Classic Study - Watson and Rayner (4) Flashcards
What was the aim of the Little Albert study?
Watson and Rayners aim was to demonstrate the simple emotional responses such as fear and how they can be acquired by processes such as classical conditioning.
What were the conclusions of the Little Albert study?
The Albert study showed its relatively easy to create a fear through classical conditioning by pairing two unrelated stimulus
What were the findings of the Little Albert study?
Watson and Rayner found Albert had no original fear of any of the objects or animals but did fear the loud noise and after the pairing of the noise with the objects he became increasingly weary by session 2 and would then move away from the animals and cry. By session 5 this fear generalised to all fluffy white things including his mothers coat.
What was the procedure of the Little Albert study?
Session 1) Albert (11 months old) is given a white rat. When he touches it a loud noise is created
Session 2) Process repeated 5 times
Session 3)Albert is given other animals and objects
Session 4)Albert taken to new room and assessed for responses to different things
Session 5)Albert is tested again a month later
Evaluation of the Little Albert study: Internal Validity
The Little Albert study was constructed to reduce almost all external variables which may influence the study. Albert was also selected for his lack of abnormal characteristics and normal behaviour. He also did not originally fear the animals so the study was more accurate.
Evaluation of the Little Albert study: Poor generalisability
As the Little Albert study used one child it is not generalisable at all and because his identity is unknown its hard to know how generalisable he was anyway.
Evaluation of the Little Albert study: Application to acquiring phobias
The study showed how some people acquire phobias and would, therefore, be helpful for breaking down phobias and it has helped psychologists fix many phobias.
Little Albert study: Issues and debates
The study was highly unethical as it used a child who was never unconditioned and may have kept the fear for the rest of his life. The study should not have been carried out for this reason
