Watson and Rayner - classic evidence for the behaviourist approach

Question 2

Procedures

Answer 2

• to test alberts emotional responses to certain objects he was confronted with a white rat, a rabbit, a dog, a monkey, masks, cotton wool etc
• was then tested with a loud noise where one experiment got alberts attention and then the loud noise was made

Question 3

Procedures

Answer 3

Session 1 - establishing a conditioned emotional response
- used loud noise (serves as an unconditioned stimulus) when showing white rat to get a fear response
- so when white rat is seen by itself he is scared even without the noise

Session 2 - testing the conditioned emotional response
- returned for more testing a week later and was shown the rat with no sound and then was exposed to joint stimulation

Session 3 - generalisation
- after a 11 months 4 days albert returned for further testing
- the question was would the learned link between the rat and noise be the same for other objects
- presented with different objects

Session 4 : changing environment
- at 11 months and 20 days alberts response was freshened using joint stimulation
- taken to a different environment which was a well lit lecture room

Session 5 : the effect of time
-after a year he was tested for one last time and they involved a mask, a fur coat, the rat, the rabbit, the dog and the blocks

Question 4

Findings

Answer 4

Session 1
- he jumped when tested again and the bar was struck but did not cry
- bar was struck again but he whimpered a little
Session 2
- albert showed a new response to the rat and did not reach for it but stared at it
- after more joint stimulation albert became more distressed and when he was again shown the rat he began to cry and crawl
Session 3
-albert played with the blocks but when shown the rat he responded with fear
- his response to the rabbit was the same a the rat but the dog or coat didnt produce a reaction
Session 4
- after being taken into a new environment alberts responses to the rat, rabbit and dog were less extreme than before
- didnt touch the cotton wool at first
Session 5
- albert responded to the test objects in a different way to the control objects. His reaction to the furry objects was not as extreme but he avoided them

Question 5

Conclusions

Answer 5

• study demonstrated the ease with which a fear response can be created
• just two joint stimulations in the first week were enough to make a sufficient to create the conditioned response
• maintained to generalise similar stimuli

The freudian position
- noted that albert often started sucking his thumb when scared which suggested that freud may have been wrong in presuming that such stimulation is pleasure seeking

Question 6

Evaluation : metholody and procedures

Answer 6

• controlled study
  
  • was devised and run under controlled conditions and was conducted in a lab with extraneous variables
• baseline conditions show that he was not a fearful child
• during trials there was a controlled condition(the building blocks) which showed that his response was to furry objects
  
  • films were used to record alberts behaviour so that the findings can be confirmed by others

The sample
- say that albert was calm and even tempered baby and that if he had been emotionally unstable he might have responded with even greater fear and the conditioned response might have persisted even longer

Question 7

Ethical issues and social implications

Answer 7

• Creating fear
  
  • causing distress to the child is considered unethical as it is more distress than they would experience in every day life
• effects could potentially be long lasting in the childs life

More pyschological harm
- risk of harm by creating fear was made worse by watson and rayner
- albert would suck his thumb to calm himself down so it reduced the effect of the loud noise on him
- would remove his thumb from his mouth so conditioned response could be obtained essentially wanted him to be really scared

Lasting effects
- intended to remove alberts conditioned responses but didnt get the chance to
- believed these responses would persist in the home unless an accidental method for removing them came about so they knew the fear of furry objects would persist
-they should have done it earlier to resolve issue