T.

Jr. (1993) A history of psychology in letters. Dubuque, IA: Brown Communications.

Brewer

C. L.

(1991) Perspectives on John B. Watson. In Kimble

G. A.

Wertheimer

White

(Eds.), Portraits of pioneers in psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Pp. 170–186.

Buckley

K. W.

(1989) Mechanical man: John Broadus Watson and the beginnings of behaviorism. New York: Guilford.

Cohen

(1979) J. B. Watson: The founder of behaviourism. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Duke

Fried

Pliley

Walker

(1989) Contributions to the history of psychology: LIX. Rosalie Rayner Watson: The mother of a behaviorist's sons. Psychological Reports, 65, 163–169.

Fancher

R. E.

(1996) Pioneers of psychology. (3rd ed.) New York: Norton.

Hannush

M. J.

(1987) John B. Watson remembered: An interview with James B. Watson. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 23, 137–152.

Hartley

Commire

(1990) Breaking the silence. New York: Putnam's.

Hergenhahn

B. R.

(1997) An introduction to the history of psychology. (3rd ed.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

10.

Hilgard

E. R.

(1987) Psychology in America: A historical survey. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

11.

Hothersall

(1995) History of psychology. (3rd ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.

12.

Jones

M. C.

(1924) The elimination of children's fears. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 7, 382–390.

13.

Jones

M. C.

(1974) Albert, Peter and John B. Watson. American Psychologist, 29, 581–583.

14.

Larson

C. A.

(1979) Highlights of Dr. John B. Watson's career in advertising. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 16, 3–5.

15.

Lundin

R. W.

(1996) Theories and systems of psychology. (5th ed.) Lexington, MA: Heath.

16.

McGraw

M. B.

(1990) Memories, deliberate recall, and speculations. American Psychologist, 45, 934–937.

17.

Watson

John B.

Mrs. Scientist's Wife, Dies. (1935, June 19) The New York Times, 84(No. 28,270), L19.

18.

Schultz

D. P.

Schultz

S. E.

(1996) A history of modern psychology. (6th ed.) Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publ.

19.

Viney

(1993) A history of psychology: Ideas and content. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

20.

Watson

J. B.

(1928) Feed me on facts. The Saturday Review of Literature, 4, 966–967.

21.

Watson

J. B.

(1936) John Broadus Watson. In Murchison

(Eds), A history of psychology in autobiography. Vol. 3. Worcester, MA: Clark Univer. Press. Pp. 271–281.

22.

Watson

J. B.

Rayner

(1920) Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1–14.

23.

Watson

R. I.

Evans

R. B.

(1991) The great psychologists: A history of psychological thought. (5th ed.) New York: HarperCollins.