Watsonian behaviourism became the dominant psychology in the United States during the 1920s and ’30s. What was John B. Watson’s childhood like? John B. Watson grew up in a poor farming family. His father drank heavily, was prone to violence, and was frequently absent; he finally left the family when John was 13 years old.

Who was a popular psychologist during the 1920s? 1920s. 1920 – John B. Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner conducted the Little Albert experiment, using classical conditioning to make a young boy afraid of white rats. 1921 – Sigmund Freud published Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego.