Contemporaneità di Watson

Abstract

In this paper some aspects of Watson's contribution to psychology are described in an effort to show how the psychology became a scientific one mainly thanks to him. In addressing the issue of Watson's contemporaneity the author starts from the concept of behavior that represents the original core of the S-R paradigm, and considers the various formulations of it. Among them, he reviews Skinner's position, which raises several problems because it does not address the issue of physiological bases of behavior, and the revised version of Watson's theory carried out by Woodworth, Kantor and Hull, which includes the mediation by central and peripherical nervous systems. Finally the author analyses the implications for other fields, such as behavior therapy, psychiatry and medicine. The author emphasises the relations between psychology and psychology in the interpretation of behavior. He discusses Watson's position with respect to the concept of structure and the modification of behavior, and shows its relevance to current issues in contemporary psychology.