Watson and Rayner (pack 2) Flashcards
aim
test whether c.c occurs in humans.
what 3 things did they set out to find out?
- Whether they could condition a fear of an animal by simultaneously presenting the animal and striking a steel bar to make a loud noise to frighten the child
- whether the fear would be transferred to other animals and objects
- The effect of time on the conditioned response
stage 1 of the procedure
L.A was ‘calm and unemotional’
9 months- carried out emotional tests to the stimuli…he showed no fear whatsoever to rats etc.
banged a hammer against steel, L.A had a fear response as lip puckered
stage 2 of the procedure
11 months and 3 days
still no fear response to rabbit etc.
Just as right hand touched the rat, bar was struck and he jumped violently, fell forward and whimpered
stage 3 of the procedure
11 months 10 days
presented rat without sounds- was tentative, withdrew body to left
blocks- played fine with no problem
stage 4 of the procedure
11 months 15 days
transferred to different stimuli
blocks- played well
fur coat- withdrew to left and began to fret
stage 5 of the procedure
11 months 20 days
association had weakened so renewed it
rat alone- fell to left and strong reaction
stage 6 of the procedure
different surroundings
rat alone- slight negative reaction
what was the follow up procedure
1 year and 21 days
rat- negative reaction
conclusions (2)
- a conditioned response of fear can occur in humans after even only a few pairings of stimulus
- the conditioned response can be generalised to similar objects and settings
generalisability
W- case study of one individual, he was only 9 months can’t generalise outside age range
S- BUT W&R still fulfilled their aim successfully
reliability
S- high as methodology was simple and well documented and easily replicated… L.A exposed to loud noise in standardised proc. Blocks used as a control
W- unethical, so would not be able to be replicated anyway
applications
provides explanation of how fear response is learned
systematic desensitisation
validity
S- study was scientific and carried out in lab settings with high controls, blocks used as a baseline, cause and effect- psych as a science
ecological validity
W- in controlled conditions, quiet and small room, most babies learn in complex environments
S- did move L.A to another room with more people
BUT
It was still controlled and proc. was artificial
ethics
S- did not exist at the time of the study
W- prior to experiment L.A was not fearful and became fearful so they did not protect from psych harm
crying etc
Mother and Father gave consent BUT not made clear how much they would know of what would happen to L.A
