John B. Watson - Early Life

Early Life

Watson was born in Travelers Rest, South Carolina to Pickens Butler and Emma K. (Roe) Watson. His mother, Emma Watson, was a very religious woman who adhered to prohibitions against drinking, smoking, and dancing. His alcoholic father left the family to live with two Indian women when Watson was 13 years old (a transgression which Watson never forgave). Despite his poor academic performance and having been arrested twice during high school, Watson was able to use his mother's connections to gain admission to Furman College in Greenville, South Carolina. A precocious student, he entered college at the age of 16 and left with a masters degree aged 21. Watson made his way through college with significant effort, succeeding in classes that other students simply failed. After graduating, he spent a year at "Batesburg Institute", the name he gave to a one-room school in Greenville. He was principal, janitor, and handyman for the entire school. After petitioning the President of the University of Chicago, Watson entered the university. He began studying philosophy under John Dewey on the recommendation of Furman professor, Gordon Moore. The combined influence of Dewey, James Rowland Angell, Henry Herbert Donaldson and Jacques Loeb led Watson to develop a highly descriptive, objective approach to the analysis of behavior that he would later call "behaviorism." Later, Watson became interested in the work of Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), and eventually included a highly simplified version of Pavlov's principles in his popular works.