John Broadus Watson (1878–1958) was the founder of behaviourism. educated in a one-room schoolhouse in the american farm belt (like many of his era), he went on to complete his Phd at the university...

John Broadus Watson (1878–1958) was the founder of behaviourism. educated in a one-room schoolhouse in the american farm belt (like many of his era), he went on to complete his Phd at the university of chicago. after a brief exploration of the introspectionist approach, he continued under John dewey and James angell, two of the pioneers of the functionalist approach. Watson was both gifted and outspoken – two characteristics which played a major role in his career. he completed his Phd in only three years and began teaching at the university; four years later, he was offered a full professorship in psychology at Johns hopkins university, and shortly after became chairman of the department. in 1913 he began publishing the fi rst of a series of publications which outlined his behaviourist approach, which quickly gained him both fame and notoriety – his statement about shaping a healthy infant in any way desired (quoted in the text) is characteristic of his assertive style. While at Johns hopkins, he met graduate student rosalie rayner, who became his second wife. after collaborating with rayner on the case of ‘little albert’, Watson became interested in human sexual behaviour; his activities in this regard (including participant observation) did not sit well with the prevailing moral views, and he was fi nally dismissed. at this point, he took a job with the J. Walter thompson advertising fi rm. not surprisingly, he did well in his new role, embarking on studies of consumer behaviour, writing psychology articles for the general public, and becoming a vice-president of the advertising fi rm in fewer than four years. thus, Watson not only founded an entire approach to psychology, but perhaps was also the fi rst psychologist to apply psychological theory to advertising and marketing! he died in new york at the age of 80.