Discover more about pychology’s ‘Key Thinkers’ throughout history.

John Watson (1878–1958)

Watson’s Behaviorist Manifesto of 1913 has traditionally, been marked as the beginning of behaviorism. There were, in fact, other antecedent developments during the preceding decade. The newly emerging comparative psychology was developing objective methods and an objective subject matter, a fully behaviorist account of human action was put forward, and the call for a science of behavior was being put forward. Thanks to Watson, the advocates of an objective approach to the explanation of human endeavors were drawn together. Behaviorism, over the next couple of decades, would gain prominence.

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Plato (428–348 BC)

Plato’s theory of forms is perhaps a little difficult to get a handle on. In order to make his point he offered his ‘allegory of the cave’ to indicate how sensory impressions were illusory and that there was a greater truth behind such impressions.

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For a further analogy, considering the impressions left in iron filings of a magnetic field, see: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/2010/start-seeing-magnetic-fields/