(1) Denying the role of heredity

First of all, Watson believed that the formula for behavior is stimulus-response. The response can be predicted from the stimulus, and the stimulus can be inferred from the response. In Watson's view, stimulation refers to changes in the objective environment and the internal tissue itself, and response refers to the movement of the entire body, the activities of arms, legs, and trunk, or the combined movement of all these motor organs (Watson, 1998). He equated mental activities such as thinking, emotions, and personality with a series of actions. Since stimuli exist objectively and are not determined by heredity, and behavioral responses are caused by stimuli, behavior cannot be determined by heredity.

Secondly, although Watson admitted that differences in the structure of organisms come from inheritance, he believed that inheritance of structure does not lead to inheritance of function. The future form of an individual's genetic structure depends on the environment in which it lives. Watson gave an example to illustrate this. A father who is a pianist has two sons. The eldest son has long and flexible fingers, while the younger son has neither long nor flexible fingers. An instrument like the piano requires long fingers, good hand shape, and wrist strength. Suppose a father likes his younger son and says to him, "I want you to be a pianist, and I want to give it a try. Your fingers are not long or flexible, but I will build you a piano. I will make the keys narrow so that It fits your fingers and changes the shape of the keys so that you don't have to press them with special force. "Who knew that under such conditions, the youngest son would not become the greatest pianist in the world? (Watson, 1998)

Thirdly, Watson's psychology aims to control behavior, but heredity cannot be controlled, so the smaller the role of heredity, the greater the possibility of controlling behavior. Therefore, Watson denied the role of heredity on individual psychological and behavioral development.

(2) One-sided exaggeration of the role of environment and education

Watson’s famous saying fully reflects his theoretical orientation of environmental determinism. He pointed out: “Give me a healthy dose of If I have babies and raise them in a special environment of my own choosing, then I am willing to guarantee that I can choose any of the babies and train him to become any kind of expert I choose-a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, thief, without regard to his talents, tastes, tendencies, abilities, talents, or the race of his ancestors. Please note, however, that when I engage in this experiment, I personally determine the method and environment of these children." (Watson. , 1998) Although Watson paid attention to the genetic basis of the individual when proposing this point of view, "Give me a dozen healthy babies", he one-sidedly exaggerated the role of environment and education in individual psychological development and ignored the individual's Initiative, initiative and creativity ignore the internal motivations that promote psychological development. It is undeniable that Watson's environmental determinism view is indeed very inspiring. He made people pay attention to the social factors of individual psychological development. At the same time, we have also deeply realized in real life the huge role that the environment, including family environment, social environment and school education environment, play in individual development.