(8) Unit 1 - Classic Research: Watson, J.B and Rayner, R (1920) 'Conditioned Emotional Reactions' (procedures)

How did Watson and Rayner establish a conditioned emotional response?

1. A white rat is presented to Albert who then reaches for it. As he touches the rat a loud noise is made behind him by hitting a steel metal bar with a hammer. He is startled and falls backwards.

2. Joint stimulation with rat and sound. This time Albert starts to cry.

3. Joint stimulation is repeated 6 more times and Albert cries and starts withdrawing from the rat as soon as it is presented.

4. The rat is presented alone. Albert immediately starts crying and quickly crawls away.

What does the establishing of a conditioned emotional response demonstrate?

That a fear response can be conditioned to a neutral stimulus. It is highly likely a louder noise would have meant fewer joint stimulations were required.

When did Watson and Rayner bring Albert in for further testing regarding transferring a conditioned response to other stimuli?

Five days later. A preliminary test where Albert was presented with the rat showed that the conditioned fear response was still present.

How did Watson and Rayner transfer a conditioned response to other stimuli?

1. Albert was first presented with a rabbit. He immediately turned away from the animal and then began to cry. When the rabbit was placed in contact with him he crawled away from it.

2. He was then presented with a dog; he stared at it and shrank back a little. When the dog came closer, Albert turned his head away and began to cry.

3. His reaction was the same when a fur coat was presented to him.

4. When he was presented with cotton wool, he initially kicked it away but after time began to play with it but made sure only to hold the paper packaging of the wool and avoided touching the wool itself.

5. Albert was presented with the rat and withdrew his whole body but kept his eyes on the rat and did not cry. His hand was then placed on the rat and the rod was struck resulting in a violent reaction.

6. The rabbit is presented alone. Albert leans away from it and begins to whimper.

Why was Albert taken to the lecture hall during the transferring of a conditioned response to other stimuli experiment?

To see if the change of setting would have any effect on the conditioned response.

How did Watson and Rayner continue to experiment transferring a conditioned response to other stimuli?

7. The rat was presented alone. There was no sudden fear reaction although he did hold his hand away from the animal.

8. The rabbit is presented alone. Albert turned away from the animal.

9. The dog is presented alone. Albert turned away and cried until the dog left.

10. The rat is presented alone, there was a slight negative reaction.

11. Joint stimulation with the rat and sound. Albert jumped violently.

12. The rat is presented alone. No initial reaction, but when the rat was placed nearer, he began to whimper and draw back.

13. The rabbit is presented alone. Albert whimpered and fell backwards.

14. The dog was presented alone. There was not much of a reaction until the dog barked, whereupon Albert began wailing and continued until the dog was removed.

What does the transferring of a conditioned response to other stimuli demonstrate?

That emotional transfers can occur.

When did Watson and Rayner begin testing for the effect of time on conditioned emotional responses?

A month later - no further emotional experimentation was conducted during this time.

How did Watson and Rayner experiment the effect of time on conditioned emotional responses?

1. The fur coat was presented alone He withdrew his body and when the coat was placed in contact with him, he began to cry.

2. The rat was presented alone. Albert stared at it and stayed still as it crawled towards him. When the rat touched his hand, Albert withdrew it immediately and leaned away. When the rat was placed on him, he withdrew his body and covered his eyes with his hands.

3. The rabbit was presented alone. Albert pushed the rabbit away with his feet whilst withdrawing his body. When the rabbit moved towards him, he began wailing. When his hand was placed on the rabbit’s back, he withdrew it immediately and covered his face with both hands.

4. The dog was presented alone. Albert began to cry but did not fall over backwards as he had done when the dog was last presented.

What does the effect of time on conditioned emotional responses demonstrate?

That emotional responses brought about by conditioning and transferring persist for at least a month, although there is a reduction in the intensity of the reaction. It is believed that they did persist and modify personality throughout life.

How did Watson and Rayner experiment the removal of conditioned emotional responses?

They didn’t. Unfortunately, Albert was removed from the hospital before the last experiment could take place. It is the author’s belief that these responses will persist indefinitely, unless a method for removing them is accidentally hit upon. Three possible methods are suggested.

What three possible methods did Watson and Rayner think could remove the conditioned emotional response?

1. Constantly presenting the stimuli to the child which should result in habituation and reduced response.

2. Try to recondition the object linked to a fear response by presenting it simultaneously stimulating the erogenous zones (by today’s standards, it is unlikely that this practice would receive ethical approval).

3. Recondition by giving the child sweets or food when the animal is shown.