1.3.4 Classical Research - Little Albert Flashcards
(Method) What was the little Albert study designed to test?
Whether human emotions can be acquired through classical conditioning - teaching a phobia
(Method) What research method was used in the study?
A controlled observation
(Method) Who was the participant?
A normal male aged 9 months
(Method) Why was it not a case study?
It only focuses on Alberts response to conditioning, it wasn’t in depth or over time
(Method) Why was the study not an experiment?
There was only one condition
(Procedure) What were Alberts responses recorded using?
A motion picture camera
(Procedure)What happened in the first part of emotional tests?
Alberts emotional response were tested by presenting him with objects he hadn’t seen before
(Procedure)What objects was Albert presented wi during emotional tests?
A white rat Monkey Cotton wool A rabbit A dog Masks Burning newspaper
(Procedure) What happened during the second part of emotional tests?
Albert was tested with a loud noise produced by striking a hammer on a steel bar behind his head
(Procedure) What happened to 11month 3day old Albert in session 1?
Albert was presented with the rat and began to reach for it, at that moment the bar was struck behind his head
(Procedure) What happened to 11month 10day old Albert during session 2?
Albert was shown the rat with no noise to see if he was affected by his previous experience
Then Albert was exposed to the joint stimulation 5 times
(Procedure) What is the joint stimulation?
The rat paired with the noise
(Procedure) Who conducted the little Albert study?
Watson and Rayner
(Procedure) What happened to 11month 15day old Albert during session 3 of generalisation?
Albert was shown the rat, wooden blocks, a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, cotton wool and watsons hair to see if the link would generalise to other objects
(Procedure) What happened during session 4 of the new environment when Albert was 11 months and 20 days
Albert was taken to a new environment a well lit lecture room with 4 people present, he was then placed on a table and was shown the objects
Freshening up occurred
(Procedure) What is freshening up that occurred in session 4?
Further joint stimulation to strengthen Alberts response
(Procedure) What did 12 month and 21day old Alberts final tests in session 5 involve?
A Santa mask A fur coat A rat A rabbit A dog Wooden blocks
(Findings) What were the findings of the emotional tests to the objects?
Albert showed no fear response to any of the objects
(Findings) What was Alberts response to the noise during the emotional tests?
The first time the bar was struck - Albert started violently, his breathing checked and arms raised
By the 3rd strike he broke into a crying fit
(Findings) During session 1 when the bar was struck with the rat what was Alberts response?
1st time - Albert jumped and fell forward, burying his head
2nd time - Albert fell again whimpering a little
(Findings) in session 2 what response did Albert show to the rat?
Just stared at it
When it was placed closer he began to reach but withdrew when it tried to nuzzle his hand
(Findings) during session 2 Alberts cautious behaviour was tested by giving him blocks, what did he do?
Played normally showing his emotional state was normal and the cautious response was only to the rat
(Findings) during session 2 after further joint stimulation, when Albert was shown the rat what did he do?
Became distressed
Cried
Crawled away so rapidly he had to be caught before reaching the edge of the table
(Findings) when shown the blocks in session 3 what did albert do?
Played happily
(Findings) in session 3 what was alberts immediate response to the rat?
Fear
(Findings) in session 3 what was alberts reaction to the rabbit?
Just as extreme as the rat
Bursting into tears and crawling away
(Findings) in session 3 the dog and fur coat did not produce what?
As violent a reaction
(Findings) in session 3 when given the cotton wool in a package what did Albert do?
Played with the package
Didn’t touch the cotton wool at first but was later less cautious
(Findings) in session 3 what was alberts response to John Watson hair?
No fear response
(Findings) in session 4 in the new environment Alberts responses to the rat and rabbit were what?
Less extreme
(Findings) in session 4 after freshening up what was alberts conditioned fear response?
Stronger
(Findings) in session 4 what was alberts response to the building blocks?
Playing happily never whimpering
(Findings) in session 4 it was shown a distinct learned response persisted to what type of objects?
Furry
(Findings) in session 5 Albert responded to the furry objects in a less extreme way but still did what?
Avoided them and whimpered
On occasions crying
(Conclusions) the experiment showed the ease at which what can be created?
A fear response
(Conclusions) how many joint stimulations were sufficient to create an emotional response?
Two
(Conclusions) how many joint stimulations were sufficient to bring about the complete response?
7
(Conclusions) the study showed learnt responses can be generalised to what? And how did the study show this?
Similar stimuli
Albert was scared of objects sharing characteristics with the rat such as the rabbit and the cotton wool
(Conclusions) Watson and rayner said it is provable many phobias are accounted via what?
Classical conditioning and association
(Conclusions) Watson and Rayner suggested persistence of early conditioned responses would only be found in who?
People who were constitutionally inferior - psychologically weaker
(Conclusions) at the time of the research the favoured psychological explanations were what?
Freudian psychodynamic explanations
(Conclusions) the Freudian interpretation of little alberts thumb sucking was what?
Oral stage
(Conclusions) Watson and rayner suggested Freud may have been wrong rather thumb sucking was what?
Compensation to block fear
Source of comfort
