Untitled Deck Flashcards
When was Watson and Rayner conducted?
1920
What was the aim of Watson and Rayner?
To show that a simple emotional response (fear) can be acquired through classical conditioning.
What was the sample for Watson and Rayner?
1 participant, baby boy 9 months.
What did session 1 include?
Albert (11 months and 3 days) was taken to a lab and presented with a white rat. Whenever he reached towards the rat, a bar was struck loudly behind his head.
What did session 2 include?
A week later, Albert was exposed 5 times to the sight of the rat paired with the loud noise. He was tested with blocks and showed no fear, which showed he wasn’t getting more scared generally.
What did session 3 include?
5 days later, Albert’s responses to the rat and a range of objects were assessed.
What did session 4 include?
5 days later, Albert was taken to a new environment (lecture room with 4 people), placed on a table, and again assessed for responses to the object.
What did session 5 include?
Albert (12 months and 21 days) was tested again.
What were the findings?
In the baseline, Albert showed no fear except the loud noise - startled and trembled (unconditioned response). Session 1 - Albert again reacted to the noise (cried). Session 2 - more cautious towards the rat (began to cry and rapidly crawl away). Session 3 - reacted to the white furry objects with fear (conditioned response). Session 4 & 5 - Albert’s fear remained but became less extreme in a different environment.
What was the conclusion?
Relatively easy to condition an emotional response to a neutral stimulus; just 2 sessions pairing an UCS and NS were enough to reproduce a feared response (CR).
Generalisability
Single child, considered unrepresentative because the baby might be unusual. However, Albert was specifically chosen for his normality. He seemed fearless and emotionally stable. Albert had hydrocephalus which affected his vision. If Albert wasn’t really normal and healthy, then results cannot be generalised to all children.
Reliability
Standardised procedure, carefully documented and it was filmed. For ethical reasons, the study has not been replicated but it could be easily. Inter-rater reliability.
Application
Further research has led to techniques like flooding and systematic desensitisation; however, systematic desensitisation is a more careful approach.
Validity
Careful controls; Walton hid behind a curtain when striking the iron bar so that Albert would associate the noise with the rat. He also tested Albert’s reactions before the conditioning to make sure Albert did not have any pre-existing fears of white furry things. Setting lacks ecological validity because Albert was away from his playroom and familiar nurses. This may have made him nervous.
Ethics
Unethical; deliberately caused stress to an infant and continued even though he was upset. They did not extinguish his fear, possibly leaving Albert with long-term phobias, ignoring the principle of reducing harm. Albert’s mother gave consent and was present the whole time; she was able to withdraw, and she did, however, before a debrief could take place.
