# John B. Watson ![[50 Resources/51 Attachments/51.03 Public/2026-02-12 John B. Watson.jpg|400]] John B. Watson (1878–1958) was an American psychologist who founded [[Behaviorism]], revolutionizing psychology by rejecting introspection and focusing exclusively on observable behavior. His 1913 manifesto "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It" declared that psychology should study stimulus-response relationships, not consciousness or mental states. Watson is infamous for the "Little Albert" experiment demonstrating conditioned fear responses, and his bold claim that he could shape any infant into any specialist regardless of talents or ancestry—an extreme [[Tabula Rasa]] position. His work influenced [[B. F. Skinner]] and dominated American psychology for decades until the [[Cognitive Revolution]]. [[Steven Pinker]] critiques Watson's blank slate assumptions in *[[The Blank Slate]]*. ## Quotes <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[John B. Watson]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> ## Books <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/book AND [[John B. Watson]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> ## Related - [[Behaviorism]] - [[B. F. Skinner]] - [[Tabula Rasa]] - [[Cognitive Revolution]] ## References - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Watson