Study: Little Albert (Watson and Rayner 1920)

• Little Albert


  A nine-month-old boy, a remarkably fearless child, scared only by loud noises
• Baseline session


  1. Test Albert's reactions to neutral stimuli

  2. Albert was reportedly unafraid of any of the stimuli he was shown
• Conditioning sessions


  1. Albert was subjected to a total of seven pairings of a white rat followed by the startling sound of a steel bar being struck with a hammer

  2. When Albert was 11 months old the white rat was presented, and seconds later, the hammer was struck against the steel bar
• After 7 pairings of the rat and noise


  Albert reacted with crying and avoidance when the rat was presented without the loud noise
• By the end of the second conditioning session, when Albert was shown the rat, he reportedly cried and "Began to crawl away so rapidly that he was caught with difficulty before reaching the edge of the table"
• Watson and Rayner interpreted these reactions as evidence of fear conditioning
• Little Albert only had to see the rat and immediately showed every sign of fear. He would cry (whether or not the hammer was hit against the steel bar), and he would attempt to crawl away
• Second transfer session


  Included 2 additional conditioning trials with the rat to "Freshen up the reaction", as well as conditioning trails in which a dog and a rabbit were, for the first time, also paired with the loud noise
• The fear began to fade as time went on


  However, the association could be renewed by repeating the original procedure a few times
• Immediately following the final transfer session, Albert and his mother left the hospital, preventing Watson and Rayner from carrying out their original intention of deconditioning the fear they had classically conditioned
• Neutral Stimulus (NS)


  A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest. In this case, the neutral stimulus was the white laboratory rat
• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)


  A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any learning. In this experiment, the unconditioned stimulus was the loud, frightening noise
• Unconditioned Response (UCR)


  The natural response that occurs when the unconditioned stimulus is presented. It is unlearned and occurs without previous conditioning. In this case, the unconditioned response was Alberts' fear response to the loud noise, crying and showing distress
• Conditioning process


  Watson &Rayner presented the rat (NS) to Albert, and then, while he was interacting with the rat, they made a loud noise (UCS). This was done repeatedly, pairing the sight of the rat with the frightening noise
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)


  After several pairings, the previously Neutral Stimulus (the rat) becomes the conditioned stimulus, as it now elicits the fear response even without the presence of the loud noise
• Conditioned Response (CR)


  The learned response to the previously neutral stimulus, which is now the conditioned stimulus. In this case, the conditioned response was Albert's fear of the rat
• Alberts fear generalised to other stimuli that were similar to the rat, including a fur coat, some cotton wool, and a Santa mask (stimulus generalisation)
• Contribution to Psychology:

  Classical conditioning plays a central role in the development of fears and associations. Some phobias may be due at least in part to classical conditioning