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Watson Vs Maslow

Decent Essays

Both J.B. Watson and Abraham Maslow were important contributors in the field of behaviorism. Behaviorism, as psychologist perceives it, is the scientific study of behavior. They wanted to create an experiment that would allow them to understand humans’ potential which they possess in their environment. People have a tendency to behave in different ways due to the environment which he/she is currently apart of at the moment. By doing these experiments, Watson and Maslow would discover how manipulation and certain needs could affect one’s environment or how they analyze life. Abraham Maslow’s main goal was to discover why happy individuals were happy in their life, which is a form of self-actualization. In his “hierarchy of needs,” Abraham separated individuals’ needs into the following categories or levels: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. After testing the experiment, …show more content…

Watson believed a child’s environment plays a significant role in his/her life because it allows them to establish different behaviors. In his experiment, he wanted to test the reaction of a child while manipulating the environment. As an infant, the baby has three emotional reactions, such as love, fear, and rage. Watson designed a technique which authorized him to control a human’s emotions, which eventually lead him to the “Little Albert Theory.” In this experiment, Watson showed baby Albert an image of a white, furry object. He found out it did not produce a negative reaction. However, when Watson showed the image to the child again, he paired it with a loud noise. This elicited fear, which triggered a new reaction. When Watson presented the image to the baby again, he realized the reaction from Albert was fear. By doing this experiment, it demonstrated that complex behaviors could be learned through the manipulation of one’s

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