BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH Flashcards
Social implications in Watson and Rayner
- Vunerable children
- In education
- Naughty step
Describe procedure of session 1
(Little Albert)
ESTABLISHING A CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
(11 months, 3 days old)
Albert returned to the ‘lab’, presented with a white rat. As Albert started to reach for it, the bar was struck just behind his head.
Describe the findings from session 4
(Little Albert)
CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT
(11 months 20 days old)
In the new environment, Albert’s responses to the rat, rabbit and dog were less extreme than before. After more ‘joint stimulation’ Albert’s fear of the rat was even stronger. Even at its weakest, Albert’s fear of the rat was noticeably different to when he played with the wooden blocks. This was very different with any furry objects/toys - where he would show distress/whimper.
Controlled study
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One positive of this research is the degree of control Watson and Rayner had. Due to the environment in which the research was conducted (a well-lit dark room) they were able to control for extraneous variables.
Examples of control included:
- A baseline condition- where Albert’s ‘pre-manipulation’ behaviour could be judged to establish whether or no5 he was a fearful child before the study.
- The trial where Albert played with the wooden blocks provided a control condition which showed his fear was exclusively for furry objects.
- Films were used to record Albert behaviour so the findings could be confirmed by others.
Having this degree of control was a strength because Watson and Rayner could be more confident in their conclusion that the observed effects were due to conditioning rather than other sources.
Describe the findings from session 5
(Little Albert)
THE EFFECT OF TIME
(12 months 21 days old)
His reaction to the blocks (happy) remained different to the furry objects (fear). Whilst his fear towards the furry objects did not remain as extreme over time, he would avoid them, where at times he would cry.
Describe the procedure of session 2
(Little Albert)
TESTING THE CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
(11 months 10 days old)
Albert shown rat (no sound) to see if the previous experience affected his behaviour with the rat. After this, Albert was exposed 5 times to ‘joint stimulation’ (ie show rat and loud noise made behind the head at the same time)
This study demonstrates…
(W&R)
Just how easy it is to create a fear response
Naughty step
(Social implications)
When a child is naughty, the mother shouts- whilst this type of attention is unpleasant, it is still reinforcing (the child is holding the mothers attention, irrespective of the fact it is because they are naughty). The naughty step l, based on conditioning techniques, stops this reinforcement and parents are encouraged to only give attention/make a fuss over things that the child has done right (positively reinforcement). However,
1. Critics of the method such as Morris (2014) claim it can have long term emotional effects. Unlike adults, children do not have the same ability to reflect on their emotions and behaviour to verbalise their feelings once on the naughty step.
2. For the naughty step to be impactful it needs to be implemented consistently. However, life can be busy and stressful and so if a parent is unable to use the method frequently it’s effects dwindle.
More psychological harm
In addition, not only could watson and rayner be criticised for inducing a fear in a young child, they were also guilty of intensifying the stress. They noticed that, when Albert became anxious he would suck his thumb (which helped him to calm down). However, sucking his thumb also meant that it reduced the effect that the loud noise had on him. So, the researchers would remove his thumb from his mouth in order to fully measure the effect of the stimuli upon him.
Term for someone who displays a weakness of some sort
Constitutionally inferior
Creating a fear
