There are... for us no instincts—we no longer need the term in psychology. Everything we have been in the habit of calling an 'instinct' today is a result largely of training—belonging to man's learned behavior.
John B. WatsonRead
Psychology, as the behaviorist views it, is a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science which needs introspection as little as do the sciences of chemistry and physics.... The position is taken here that the behavior of man and the behavior of animals must be considered in the same plane.
Interpretation
Watson argues that psychology should be an objective and empirical science, akin to chemistry and physics.
John B. Watson's quote emphasizes the objective nature of psychology as a scientific field, advocating that it should be studied experimentally and without relying on introspection. He asserts that the behaviors of humans and animals should be analyzed in a similar manner, suggesting that the principles of behavior are universal and that psychological science should align with the rigor found in the natural sciences.
In practice
In a psychology conference to highlight the importance of empirical research methods.
There are... for us no instincts—we no longer need the term in psychology. Everything we have been in the habit of calling an 'instinct' today is a result largely of training—belonging to man's learned behavior.
The Behaviorist cannot find consciousness in the test-tube of his science.
...for a long time I wanted to become a theologian... now, however, behold how through my efforts God is being debated in astronomy.
Science without conscience is the death of the soul.
The invention of the scientific method and science is, I'm sure we'll all agree, the most powerful intellectual idea, the most powerful framework for thinking and investigating and understanding and challenging the world around us that there is, and it rests on the premise that any idea is there to be attacked. If it withstands the attack then it lives to fight another day and if it doesn't withstand the attack then down it goes. Religion doesn't seem to work like that.
The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant a mathematical construct which, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work-that is, correctly to describe phenomena from a reasonably wide area.
A full understanding of what happens in our everyday lives needs to take into account what happened at the Big Bang. And not only is that intrinsically interesting and just kind of cool to think about, but it's also a mystery that is not given much attention by working scientists; it's a little bit underappreciated.
There's no tradition of scientists knocking down the Sunday school door, telling the preacher, That might not necessarily be true. That's never happened. There're no scientists picketing outside of churches.
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