Yes, they had an affair, which casued his dismissal and divorce from his
first wife.
No, he did not do "sex research" (with her or anyone else).
Chris
==========
Rick Froman wrote:
Just to clarify, is the article saying they didn't have an affair or
they didn't have sexual relations in the service of science? I would say
it was obvious that it was not for the sake of science since the public
nature of science means, if you don't publish it (or at least try to),
you aren't doing it in the service of science.
Rick
Dr. Rick Froman, Chair
Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
Box 3055
x7295
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.jbu.edu/academics/hss/faculty/rfroman.asp
Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives
thought to his steps."
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 4:37 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: [tips] Sexy time for John B. Watson?
The story of John B. Watson's alleged sexy time with his graduate
student
Rosalie Rayner in the service of science has alternatively agitated and
titillated the psychological community and its undergraduate students
for
many years.
At last we have as close to a definitive answer as we are ever likely to
get, from Ludy Benjamin et al (2007) in a masterful review of the
evidence.
So, tittle-tattle or truth? The abstract to the just-published article
in
American Psychologist coyly doesn't tell, presumably to induce you to
read the article in full to find out. But those of you who don't have
easy access to the article would hate me if I kept quiet about it,
wouldn't you?
The answer is....tittle-tattle. Or, in the words of the authors, "Our
assessment of the evidence leads us to agree with the textbook authors
who appear to have decided that the story of Watson's sexual research
was
just that--a story, so much gossip." It's not that there aren't
tantalizing hints in Watson's writings that he was interested in such
research; it's just that there's no reliable evidence that he actually
carried any out.
As one who at one time entertained the notion, perhaps wistfully, that
the story could be true, the lesson is clear: be sceptical of such stuff
unless and until it receives adequate documentation. The Internet has
only made the problem of spurious stories and attributions worse (much
worse!). Witness, for example, the case of Freud's alleged,
widely-quoted
statement that the mind is like an iceberg which we've discussed here.
Actually, textbooks came out of this one surprisingly well, because as
Ludy et al point out, not a single current textbook mentions the story,
although it appears in quite a few older ones. But they note that it
seems to be still making an appearance in the undergraduate classroom
and, of course, is well-represented on the Internet.
Is this article going to put a stop to such stuff? I wouldn't bet on it.
Stephen
Benjamin, L. , Whitaker, J., Ramsey, R., & Zeve, D. (2007). John B.
Watson's alleged sex research: an appraisal of the evidence. American
Psychologist, 62, 131-139.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2600 College St.
Sherbrooke QC J1M 0C8
Canada
Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at
http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm
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