watson and rayer Flashcards
aim
Whether they could condition an animal by striking a steel bar to make a loud noise and frighten a child ,fear could be transferred to other animals ,effect of time on conditioned response
sample
Albert B- Reared from hospital enviroment-mum was wet nurse + healthy from birth developed youngset weighing 21 pounds at 9 months and calm and unemotional.= type of experiment would cause no harm as he was normal
Procedure
9 months- baseline emotional tests. No fear to white rat ,rabbit ,cotton wool. Lips puckered and trembled and cried when hammer against steel bar.
11 months 3 days- reached for white rat w no fear, left hand touched rat bar was struck he jumped, touched rat he fell forward and whimpered.
11 months and 10 days- didn’t touch rat, played with blocks SHOWS AIM ONE
third trial = leaned away from rat
cried at rabbit
7 weeks later cried at white fur coat
Conclusion
Conditioned response of fear can occur eveb after a few pairings, CR can be transferred to similar objects, albert was removed so means of seeing if response can be extinguished
Generalisability PEEEC
A weakness of W&R study is that it involves a case study of 1 individual little Albert. This means that the study was only representative of 1 person and therefore the results are not generalisable to the wider population. For example, he was a young child 9 months old when the experiment started and it cannot be assumed adults would react the same way he did. However, case studies are usually of atypical people, but Albert was chosen due his normalcy like how unemotional he was, weighing 21 pounds, and relatively happy. This means they thought the results could be generalisable to at least other children.
Applications PEE
The results provide an explanation of how a fear response is learnt so it can be learnt therefore also unlearned through treatments based on classical conditioning. It has given therapies for phobias eg systamic desensitisation. For example it underpins one of the most effective and widely used methods to help anxiety disorders cognitive behavioural therapy.
Validity PEECE
A strength of W&R is that it can argued to have high validity. This is because the study was scientifica and carried out in labortory conditions with high levels of control. For example, the use of blocks as a baseline to show ALbert played perfectly with given objects when they’re not conditioned. This means cause and effect links can be made showing fear responses can be learnt therefore this study supports psychology as a science. However this study may lack validity because the researcher may of been subjective when interpreting results. For example seeing Albert leaning over as a fear as they expected to see fear in Albert after his conditioning.
Ethics PEEEC
Although ethicalo guidelines did not exist at the time of the study this research can still be criticised on ethical grounds. Little Albert before the experiment was not easily frightned as shown with baseline conditioned where he played with the rat but throughout the experiment became more fearful of many other situations as well as the rats through stimulus generalisation.Therfore, W&R did not fully protect Little A from psychological harm. For examp,e on numerous occasions he is described as crying and whimpering in response to stimuli like the rat and dog. However, you cna argue presumptive consent was given by the mother as she was wet nurse so could understand the implciations and was present with him the whole time. For example, she also withdrew him from the study as well showing she had consent to withdraw and consented to pptate.
