Behaviourist approach

Question 1

Evaluate Watson and Rayners research
‘ conditioned emotional reactions

Answer 1

• study was conducted in controlled conditions
• involved single participant = little albert
• he was reared from a hospital environment
• aged 11 months
• his mother was a wet nurse at the hospital where watson + rayner worked
• albert was described as ‘stolid and unemotional’
• the study focused on albert’s response to conditioning
• conducted in a well-lit dark room
• albert was placed on a mattress which was on top of a table

Question 2

strengths of watson and rayners study

Answer 2

1. degree of control, waston and rayner had. - Due to the environment in which the research was conducted (a well-lit darkroom), they were able to control extraneous variables
   * examples of factors controlled = presentation of ‘furry object’ and the location of the research.
2. this level of control is positive as it increases the experimental validity of the research.
3. As a scientific methodology was used, Watson and Rayners research has scientific status

Question 3

weaknesses of watson and rayners study

Answer 3

1. a negative of this research is its representativeness and whether generalizations can be made, as the sample only consisted of one participant who had emotional stability.
2. the use of one participant (sampling issue) with his characteristics means it is difficult to draw conclusions regarding whether the findings can be generalized to other children = this limits application to society

Question 4

ethical issues of watson and rayners study

Answer 4

1. risk of stress, anxiety, humiliation or pain. It was clear that little albert was very distressed throughout the procedures and from an ethical perspective watson and rayner should have stopped the research and not continued to the next stages that lasted several months.
2. also issues regarding valid consent = little albert was the son of a low paid worker employed at the hospital at which w+r worked at = there are question marks regarding whether valid consent was obtained from alberts mother.
   consent is only valid when the individual understands what will and could happen in a study—> could suggest POWER DIFFERENCE
   between researchers (prominent doctors) and alberts mother (low paid warker)
   would have been difficult for his mother to refuse.
3. the fact that alberts mother eventually removed him further supports this

Question 5

The methodology of watson + rayners study

Answer 5

the study involved one participant, a male infant aged 11 months known as ‘little albert’
This is not a case study as the focus was only on ‘little alberts’ response to conditioning, it was also not an experiment because they was only one condition. It was conducted in a controlled conditions, a well-lit dark room.
Albert was placed ontop of a mattress that was on a table.
This study could be described as controlled observation

• he was described as STOLID AND UNEMOTIONAL and was one of the best developed youngster ever to be brought into the hospital

Question 6

two weakeness of the behaviourist approach

Answer 6

DETERMINISTIC =
by recognising the role of determinism in behaviours such as a persons phobia= this means we can aim to alter these factors in an attempt to change the behaviour. In other words, we can replace the ‘faulty’ learnt behaviours to the object and replace it with a new, more relaxed response.

NATURE/NURTURE=
the fact that the behaviourist approach only considers the nurture side of the importamt debate is a weakness because it ignore the nature side of the debate such as role of genes and therefore cannot fully explain all human behaviour

IGNORES INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
assumes that everyone behaves in the same way

Question 7

strengths of the behaviourist approach

Answer 7

NOMOTHETIC=
developing theories on human behaviours can be a strength as it can be applied to everyone the approach benefits from being more scientific + potentially more useful in applying to more people

NATURE/NURTURE =
exploring only one side of the debate does allow behaviourists to conduct focused research with clear parameters

SCIENTIFIC/UNSCIENTIFIC=
approaches that use a scientific method to investigate their ideas tend to be seen as more credible as the quality of their supporting evidence is higher
—>more funding applied to society