John B. Watson

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/john-b-watson

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was John B. Watson born?January 9, 1878
2. When did John B. Watson die?September 25, 1958 (age 80)
3. Where was John B. Watson born?Travelers Rest, South Carolina, USA
4. What is the career trajectory?Academic psychologist to advertising executive
5. What was John B. Watson's main idea about how we learn?He believed that all our behaviors are learned from the environment, and we start life as blank slates without built‑in thoughts.
6. Why did Watson do the Little Albert experiment?He wanted to show that a fear can be taught by pairing a harmless object, like a white rat, with a loud noise that scares.

Behaviorism: A psychological perspective that focuses on observable behavior and argues that it is learned through interaction with the environment, rather than innate.
Classical Conditioning: A learning process where a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response, as demonstrated by Pavlov's dogs and Watson's Little Albert.
Environmental Determinism: The belief that an individual's behavior, personality, and development are primarily shaped by their environment and experiences, rather than genetics or innate factors.
Tabula Rasa: A Latin term meaning 'blank slate,' referring to the philosophical idea that individuals are born without built-in mental content and all knowledge comes from experience.