In what way did Lashley’s research results discredit a portion of Watson’s system?
Lashley advocated behaviorism of Watson, though his work on mechanisms of brain in rats questioned one of the primary points of Watson. He compiled his research and observation in “Brain Mechanisms and Intelligence”.
He gave two popular principles: the mass action law which asserts that the competence of learning is dependent on entire cortex mass and the equipotentiality principle, which asserts that one component of cortex, is significantly equal to other in terms of its additions of learning.
Lashley wanted his work to take him to particular motor and sensory centers in the cortex of cerebrum as well as analogous connections among motor and sensory apparatus. Findings like these could have backed the simplicity and primacy of the arc of reflex as primary behavioral unit.
Results found by him questioned ideologies of Watson of an easy accurate connection in actions of reflexes, bestow to which the human brain functions just to change incoming impulses of nerves (sensory) to outgoing impulses of motor.
Lashley’s research implied that brain has a more alive part in learning than what could be acceptable to Watson. Therefore, Lashley questioned assumptions by Watson that behavior is amalgamated piece by piece completely by reflexes which are conditioned.