Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology

John B. Watson's 1914 work, Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology, was a foundational text in establishing behaviorism. This approach to psychology, championed by Watson, focused exclusively on the objective, experimental study of observable behavior and its relationship to environmental stimuli. Watson argued for the use of animal subjects in psychological research, viewing their behavior as a series of reflexes influenced by heredity and conditioned responses. He believed that psychology should be a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science, discarding introspection and subjective mental experiences. This perspective significantly influenced the direction of psychology in the United States during the early to mid-20th century.12