Watson and Rayner Flashcards
what was the aim?
they aimed to see if emotional responses could be conditioned using a small child?
what was the sample/ppts?
11 month old boy
spent lf time in hospital-mother was a wet nurse
-described as stolid and unemotional
what was the procedure?
1-LA presented with objects(rabbit,fire,white rat)to see what he was afraid of-only thing he afraid of was banging of hammer on steel bar
2-when AL went near rat they banged hammer on metal behind him-paired rat with the noise
3-rat presented without banging-AL tried to crawl away-became conditioned to fear the rat
what was the results?
- noticed a generalisation of fear-anything furry
- he was still scared of the rat
- his emotional reactions lasted at least 1 montti
what was the conclusions?
- phobias of objects can be learned when a NS is paired with an UCS
- generalisation of this phobia can occur
- this fear could be persistent for a period
GENERALISABILITY
-androcentric-male child
-small sample-1 small child
especially ‘stolid and unemotional’-not representative to larger population
RELIABILITY
+inter-rater reliability-recorded it
+standardised/controlled procedure-repeated-reliable
APPLICABLE
+explains source of phobias and suggests treatment methods
-low mundane realism-not how phobias occur making less applicable
VALIDITY
+low demand characteristics- more valid results
-ecological validity-done in a fake lab setting
ETHICS
-no informed consent-baby
+got consent from mother-may not have been fully informed
-withdrawal not given to him
+mother did withdraw him
+Pseudonym-confidentiality
-protection from harm-frightened him causing mental effects
how many times did they pair the rat with the banging?
7
what control did they use?
tried experiment again in another room-to check context effects about situation
how many days later did they notice generalisation?
7 days
