Classic Study Little Albert Flashcards
What was the aim of the Classic study?
To investigate whether a fear response to an animal can be conditioned
To investigate whether the fear response could be transferred to other animals and objects
To investigate the effect of time on a conditioned response
Describe the procedure of the Classic study
Before Conditioning
Alberts baseline emotional response was measured to a range of neutral stimuli (rat, dog, rabbit, fire) presented one at a time. Albert portrayed no sense of fear.
Alberts response was then measured to a loud noise made by striking a steel bar with a hammer which acted as the unconditioned response. Alberts initial reaction was to cry.
During Conditioning
Albert was presented with the rat, however when he tried to reach the rat the bar was struck with the hammer. This occurred for one full session.
During the second session, Albert was then presented with the rat and loud noise 5 times as well as the wooden blocks to measure his fear generally.
Five days later, Alberts response was measured to the rat and other objects- monkey, rabbit
A following five days later, Albert was taken to a new environment, this was done to ensure that the association was not only being made in one place
One month later, Albert was tested again with the objects and his response measured.
Describe the results of the Classic study
Before conditioning- Albert approached the NS, rat, and no fear was shown
However, once the loud noise was presented Albert was startled and fell forward and cried
During conditioning- Albert cried and crawled away from the rat NS
He became more cautious around the NS
After conditioning- Albert cried and crawled away from the rat- he no longer sought to touch the rat
Albert also reacted to other objects that were white and fluffy (representing the rat)
Evaluate the Classic study (8 marks)
Generalisability- Weakness
Results lack generalisability because the sample consisted of only a 9 month old baby, therefore the results cannot be used to conclude that a fear response is created through association in all individuals as Albert could have been an anonymous result.
Reliability- Weakness
Lacks test-retest reliability- one procedure taken over multiple occurrences for one individual
Therefore, Alberts response could have been anonymous (fear response due to association)
Strength - Can be credited for its high inter rater reliability as multiple researchers were used to observe Alberts responses to see whether results remained consistent and therefore are not impacted by bias.
Application- Strength
The study helps to support the idea that fear responses are created through association- therefore it can be used to help implement strategies to break these associations and unlearn the fear responses.
Also, helps individuals to identify the associations they have made to phobias resulting in a fear response.
Validity- Strength and Weakness
Lacks ecological validity as it does not represent reality- artificial environment and task.
The fear response could be due to the nature of the controlled environment
However, it has high internal validity- as the controlled environment removes extraneous variables which could impact the fear response.
Ethics- Weakness
- 9 month old being subjected to a fear response by association- therefore increasing trauma response
- there is also no opportunity to recondition the association which has been made
Long term impact of psychological trauma- no protection from harm and abuse
