This is Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It.

“Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It” was the title of John B. Watson’s infamous behaviorist manifesto, as it is sometimes called, of 1913. Watson called for a natural science of psychology that focused on the prediction and control of behavior as the primary subject matter, as opposed to introspective analyses of fuzzy hypothetical constructs such as consciousness or, in the modern parlance, cognition. These were fighting words and they still are. According to Watson, “Our minds have been so warped by the fifty-odd years which have been devoted to the study of states of consciousness that we can envisage these problems only in one way.” It has now been over 150 years. We have, I think, even more to say. Circling back, the formal title of Watson’s manifesto was appropriate, as Watson was the behaviorist at the time. But others would follow, of course, myself included. The title of this Substack is an homage to Watson that recognizes that I will be speaking as a behaviorist, among many, and that my words are not necessarily representative of all behaviorists.