John B. Watson

1 7.7

An American psychologist known as the founder of behaviorism

proper noun
/dʒɑn bi ˈwɑtsən/

: John B. Watson

John B. Watson proposed that psychology should focus on observable behavior rather than internal mental states.

Examples

Many university courses in psychology discuss the contributions of John B. Watson to behaviorism.
The theories of John B. Watson revolutionized psychology.
The theories of John B. Watson had a significant influence on 20th-century psychological research.
Did John B. Watson really believe in behaviorism?
John B. Watson proposed that psychology should focus on observable behavior rather than internal mental states.
Many university courses in psychology discuss the contributions of John B. Watson to behaviorism.
The theories of John B. Watson had a significant influence on 20th-century psychological research.

Synonyms

John Broadus Watson

vsJohn B. Watson

7.4

An American psychologist who started behaviorism and studied how people and animals act

is the shorter form without the middle name and a broader label

Surface Forms

John B. Watson main

Morphology

John + B. + Watson

This is a proper name: knowing 'John', 'B.' and 'Watson' only indicates a person's name but does not allow a B1 learner to infer the encyclopedic meaning (that he was a U.S. psychologist and founder of behaviorism). Proper names are non-compositional and language-/culture-specific, so the specific biographical sense is not derivable from the constituent words.

Etymology

John B. Watson was a psychologist who started the idea called 'behaviorism' and said psychology should study what we can see, people's actions, not their private thoughts. That's why his name is now linked to studying 'observable behavior' in psychology.