Classics in the History of Psychology.docx

Classics in the History of Psychology.docx

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ClassicsintheHistoryofPsychology

ClassicsintheHistoryofPsychology

PsychologyastheBehavioristViewsit.

JohnB.Watson（1913）.

FirstpublishedinPsychologicalReview,20,158-177

Psychologyasthebehavioristviewsitisapurelyobjectiveexperimentalbranchofnaturalscience.Itstheoreticalgoalisthepredictionandcontrolofbehavior.Introspectionformsnoessentialpartofitsmethods,noristhescientificvalueofitsdatadependentuponthereadinesswithwhichtheylendthemselvestointerpretationintermsofconsciousness.Thebehaviorist,inhiseffortstogetaunitaryschemeofanimalresponse,recognizesnodividinglinebetweenmanandbrute.Thebehaviorofman,withallofitsrefinementandcomplexity,formsonlyapartofthebehaviorist'stotalschemeofinvestigation.

Ithasbeenmaintainedbyitsfollowersgenerallythatpsychologyisastudyofthescienceofthephenomenaofconsciousness.Ithastakenasitsproblem,ontheonehand,theanalysisofcomplexmentalstates（orprocesses）intosimpleelementaryconstituents,andontheothertheconstructionofcomplexstateswhentheelementaryconstituentsaregiven.Theworldofphysicalobjects（stimuli,includinghereanythingwhichmayexciteactivityinareceptor）,whichformsthetotalphenomenaofthenaturalscientist,islookeduponmerelyasmeanstoanend.Thatendistheproductionofmentalstatesthatmaybe'inspected'or'observed'.Thepsychologicalobjectofobservationinthecaseofanemotion,forexample,isthementalstateitself.Theprobleminemotionisthedeterminationofthenumberandkindofelementaryconstituentspresent,theirloci,intensity,orderofappearance,etc.Itisagreedthatintrospectionisthemethodparexcellencebymeansofwhichmentalstatesmaybemanipulatedforpurposesofpsychology.Onthisassumption,behaviordata（includingunderthistermeverythingwhichgoesunderthenameofcomparativepsychology）havenovalueperse.Theypossesssignificanceonlyinsofarastheymaythrowlightuponconsciousstates.1Suchdatamusthaveatleastananalogicalorindirectreferencetobelongtotherealmofpsychology.

Indeed,attimes,onefindspsychologistswhoarescepticalofeventhisanalogicalreference.Suchscepticismisoftenshownbythequestionwhichisputtothestudentofbehavior,'whatisthebearingofanimalworkuponhumanpsychology?

'Iusedtohavetostudyoverthisquestion.Indeeditalwaysembarrassedmesomewhat.Iwasinterestedinmyownworkandfeltthatitwasimportant,andyetIcouldnottraceanycloseconnectionbetweenitandpsychologyasmyquestionerunderstoodpsychology.Ihopethatsuchaconfessionwillcleartheatmospheretosuchanextentthatwewillnolongerhavetoworkunderfalsepretences.Wemustfranklyadmitthatthefactssoimportanttouswhichwehavebeenabletogleanfromextendedworkuponthesensesofanimalsbythebehaviormethodhavecontributedonlyinafragmentarywaytothegeneraltheoryofhumansenseorganprocesses,norhavetheysuggestednewpointsofexperimentalattack.Theenormousnumberofexperimentswhichwehavecarriedoutuponlearninghavelikewisecontributedlittletohumanpsychology.Itseemsreasonablyclearthatsomekindofcompromisemustbeaffected:

eitherpsychologymustchangeitsviewpointsoastotakeinfactsofbehavior,whetherornottheyhavebearingsupontheproblemsof'consciousness';orelsebehaviormuststandaloneasawhollyseparateandindependentscience.Shouldhumanpsychologistsfailtolookwithfavoruponouroverturesandrefusetomodifytheirposition,thebehavioristswillbedriventousinghumanbeingsassubjectsandtoemploymethodsofinvestigationwhichareexactlycomparabletothosenowemployedintheanimalwork.

Anyotherhypothesisthanthatwhichadmitstheindependentvalueofbehaviormaterial,regardlessofanybearingsuchmaterialmayhaveuponconsciousness,willinevitablyforceustotheabsurdpositionofattemptingtoconstructtheconsciouscontentoftheanimalwhosebehaviorwehavebeenstudying.Onthisview,afterhavingdeterminedouranimal'sabilitytolearn,thesimplicityorcomplexityofitsmethodsoflearning,theeffectofpasthabituponpresentresponse,therangeofstimulitowhichitordinarilyresponds,thewidenedrangetowhichitcanrespondunderexperimentalconditions--inmoregeneralterms,itsvariousproblemsanditsvariouswaysofsolvingthem--weshouldstillfeelthatthetaskisunfinishedandthattheresultsareworthless,untilwecaninterpretthembyanalogyinthelightofconsciousness.Althoughwehavesolvedourproblemwefeeluneasyandunrestfulbecauseofourdefinitionofpsychology:

wefeelforcedtosaysomethingaboutthepossiblementalprocessesofouranimal.Wesaythat,havingnoeyes,itsstreamofconsciousnesscannotcontainbrightnessandcolorsensationsasweknowthem--havingnotastebudsthisstreamcancontainnosensationsofsweet,sour,saltandbitter.Butontheotherhand,sinceitdoesrespondtothermal,tactualandorganicstimuli,itsconsciouscontentmustbemadeuplargelyofthesesensations;andweusuallyadd,toprotectourselvesagainstthereproachofbeinganthropomorphic,'ifithasanyconsciousness'.Surelythisdoctrinewhichcallsforananologicalinterpretationofallbehaviordatamaybeshowntobefalse:

thepositionthatthestandingofanobservationuponbehaviorisdeterminedbyitsfruitfulnessinyieldingresultswhichareinterpretableonlyinthenarrowrealmof（reallyhuman）consciousness.

Thisemphasisuponanalogyinpsychologyhasledthebehavioristsomewhatafield.Notbeingwillingtothrowofftheyokeofconsciousnesshefeelsimpelledtomakeaplaceintheschemeofbehaviorwheretheriseofconsciousnesscanbedetermined.Thispointhasbeenashiftingone.Afewyearsagocertainanimalsweresupposedtopossess'associativememory',whilecertainothersweresupposedtolackit.Onemeetsthissearchfortheoriginofconsciousnessunderagoodmanydisguises.Someofourtextsstatethatconsciousnessarisesatthemomentwhenreflexandinstinctiveactivitiesfailproperlytoconservetheorganism.Aperfectlyadjustedorganismwouldbelackinginconsciousness.Ontheotherhandwheneverwefindthepresenceofdiffuseactivitywhichresultsinhabitformation,wearejustifiedinassumingconsciousness.ImustconfessthattheseargumentshadweightwithmewhenIbeganthestudyofbehavior.Ifearthatagoodmanyofusarestillviewingbehaviorproblemswithsomethinglikethisinmind.Morethanonestudentinbehaviorhasattemptedtoframecriteriaofthepsychic--todeviseasetofobjective,structuralandfunctionalcriteriawhich,whenappliedintheparticularinstance,willenableustodecidewhethersuchandsuchresponsesarepositivelyconscious,merelyindicativeofconsciousness,orwhethertheyarepurely'physiological'.Suchproblemsasthesecannolongersatisfybehaviormen.Itwouldbebettertogiveuptheprovincealtogetherandadmitfranklythatthestudyofthebehaviorofanimalshasnojustification,thantoadmitthatoursearchisofsucha'willo'thewisp'character.Onecanassumeeitherthepresenceortheabsenceofconsciousnessanywhereinthephylogeneticscalewithoutaffectingtheproblemsofbehaviorbyonejotoronetittle;andwithoutinfluencinginanywaythemodeofexperimentalattackuponthem.Ontheotherhand,Icannotforonemomentassumethattheparameciumrespondstolight;thattheratlearnsaproblemmorequicklybyworkingatthetaskfivetimesadaythanonceaday,orthatthehumanchildexhibitsplateauxinhislearningcurves.Thesearequestionswhichvitallyconcernbehaviorandwhichmustbedecidedbydirectobservationunderexperimentalconditions.

Thisattempttoreasonbyanalogyfromhumanconsciousprocessestotheconsciousprocessesinanimals,andviceversa:

tomakeconsciousness,asthehumanbeingknowsit,thecenterofreferenceofallbehavior,forcesusintoasituationsimilartothatwhichexistedinbiologyinDarwin'stime.ThewholeDarwinianmovementwasjudgedbythebearingithadupontheoriginanddevelopmentofthehumanrace.Expeditionswereundertakentocollectmaterialwhichwouldestablishthepositionthattheriseofthehumanracewasaperfectlynaturalphenomenonandnotanactofspecialcreation.Variationswerecarefullysoughtalongwiththeevidencefortheheapingupeffectandtheweedingouteffectofselection;forintheseandtheotherDarwinianmechanismsweretobefoundfactorssufficientlycomplextoaccountfortheoriginandracedifferentiationofman.Thewealthofmaterialcollectedatthistimewasconsideredvaluablelargelyinsofarasittendedtodeveloptheconceptofevolutioninman.Itisstrangethatthissituationshouldhaveremainedthedominantoneinbiologyforsomanyyears.Themomentzoologyundertooktheexperimentalstudyofevolutionanddescent,thesituationimmediatelychanged.Manceasedtobethecenterofreference.Idoubtifanyexperimentalbiologisttoday,unlessactuallyengagedintheproblemofracedifferentiationinman,triestointerprethisfindingsintermsofhumanevolution,oreverreferstoitinhisthinking.Hegathershisdatafromthestudyofmanyspeciesofplantsandanimalsandtriestoworkoutthelawsofinheritanceintheparticulartypeuponwhichheisconductingexperiments.Naturally,hefollowstheprogressoftheworkuponracedifferentiationinmanandinthedescentofman,buthelooksupontheseasspecialtopics,equalinimportancewithhisownyetonesinwhichhisinterestswillneverbevitallyengaged.Itisnotfairtosaythatallofhisworkisdirected