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still further down to a specific situation. If a man is walking in
a wooded country when some one suddenly begins to fire at him
with a revolver he will duck behind the nearest tree. Even that
one who doubts most strongly our ability to predict human con-
duct will not willingly leave his purse in an unprotected place.
The more constantly we are thrown with an individual the more
accurately we can map out his program of activity for the day.
3. An equally important result coming from our psycho-
logical study is our formulation of laws and principles whereby
man's actions can be controlled by organized society. Psychology
endeavors to guide society as to the ways in which the environ-
ment may be modified to suit the group or individual's way of
acting; or when the environment cannot be modified, to show
how the individual may be moulded (forced to put on new habits)
to fit the environment. It must be understood at the outset,
though, that psychology at present has little to do with the
setting of social standards of action, and nothing to do with
moral standards. It does lie within her province to tell whether the
individual man can act in accordance with such standards, and
how we may control him or lead him to act in harmony with
them. These laws of control or training must be general and
comprehensive, since social standards are constantly changing.

Psychology, when looked at in this way, is seen to be some-
thing which every one has been using more or less all of his life
without calling it by that name. We learn by failures and suc-
cesses how to run our business, how to get along with our col-
leagues and associates. We teach our children to act in certain
ways. They must eat with a fork, learn to dress themselves, to
treat their playmates as they themselves like to be treated, to
master the three R's, and then, later, a trade or profession. We
skillfully or bunglingly steer them on their course from infancy
until they no longer need our guidance.

The Ancient Origin of Psychology. --Indeed, a glance at the
mythology, folk-lore, or history of any given race will show that
the practical psychology of control began as soon as there were
two individuals on the earth living near enough together for the
behavior of one to influence the behavior of the other. The

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Publication Information: Book Title: Psychology: From the Standpoint of a Behaviorist. Contributors: John B. Watson - author. Publisher: J. B. Lippincott. Place of Publication: Philadelphia. Publication Year: 1919. Page Number: 2.
    
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