Watson and Rayner, 1920

Question 1

what was the aim of Watson and Rayner? (3)

Answer 1

to find out if classical conditioning works on humans; specifically, to find out if a fear response can be conditioned into a 9 month old baby boy. can the fear response be generalised to other animals and objects?

Question 2

what is the IV of the study?

Answer 2

being presented with the white rat compared to being presented with other white, fluffy amimals or objects

Question 3

what is the DV of the study?

Answer 3

the number of fearful behaviours Albert shows when presented the stimuli

Question 4

what was the sample?

Answer 4

one baby boy (Albert) aged 9 months at the start of the study and 11 months when conditioning began - the sample was opportunity as his mother was paid $1 for Albert to partake in it

Question 5

at 9 months, what was Albert tested with? (3)

Answer 5

a white rat, a rabbit, a cotton wool and other stimuli to see if he had a fear reaction

Question 5

what were the stimuli used at 9 months said to be, and why?

Answer 5

the neutral stimuli, because Albert did not have a fear reaction to them

Question 6

what was the unconditioned stimulus in this study, and why?

Answer 6

the noise when an iron bar was banged; Albert cried at this noise

Question 6

what was the unconditioned response?

Answer 6

Albert crying, in reaction to the loud noise

Question 7

how old was Albert when he became conditioned?

Answer 7

11 months

Question 8

how was Albert conditioned?

Answer 8

he was shown the white rat three times, each time paired with striking the iron bar, in which Albert would begin to whimper

Question 9

when after did Albert get conditioned again?

Answer 9

one week after the original conditioning with the same procedure

Question 10

give a simplified storyline of the procedure: (4)

Answer 10

• the child was placed in the middle of a room with a white laboratory rat. Albert reached for it with no fear.
• but when the baby touched the rat, Watson made a loud noise behind his back so Albert responded, showing fear.
• after several pairings, Albert was again presented with only the rat and he immediately became distressed.
• the child was exposed briefly to objects such as a white rabbit, dog, a rat, a monkey and masks with and without hair; he showed no fear to any of these.

Question 11

what were the results of the study?

Answer 11

that the NS is now a CS, and Albert’s crying is a CR. This is because when the rat was later presented alone, the boy whimpered, yet after the rat was paired with the loud noise, the next time it was presented alone, Albert cried.

Question 12

what is generalization of response?

Answer 12

Albert had similar reactions to white, furry animals and objects as he did to the rat, just less intense.

Question 13

what is transferal of response to other settings?

Answer 13

the fact that Watson and Rayner moved Albert to a lecture theatre with 4 other people, and his response to the rabbit and the rat were still the same, even in different settings

Question 14

what did Watson and Rayner find when they tested Albert a month later?

Answer 14

that he reacted in similar ways, just weaker

Question 15

how come the conditioned responses were never removed from Albert?

Answer 15

because his mother took him away before they carried out the classical conditioning to remove the conditioned responses, so the experiment ended

Question 16

were there any ethical issues with the study?

Answer 16

yes, Albert’s identity was revealed several years later, which goes against confidentiality that the researchers are supposed to give participants

Question 17

what were responses recorded with?

Answer 17

a video camera