Watson and ray nor -classic

Question 1

Watson and rayner aim

Answer 1

• They aimed to see if emotional responses could be conditioned using a small child.
• They wanted to see if they could make Little Albert afraid of a neutral stimulus (a white rat).

Question 2

Watson and Rayner procedure

Answer 2

Albert was described as stoic and unemotional, which is why they chose to use him. Albert’s mam was a wet nurse at the university that W&R worked at.
* At 9m old Little Albert was presented with a variety of objects such as a rabbit, fire, a white rat to see what he was afraid of.
* Initially the only thing that scared him was the banging of a hammer on a steel bar/ he was not at first afraid of rats.
* At 11 months (11m 3d) old when Albert went near the rat they banged the hammer on metal behind him. They paired the rat with the noise 7 times (Albert reached out for the rat. He jumped and fell forward after being shocked. This happened again and this time he began to cry). To calm him down
they gave him blocks to play with
* After repeated presentations of the rat and the loud noise together, the rat was presented without the accompanying loud noise. Albert cried and tried to crawl away. He had become conditioned to fear the rat, which had become a conditioned stimulus for his fear.
* They tried the experiment again in another room just in case there were any context effects about the
situation

Question 3

Watson and Rayner results

Answer 3

Results
• 17 days later they noticed a generalisation of the fear
• He played with blocks happily
• He was still scared of the rat (the fear had remained)
• Presented with a rabbit= FEAR (crying, crawling away)
• Blocks- played well
• Dog= Crawling away
• Fur Coat= Crying
• Cotton wool and Santa brought on similar effects
• The research showed that his emotional reactions lasted at least one month.
• It was shortly after this he was removed from the study so they couldn’t test further…or act to remove
the fear which was their next plan of action

Question 4

Watson and Rayner conclusion

Answer 4

Phobias of objects can be learned when a Neutral stimulus (the rat) is paired with an unconditioned
stimulus (the loud noise)
* Generalisation of this phobia can occur (onto dog, rabbit, mask etc)
* This fear could be persistent for a period