Editing John B. Watson (section)

== Education ==
Despite his poor academic performance and having been arrested twice during high school—first for fighting, then for discharging firearms within city limits—Watson was able to use his mother's connections to gain admission to Greenville's [[Furman University]] at the age of 16.<ref name=":3" /> There, he would complete a few psychology courses, though never excelling.<ref name=":0" /> He would also consider himself to be a poor student, holding a few jobs on campus to pay for his college expenses. Others thought him as quiet, lazy, and insubordinate,<ref name=":3" /> and, as such, he continued to see himself as "unsocial," making few friends. Nevertheless, being a precocious student, Watson would leave Furman with a master's degree at the age of 21.

After graduating, Watson spent a year at Batesburg Institute, the name he gave to a one-room school in Greenville, at which he was principal, janitor, and handyman. Watson entered the [[University of Chicago]] after petitioning the [[List of University of Chicago faculty|University President]]. The successful petition would be central to his ascent into the psychology world, as his college experience introduced him to professors and colleagues who would be integral to his success in developing psychology into a credible field of study. Watson began studying philosophy under [[John Dewey]] on the recommendation of Furman professor, Gordon Moore.<ref name="Hergenhahn" /> The combined influence of Dewey, [[James Rowland Angell]], Henry Herbert Donaldson, and [[Jacques Loeb]], led Watson to develop a highly descriptive, objective approach to the analysis of behavior, an approach he would later call ''[[behaviorism]]''.<ref name="Fancher">Fancher, R. E. (1990). ''Pioneers of Psychology.'' New York: [[W. W. Norton & Company]].</ref> Wanting to make psychology more scientifically acceptable, Watson thought of the approach as a declaration of faith, based on the idea that a [[methodology]] could transform psychology into a [[Science|scientific discipline]]. Later, Watson became interested in the work of [[Ivan Pavlov]] (1849–1936), and eventually included a highly simplified version of Pavlov's principles in his popular works.<ref name="Bolles">Bolles, R. C. (1993). ''The Story of Psychology: A Thematic History.'' California: [[Brooks/Cole|Brooks/Cole Publishing]].</ref>

=== Dissertation on animal behavior ===
Watson earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1903.<ref name=":6">"[https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-B-Watson John B. Watson]." ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. 2020 [1998]. Retrieved May 16, 2020.</ref> In his dissertation, "Animal Education",<ref>Watson, John B. 1903. "Animal Education: An Experimental Study on the Psychical Development of the White Rat, Correlated with the Growth of its Nervous System" (dissertation). [[University of Chicago]].</ref> he described the relationship between brain [[myelination]] and learning ability in rats at different ages. Watson showed that the degree of myelinization was largely related to learning ability. Watson stayed at the University of Chicago for five years doing research on the relationship between sensory input and learning. He discovered that the [[kinesthetic]] sense controlled the behavior of rats running in mazes. In 1908, Watson was offered and accepted a faculty position at [[Johns Hopkins University]] and was immediately promoted to chair of the psychology department.<ref name="Bolles" />