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THE COLLEGE NEWS

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' \Watson’s Theory



CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

impartial and disinterested in an effort to
get at facts, every fact gledned should be
welconied in spite of the theory attached:

/ The challenge involved is what is val-

uable, i.e. psycho-analysis claims that
what takes place in the conscious life is
perverted by what takes place in the un-
conscious sphere. It has cured diseases
by its methods. And while. these facts
are valuable to scientific law, the theory
must be modified.

Theory Has..Value in Method

In 1912 behaviorism demonstrated a
valuabte method and thus threw out a
challenge: to psychologists. Infant edu-
» cation developed and the value of correct-
ing bad habits early in life was proved.
The whole method is rich with’ the prod-
ucts for future research, Dr. Watson
believes that denials are &sential to his
‘method and that one cannot be an-advo-
‘cate of behaviorism without his doctrines.
What are these denials and why does
Dr. Watson think them essential to his
dogma? First, he denies the existence of
the subconscious and says that all Freud-
ism is foolishness. Second, he denies the
existence: of consciousness and says that
there is only body’ life—that thought isa
physical process. He denies these be-
cause he is determined to be a scientist
as -he tinderstands science, -i: e., to deal
only withrthe observable. He feels tre-
mendously distressed that psychology has
lagged behind physiology and neurology,
and thinks/that it can only progress in-
sofar as/ it identifies itself with these

sister ‘sciences.
Psychology Loses Its Soul _
But, Dr. Bridges maintained, mind,
judgment, and thought.:are not physical
and thereforé it is obvious that they can-
not be observed. The tacit principle of
Dr. Watson’s dogma seems to be that
“what is. unmeasurable is unreal. His
premise seems to be, then, that psychology
deals with the same matter as biology and

- physiology. The only difference is that
psychology deals with the organized ac- |

tivities as a whole-and considers the total
reaction to stimuli. In others words, he
treats psychology as.a-science which has
lost its soul and is rapidly losing its.mind.
Dr. Watson is convinced that psychology
has lost*its soul and he will see that it
loses its mind: :
To the layman. it seems unnecessary
that Dr. Watson should have started with
all these denials. With them, he has bur-
dened himself -with>a great-dealof—un-
necessary theory which is an obvious
hindrance. -The theory of behaviorism
involves its advocates in’ self-contradic-
tion and commits them to an airtight
deterministic point of view.

Man Is Physical, Mechanical Creature

Dr. Watson, said Dr. Bridges, also be:
lieves that the only reactions are auto-
matic habit reactions; that there are few,
or no, human instincts, and that there is
no “unconsciousness,” or soul. The fact

that he has retained the word “person- |-

,

ality” in the last chapter of one of his
books after having denied-all the factors
ofepersonality in every’ previous chapter
of the same book, -is .like-the=smile-of=the
departed Cheshire cat, There is no prin-

ciple of. unity..aad-order;,-only~ stimulable:

“centers. And therefore man° is abso-
lutely mechanical: he has no freedom of
will and can do only what he “must” do.
The whole theory affirms a mind without
a thinker, a memory without 4 conscious-
ness, and reduces emotion to a_ visceral
reaction to stimuli. In brief, behaviorism
denies the existence of man and substi-
tutes a purely mechanical automaton.

Thinking, Dr. Watson has affirmed, is
the same as talking except that - the
former is accomplished without making
any. noise. Thought is not a mental
process, but concerns obscure muscular
and nervous movements. Behaviorism,
then, would “think with&ts lungs.” And
as.a result of this theory, if you, as ’a
result of having heard Dr. Watson, are
converted to behaviorism, the ‘basis* of
your belief is nothing more than Dr.
Watson’s own ani

Determinism Contradicts
Responsibility

One of the greatest. of Dr. Watson’s
self-contradjctions is that he says man
must do ste does and to’ change him
we must untrain him’ and retrgia~ him
completely. It is our own fault, he says,
that individuals deviate from a set. stand-
ard of behavior, because we have neg-
‘lected our opportunities for’ training.
And yet he continually reiterates in stat-
ing that man cannot help. himself, he
must do what he thust and nothing else.
If wrong behavior is our own fault, then
the whole theory of determinism falls to

prove his various theories? Take for in-

__.Stance. the. theory. that there_is_no.soul.

| Dr. Watson maintains there is no ¢uch

thing as the soul,-because no one has
ever touched or seen a soul.. But no one
pretends now that mind and soul are
quantitative and special. things—things
that could be “observed” in a test. tube.
Years ago Thomas Huxley said that the
materialists’ talked-of “force and mat-
ter” as if they were one and the same,
when they really knew nothing at all
about force. Nowadays those who know
the most about electricity’ admit that
what they call “electricity” is neither ob-
servable or measurable. Bertrand Rus-
sell says the world of solpnce is.one of
mental’ constryction. _If Dr. Watson
denies the mind that makes that eon-
struction, ‘science is. bankrupt ‘then and
there.

'Dr.’-Bridges contends that mind, will,
personality, etc., are inevitable postulates
of the facts on which behaviorism. places
its denials. Whenever Dr. Watson use
“I” or “me” he rebuilds all that he has
destroyed,

Watson Is Too Scornful

One of the most serious of Dr. Wat-
son’s faults, said.Dr. Bridges, is his habit
of using the most contemptuous language
concerning both his predecessors. and
contemporaries in the field of science.
Even if his own theory were trué, he
would owe it in.a large part to the work
of his- predecessors.. It might surprise
him to learn that his assertions were ob-
served centuries. ago by Socrates in
Athens. In another of his books, Dr.
‘Watson has stated that “the theory of
‘images’ has been given: up in psychol-
ogy.” He seems to say this in order to
hsquare it with the arbitrary theory of
behaviorism, for behaviorism is in no

—--wise-true-#f-the-image-theory-is-accepted.

But images, said Dr. Bridges, areé well-
known facts to even the layman..

This criticism «may -be passéd on .the
theory .of behaviorism: how can the
automatic responses of a machine, in the
absence of mind, ever provide a criterion
whereby truth can be distinguished ‘from
falsehood ?

Dr: Watson talks of. “behavioristic

soon. He seems thereby tq»be ready to
e

tell us how wrong we are and what to

do, and at the same time to tell us -that

we can’t help ourselves anyway because

Any system of-ethics, says there are some
things we should not do and some
things we ought to-do. -But behaviorism
seems to state that there is no “ought.”
‘ Behaviorism is, welcomed as ‘a theory,
concluded Dr. Bridges, but we may well
criticise it with: a view to ridding it of
its many assumptions and dogmas,



Goodhart Concert

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ski and his confreres here and wherever
great music is played. Immediately after
this prologue Mr. Stokowski appeared.
Audience Applauds Lohengrin
The concert proper began with the Pre-
lude ‘from Lohengrin, In spite of all
we, have heard about the acoustics of

could:-have-sounded more nearly.-perfect
than that. Neither the crowded stage
nor-the-unfamiliarity of the place-seemed:
to affect the conducting or’ the playing
of the Orchestra. To our-proud and en-
thusiastic -ears, even the memory of the
playing of ‘the same Prelude at the Aca-
demy of Music recently suffered by con-
trast.
perfect breathless pause, still more toMe
desired than the stormy applause that fol-
lowed.
Mr. Alwyne Plays

The second number .was the Lizt Con-
certo with Mr. Alwyne at the piano. -The
applause which greeted him obviously
started from the back of the hall and
the balcony, and was there sustained. At
the end, however, the concerto had been
so beautifully played that it was im-
possible to hear the beginning of the ap-
plause—it came all at once.

Toward the end of the Tristan and
Islode,.“Lovedeath,” which followed the

‘lconcerto, there was one of ‘those mo-

ments of near silence in which everyone

the music became louder one could (hear
the small sounds that follow sych tense-
ness, people letting out their breaths and
moving about in their seats.

During the intermission most of those
in the balcony stood up, for the seventh-
inning strétch and to look complacently
down at the ushers, trailing their long
dresses up. and down the aisles.

Glee .Club Makes Debut

.When the Glee Club rose to sing, the
most noticeable thing was that Mr. Sto-
kowski_ was conducting facing the audi-
Fence.~



directly played upon. The singing of the





nineteen enthintemnnstnmnentet

ethics,” which he says he hopes will cqgne |"

we can do .only what we “must”. do.|

Goodhart, it is hard to see how anything |.

When it was over there was thay

seemed to be holding his breath; then, as]

It “gave-onea~feelingof being}

personally led, of having our emotions].

first two Chorales, which, were unaccom-
panied, seemed to lack. confidence, par-
‘ticularly in the high parts. But in the

its skill and confidence to -the Glee Club,
and they sang really. well. - -

Glee .Club, saying that they had chosen
something difficult and delicate in the
Chorales. He went on to say that when
he came out, here for rehearsals he was
struck by one thing, the inner disciplige
with which” the girls did everything.
“Probably,” he said, “you work well
against the outep> discipline—I hope you
do. But the inner is important, it is you,
and not imposed by others on you.” He
said he had had: great pleastire in listen-
ing to the Chorales, and thanked: Bryn
Mawr foreletging him give the concert
in that hall which was a symbol of great
beauty and strength. He said that we
had done something still more wonderful
in building the auditorium for'the future,
{of lasting materials. In it-we*have com-
bined the old and the new spirits: *

When he had finishéd, without waiting
an instant for the applause, he turned to
the Orchestra, to swing into. the magnifi-
cence of the Toccata and-Fugue. It was
followed by tumultuous applause, no one
seemed to want to leave the hall. The
baleony in particular continued to clap
after repeated bows. But it was in vain.
Mr. Stokowski finally left the stage.



Cast Is Changed

Changes have been made in the cast of
the Varsity Dramatics production of Bel-
lairs since our first announcement. The
rectified cast is as follows:

+Betty.Barclay—...AnnabelleLearned,.’29
DIGAR? G7 hi civics Mary Drake, ’31
» The play willbe given, as everyone
knows, Saturday evening at 8,15 in Good-
hart Hall. It is also announced that the
program. is being designed — by Wilson
Eyresy of - Philadelphia.

second two. the Orchestra lent- some of’

At the end Mr. Stokowski thanked the







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the metal itself.

trical age.





Changing
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