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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