John B. Watson - Dissertation On Animal Behavior

Dissertation On Animal Behavior

Watson earned his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago in 1903. His dissertation "Animal Education: An Experimental Study on the Psychical Development of the White Rat, Correlated with the Growth of its Nervous System." Animal Education described the relationship between brain myelinization and learning ability in rats at different ages. Watson showed that the degree of myelinization was largely related to wand 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.

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