4.3.1 classic study Flashcards
What is the title of the learning theories classical study
Watson and Rayner 1920s “Little Albert “
What was the aim
Watson and Rayner aimed to discover whether it was possible to classically condition and emotional response in a young child. Specifically they aim to condition an 11 month old boy to fear a previously loved rat
What was the procedure
design: lab experiment and video recorded
participants: single participant experiment, an 11 month old baby called Little Albert, but it was never known of his true identity. But he was chose as he was stolid and unemotional
Method: stage one-experimenters establish the neutral stimuli ( the white rat) and the unconditioned stimulus (hammer striking a steel bar) that created the unconditional response of fear in Albert
The first conditioning trial-as Albert went to touch a rat, bars were smashed together. Albert shows fear. By seven trials, the sight of the right alone was not to make Albert cry he just withdrew his hand. Then he tried to crawl away after another trial and as a control he was presented with wooden blocks as it elicited no fear
stage two-Watson and Rayner wished to test whether Albert‘s fear response with generalised to other similar stimuli not just the rat. E.g. a rabbit produce significant fear in Albert. Four observers all noted that he played more happily than ever with the control blocks and this increase in the rate of reliability. He also kicked away the cotton wool and most fear was shown towards the animal stimuli and it seems that his fear had been generalised to furry objects
stage three-the right alone produce a negative response but not as pronounced as before and reconditioned to feed dog and rabbit by pairing with a crash and sound. They also moved the study to a large well lit room to save learning transferred to another context
Stage four-they should’ve been extinction face but it never carried out
What were the results
After the continuous Association of the white rat and loud noise, Little Albert was classically conditioned to experience fear other side of the rat. Albert Speer generalised to other stimuli too
What was the conclusion
It was concluded during stage for that learned fear does insure and that these responses my insure throughout life. Watson and Rayner also said that they think that if the child had not been so stolid, The intensity would not have been diminished. Watson and Rayner concluded that they had successfully conditioned Albert for the white rat and that his fear response generalised to other fairy things. It seems that a conditioned Emotional response can occur in human after only a few pairings of the stimuli
Evaluate the Watson and Rayner little Albert study
Ethics: Albert was not protected from harm, especially because Watson and Rayner did not have the opportunity to decondition Alberts fear. They purposely cause fear for Albert and prevented him from comforting himself like sucking his thumb, because it lessens the effect of the conditioning. However Watson and Rayner felt that the harm that they could’ve done would’ve been no more serious than what he would’ve naturally had. After a month during the study, his condition fear response had dropped so it is possible the effects of conditioning would completely wear off in time and the mother gave consent
Validity: there was no control group, so we cannot be sure that the conditioning caused the fear. The study was under controlled conditions eg lab study. however it lacks ecological validity because Albert was away from familiarity which could’ve made him nervous. It has construct validity as Watson‘s conclusions are in line with what would be predicted by classical conditioning
Reliability: it had standardise procedures. The study hasn’t been replicated for ethical reasons but it easily could. The surviving film of the procedure means we can all view Alberts response which increases interrater reliability. The study had careful controls like what’s and hid behind curtain so Albert associate bang with the rat not Watson
Application: it is useful in understanding the development of fears and lead to techniques like flooding and systematic desensitisation
