Watson & Rayner - classic Flashcards
Aims
- investigate whether a fear response could be classically conditioned in a human (specifically, a young child).
IV
- absence or presence of a loud sound
- paired with the sight of a rat
DV
- fear response shown by Little Albert, measured by behaviours like crying, startle, or avoidance of the rat.
Design?
- Repeated measures
- Studied Albert before and after conditioning
- Studies Albert with rat and other stimuli
- Therefore subject to all conditions
Sample
- One participant: a 9-month-old baby boy, referred to as Little Albert. He was emotionally stable before the study began.
- Opportunity sample: Alberts mother was a wet nurse at hospital (where study conducted)
First stage of the procedure
- In the pre-conditioning phase, Little Albert was exposed to a variety of stimuli, including a white rat, rabbit, monkey, dog, and a variety of other objects (e.g., cotton wool, burning newspapers). Albert showed no fear to any of these stimuli, indicating that they were neutral (no conditioned emotional response).
Conditioning phase of the procedure
- involved pairing the neutral stimulus (the white rat) with an unconditioned stimulus (the loud noise).
- loud noise was created by striking a steel bar with a hammer behind Albert’s head, which naturally caused him to cry and show fear (unconditioned response).
- This was done multiple times (e.g., 7 times) in the presence of the white rat, so that Albert began associating the rat with the loud noise.
How conditioned response measured after the conditioning phase?
- Researchers observed Little Albert’s reactions to the white rat and other stimuli without the loud noise being present.
- researchers looked for a fear response (crying, avoidance, or startle) when Albert was exposed to the rat and other similar stimuli.
What was the control stimulus used in the procedure?
- A control stimulus was used to compare Little Albert’s reactions to a neutral stimulus. - This control was a dog that Albert had already shown no fear to in the pre-conditioning phase, ensuring that any fear response to the rat was specifically due to conditioning.
How was generalisation of the conditioned response tested in the study?
- Once Albert had been conditioned to fear the white rat, the researchers tested whether the fear response would generalise to similar objects.
- They exposed Albert to a white rabbit, a fur coat, a Santa Claus mask, and a dog.
- Albert showed fear responses to the rabbit, fur coat, and Santa mask, indicating that his conditioned fear had generalised to other similar stimuli.
Were there any tests done to see if the fear response would be extinguished in the Little Albert study?
- No formal extinction procedure (such as gradual exposure without the loud noise) was carried out in the study.
- This is considered an ethical limitation, as Albert’s fear response was not addressed after the study, and it is unclear whether the fear persisted after the experiment.
What were the results of the Little Albert study?
- Albert showed a conditioned fear response to the white rat after several pairings with the loud noise.
- The fear response generalised to other similar stimuli, such as a white rabbit, a fur coat, and a Santa Claus mask.
What were the conclusions of the Little Albert study?
- Fear can be conditioned in humans through classical conditioning.
- Fear responses can generalize to other similar stimuli.
- Emotional responses like fear can be learned, which has implications for understanding the development of phobias.
Generalisability
P - Low
E - One ppt who was 9 months old and described to be a ‘fearless’ non-disruptive baby
E - May not be reflective of age and individual differences eg: older children, adults, different temperaments
Reliability
P- Limited reliability
E- Although the procedure was controlled and replicable in theory, it was only done on one child and never repeated.
E- This means we can’t be confident the same results would occur again in other children, so the consistency of the findings is unclear.
Applications
P- High
E- It demonstrated that phobias can be learned through classical conditioning.
E- This has been applied in treatments like systematic desensitisation, showing the study’s contribution to therapies used to treat anxiety and phobias today.
Validity
P- Low
E- conducted in artificial lab where Albert exposed to stimuli under unnatural conditions
E- Results don’t reflect how fears develop irl situations
CP - His natural env was the hospital since his mom was a wet nurse, so could be argued that he would therefore show natural behaviours.
Ethics
P- High
E- Got informed parental consent from mother and also mom used her right to withdrawal take take Albert out of study
E- Therefore proving that ethical standards and guidelines were upheld
CP- no debrief od unconditioning occurred, but that was part of their plans however the withdrawal stopped this from occurring
