Little Albert Experiment (1920) + AMPRCE

aim

to assess whether classical conditioning processes can be shown in humans and to answer 3 qs:

1. Can an infant be conditioned to fear an animal that appears simultaneously with a loud, fear-arousing sound?

2. Would such fear transfer to other animals or to inanimate objects?

3. How long would such fears persist?

method

lab experiment

Empirical

Case study

procedure

9 month old who initially had no fear of rats. at the beginning watson placed a white rat, rabbit, monkey masks & burning newspaper on table in front of albert who reacted w/ curiosity and no fear

next time albert was exposed to rat watson made loud noise by hitting metal pipe w hammer. after 7 pairings of the white rat w/ the loud noise, albert began to expect a loud noise whenever he saw the rat & would cry after seeing the rat

results

stimulus generalization - 5 days later watson & rayner found that albert developed phobias of objects w shared characteristics. ie: family dog, fur coat, cotton wool, & santa mask and would show signs of fear without any stimulation

demonstrated:

extinction: conditioned association can be strong initially, but fades if not reinforced

generalization: conditioned associations can often widen beyond the specific stimuli presented

conclusion

classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia in humans. however, over time, the phobias will fade (extinction)

strengths

reliable as procedure was standardized and recorded

illustrates features of the Learning Approach, since it treats an emotion (fear) as a set of behaviours (crying, covering the eyes, moving away) which can be easily measured

limitations

ecological validity: The setting and tasks were artificial so it lacks ecological validity.

protection from harm: albert was not protected from psychological harm & left with a previously nonexistent phobia