Watson And Rayner (1920) Flashcards
Aim
Find out if classical conditioning works on humans
Fear response conditioned into a 9 month old boy
NS - rat
UCS - bang on a pipe
UCR - fear
CS - rat
CR - fear
Generalisability
Ideographic
Cannot be generalised to anyone older
Picked on normalcy
He seemed fearless
Emotionally stable
Reliability
Standardised procedures ( number of days and time)
Easily replicated
Film of procedure gives inter rater reliability
Validity positive
Removed confounding variables
Watson hid behind curtain when striking iron bar
Albee wouldn’t associate noise w anything but the rat
Tested Albert before to check for pre existing fears
Validity negative
Lacks ecological validity
Away from playroom/ familiar nurses
Made him nervous
Ethics
Distress to infant and continued when he was upset
Didn’t desensitises him leaving him with long time fears
Generalised fears to Santa and rabbits
Lasting impairment/ psychological harm
Conclusion
Treatment of phobias
Systematic desensitisation
Results
In pre conditioning Albert showed no response to stimuli
Post conditioning he cried and leant away without loud noise
Sample
Albert b 9 months old and 11 months when ended
‘Stolid and unemotional’ ‘practically never cried’
Mother a wet nurse
Paid $1 for participation
Procedure
Pre conditioning
at 9 months old, Albert B was tested with many white stimuli, including a white rat and cotton wool, to see if he had a fear response. He didn’t, suggesting these were neutral stimuli (NS)
Procedure
Conditioning trials
at 11 months old, Albert B was presented with a white rat (NS) and every time he reached for it, a loud noise (UCS) was made by striking a hammer against a steel bar behind his head, causing Albert B to cry (UCR). This process was repeated over several weeks
Procedure
Post conditioning trials
after 7 weeks of conditioning, Albert B was shown the rat (CS) and he would cry and lean away from it (CR), even without the loud noise (UCS). They then tested him with similar stimuli, such as a fur collared coat and a Santa’s beard to see if the fear was generalised
- Watson and Rayner then moved Albert B to a lecture theatre and presented him with the rat to see if the fear was transferable to other settings
- The researchers intended to desensitise Albert B from the fear but his mother moved away and took Albert B with her
Stimuli
- NS – the rat as Albert B showed no fear towards it in the pre conditioning test
- UCS – loud noise made by striking a hammer against a steel bar
- UCR – crying and leaning away
- CS – the rat
- CR – crying a leaning away (in response to the white rat without the UCS)
