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Watson and Rayner: Little Albert - Coggle Diagram
Watson and Rayner: Little Albert
aim
demonstrate that simple emotional responses such as fear can be acquired through a process of classical conditioning
results
session 1 he reacted to the noise by crying
at baseline testing, albert displayed no fear of any of the objects but he did respond to loud noise (startled and lips trembled)
session 2 he was more cautious towards rat, not reaching out and pulling away
after further conditioning he began to cry and crawl away
session 3 albert reacted to the white furry objects (generalisation)
session 4 and 5 revealed that Albert's fear reactions to white furry objects remained but became less extreme when he was in a diff environment and after time
procedure
DV- alberts response
two conditions of response: presence/ absence of a loud noise paired with sight of a rat
nine months old at the start of the study
to test his baseline emotional responses they used a variety of objects: white rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, various masks, cotton wool, set of wooden blocks, showed no fear response to these
no conditions and 1 participant
conditioning began 2 months later and researchers filmed each session
albert's response to a loud noise tested by striking a hammer upon a suspended steel bar
session 2: 5 times exposed to paired rat and loud noise, blocks then discovered to be a control object
5 sessions, 1st session he was 11 months and 3 days old, first attempt to condition
in session 4 he was taken to a new environment- a lecture room. placed on a table and tested for responses to the objects
session 5: albert tested again one month later when he was 12 months old
wooden blocks
evaluation
+standardised procedure and recorded, can be replicated and is reliable
+has beocome applicable into research which has led to techniques such as flooding and systematic desensitisation
-one child, not representative of everyone, he had a 'stoic' personality that not everyone has. lack of knowledge into individual diffs and how that may affect acquisition of fear to a stimulus, thus not generalisable
+good controls, tested albert with the baseline to test any pre existing fears increasing validity of study
-lab experiment, low eco validity, demand characteristics
unethical, deliberately causing distress to an infant, ignores principle of reducing harm HOWEVER there was presumptive consent and the right to withdraw
conclusion
it is relatively easy to condition an emotional response to a neutral stimulus