little albert Flashcards
what was the aim?
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to demonstrate that simple emotional responses such as fear can be acquired through a process of classical conditioning
what were the two conditions of the independent variable?
presence/abscence of a loud noise paired with the sight of a rat
what happened in session 1?
albert was 11m and 3 days and he was taken to a lab where there was a rat
- when he reached for the rat, a metal bar was struck loudly just behind his head
what happened in session 2?
a week later albert returned
- he was exposed 5 times to the paired rat and loud noise
- he was then tested with blocks to which he showed no fear response
what happened in session 3?
5 days later albert returned and his responses to the rat and other things was tested
- the other objects included wooden blocks, a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, and watson’s hair
what happened in session 4?
5 days later, albert was taken to a new environment and was placed on a table and again his response to those objects happened again
what happened in session 5?
albert was tested again 1 month later which included a santa claus mask, fur coast, the rat, the rabbit and a dog
what were the findings ?
at basline testing he showed no fear to the objects but mild fear to the loud noise.
- at session 1 he cried at the loud noise
- at session 2 he was more cautious towards the rat - not reaching out
- session 3, albert crawled away from white furry objects - ra, rabbit and displayed mild fear towards the dog
- in sessions 4 and 5 aberts fear to white furry objects remained but were milder when he was in a different place
what was the conclusion?
it is relatively easy to condition an emotional response to a neutral stimuli
- two sessions = fear response
he experienced stimulus generalisation as he became fearful of other white furry things too
what is a strength?
the design had clever features that reduced the impact of extreneous variables which increased validity
- little albert was chosen because of his emotional stability
- the procedure took place in a well controlled room to prevent the influence of other stimuli
what is the competing argument of the strength?
some aspects of the design were not controlled
- the rabbit was suddenly placed in front of him
- the dog was pushed towards him
these actions may have triggered a fear response rather than the objects themselves
what is a weakness?
it only used one ppt who may have been unusual
- this lacks generalisability because the individual studied may not be representative
how can it be applied?
has clinical applications in helping understand how we acquire phobias
- this has led to the development of effective therapies.
