Watson and Rayner

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    Created by
    Chloe Weymouth

    Cards (23)

    • Methodology

      one participant 9 months old Little Albert
      Controlled observation
      well-lit dark room,Albert was placed on a mattress on a table
      NOT a case study-only was an observation of Albert's behaviour,not an in-depth analysis of his life
      NOT an experiment-only one condition
    • Procedures

      recorded on a motion picture camera
    • Procedures

      Emotional tests
      tested Alberts response to objects;white rat,rabbit,dog,monkey,cotton wool,masks with/out hair
      his first time seeing any of these objects
      tested with a loud sound,striking a hammer on a steel bar(2cm diameter and 1 metre long)
    • Procedures

      Session 1 Establishing a conditioned emotional response
      11 months 3 days
      Presented with the white rat and he started to reach out to it,when he did the bar was struck behind his head.
    • Procedures

      Session 2 Testing the conditioned emotional response
      11 months and 10 days
      shown the rat with no sound
      introduced to the joint stimulation 5 times
    • Procedures

      Session 3 Generalisation
      11 months and 15 days
      see if the link between the rat and the noise would be generalised to other objects
      Presented with the rat,wooden blocks,rabbit,dog,cotton wool,Watsons hair
    • Procedures

      Session 4 Changing the environment
      11 months and 21 days
      emotional response was freshened up
      New environment-a large well-lit lecture room with 4 people,placed on a table in the centre of the room
    • Procedures

      Session 5 The effect of time
      12 months and 21 days
      he had been to the lab in the meantime but no tests were conducted
      Final tests were;santa mask,fur coat,rat,rabbit,dog and blocks
    • Findings

      Emotional tests
      no fear response to objects
      mum and doctors never seen him in a fear or rage,rarely cried.
      when the bar was struck,his lips puckered and trembled
      3rd time-crying fit
    • Findings

      Session 1 Establishing a conditioned emotional response
      1-jumped and fell forward at the struck and buried his head but didnt cry
      2-fell forward,a little whimper
    • Findings 

      Session 2 Testing the conditioned emotional response
      didnt reach for the rat,just stared
      He reached out when it was nearer but withdrew his hand when the rat nuzzled his hand
      He played with blocks happily,response was just to the rat
      After joint stimulation,more distressed and cried,crawled away when shown the rat
    • Findings

      Session 3 Generalisation
      blocks- played happily
      rat- fear
      rabbit as extreme
      Cotton wool played with it in a packet,less cautious later
      Watsons hair played with it,no fear response
    • Findings

      Session 4 Changing the environment
      response to the rat,rabbit and dog were less extreme
      After freshening up,fear responses were stronger
    • Findings

      Session 5 The effect of time
      clear difference in response to test objects and blocks
      fear response not as extreme as before but avoided them and whimpered
      occasionally cried
    • Conclusions

      ease to which a fear response can be created
      only needed 2 joint stimulations to create a conditioned emotional response
      7 joint stimulations to complete the whole reaction
      conditioned responses generalised to similar stimuli
      many phobias are acquired this way,but persistence of conditioned responses would only be found in people who are constitutionally inferior
    • Conclusions

      Freudian position
      Freud was favoured at the time of the research
      Albert sucked his thumb when scared,sexual stimulation-to pass the oral stage of the psychosexaul stages
      This proved Freud wrong,stimulation is to block fear not for pleasure
      Freudian therapist may link his fear to being scolded for playing with mothers pubic hair,pushing memory into unconscious mind
    • Evaluation-Methodology and procedures

      Controlled study
      extraneous variables could be controlled-in a lab
      Baseline condition,he wasnt a fearful child
      Control condition(blocks),response was to any furry object
      Films were recorded so findings can be confirmed
    • Evaluation-Methodology and procedures

      The sample
      all conclusions are drawn from one case,there intention was to use more than one but had dismissal from the university.
      Albert was described as extremely phlegmatic(very calm and even-tempered),if he was emotionally unstable his response might have been greater and lasted longer.
      Without any comparison its hard to know whether the observed responses are unique to the individual or not.
    • Evaluation-Ethical issues

      Creating Fear
      unsure whether excessive fear was created.
      They felt that they were doing little harm but they let Albert have 1 week rest.
      They were aware that it was distressing.
      If something creates greater stress than they would normally experience in real life then its classed as unethical.
      Watson and Rayner argue that Albert would have one day experienced what was happening but the hospital protected him
    • Evaluation-More psychological harm

      they increased the effect of risk of harm
      When he was frightened,he sucked his thumb,which calmed him down and reduced the effect of the stimuli
      So they removed his thumb so the conditioned response was still made
    • Evaluation-Ethical issues

      Lasting effects
      Alberts conditioned response wasnt unconditioned
      They intended to but Albert had to leave the hospital suddenly
      Responses would had persisted in the home environment unless it was accidentally removed
    • Evaluation Social implication

      Health
      Designing hospital environments to avoid negative associations and employing conditioning in health campaigns to promote healthy behaviours.
      Therapies for phobias use principles of classical conditioning to reduce fear responses
    • Evaluation Social implication

      Parents may use conditioning techniques to influence their childs behaviour,rewarding desired behaviours or using comfort objects to provide security
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