Question

Fred, a tennis coach, insists that he can make any reasonably healthy individual into an internationally competitive tennis player. Fred is echoing the thoughts of: A. Sigmund Freud B. John B. Watson C. Abraham Maslow D. William James.

Short answer

Answer: B. John B. Watson Explanation: Fred's claim that he can make any reasonably healthy individual into an internationally competitive tennis player aligns with the beliefs of John B. Watson, the founder of behaviorism. Watson believed that human behavior can be fully explained by environmental influences and conditioning, rather than internal mental processes. In this case, Fred's statement suggests that through conditioning and proper coaching, any healthy person can become an exceptional tennis player, which resonates with Watson's behaviorism theory.

Step-by-step solution

Understand the psychologists' beliefs

To solve this exercise, it is important to have an understanding of the main beliefs of each psychologist mentioned in the options. Here is a brief overview: A. Sigmund Freud - He believed that human behavior is mainly driven by unconscious desires and conflicts. B. John B. Watson - He was the founder of behaviorism, a psychological theory asserting that human behavior can be fully explained by environmental influences and conditioning, rather than internal mental processes. C. Abraham Maslow - He introduced the hierarchy of needs, which is a motivational theory stating that humans have certain needs (physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization) that must be met in order to achieve psychological health. D. William James - He was a functionalist who believed that the purpose of psychology is to study the function of psychological processes, rather than their content.

Identify the correct answer

Based on the information about each psychologist's beliefs, it's clear that John B. Watson's thoughts align with Fred's statement. Watson, the founder of behaviorism, believed that human behavior can be shaped and controlled through environmental influences and conditioning, which is consistent with Fred's claim that he can make any reasonably healthy individual into a skilled tennis player. Therefore, the correct answer is: B. John B. Watson

Key concepts

John B. Watson

John B. Watson was a pivotal figure in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline. Born in 1878, Watson introduced behaviorism, which emphasized the importance of observable behavior over internal mental states.

Watson's famous statement, 'Give me a dozen healthy infants, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select,' reflects his belief in the power of the environment to shape behavior.

He conducted several experiments, the most notorious being the Little Albert experiment, in which he demonstrated that a young child could be conditioned to fear a previously neutral stimulus - a white rat - through association with a loud, frightening noise.

Psychological Conditioning

Psychological conditioning is a process through which behavior becomes associated with certain stimuli. This concept was integral to Watson's behaviorism and generally consists of two main types: classical and operant conditioning.

Classical Conditioning

Pioneered by Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response. Over time, the neutral stimulus alone can evoke a response, which is now conditioned. Watson's Little Albert experiment was a prime example: the white rat (neutral) was paired with the loud noise (unconditioned stimulus) to eventually evoke fear (conditioned response).

Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner further expanded on the idea of conditioning with operant conditioning, where behaviors are strengthened or weakened by their consequences, such as rewards or punishments.

Environmental Influences on Behavior

The belief that environment dictates behavior is one the core tenets of behaviorism. According to this perspective, all actions and habits are a result of conditioning that occurs through interaction with the environment.

Behaviorists like Watson argued that by manipulating environmental variables, one could produce predictable changes in behavior. This is seen in everyday life, such as through reward systems in schools and workplaces or social norms shaping our actions.

In Fred's statement about coaching a tennis player, we see the application of this principle. He implies that with the right training environment, every person has the potential to reach a high skill level in tennis. This underscores the behavioral belief that external conditioning - rather than intrinsic talent or thought processes - can lead to mastery.