Classical Study- Little Albert (Watson and Rayner 1920)

• W and R- Little Albert: Aims

  To see if fear of a previously unfeared object could be induced

  To see if the fear will be transferred to other similar objects

  To see what effect time will have on the fear response

  To see how it is possible to remove a fear response in a lab
• W and R- Little Albert: Albert

  Lived in hospital, unemotional and no previous fear of animals, 9 Months old.

  They hit a steel bar above his head which startled him and he cried, they used this in the CC experiment and with a range of stimuli, beginning at 11 months old.
• W and R- Little Albert: Procedure pt 1

  1)White rabbit presented to Albter- when he reached out the steel bar was struck behind

  2) Albert fell forward and cried- showed a fear response, more trials a week later

  3) First rat was presented with no noise, then 3 times with noise, no noise, then noise 2 times and no noise- after 5 times he cried immediaely when he saw the rat and would crawl away , association had been made
• W and R- Little Albert: Procedure pt 2

  4)They wanted to see if the fear had been generalised- he was given a NS of blocks to calm him down

  5) As he was playing with them he was presented with- rabbit, dog, fur coat, cotton wool, Watsons hair, santa mask

  6) 5 days later they tested the effect of time- CR was weak but present, so conditioned him again with rat, dog and rabbit
• W and R- Little Albert: Procedure pt 3

  7)His reaction was tested in a lecture theatre- he responded slightly

  8) he was tested 5 months later with different stimuli- Albert showed varying degrees of fear to all stimuli, crying, crawling away, less frightened of rabbit, but fear response was touched
• W and R- Little Albert: Results

  Session 2- after 5 paired presentations a fear response was made

  Session 3/4- fear had been generalised to other similar objects

  Session 5- fear response did not disappear over time

  Albert was removed from the hospital after session 5, Watson and Rayner were not able to see if they could remove the CR fear (de-sensitasation). Albert may have the fear of furry animals forever.
• Ecological Validity

  How well you can relate the results of an experiment to the real world
• Artifical Condition


  Lab experiments
• W and R- Little Albert: Evaluation (Strengths)

  -Little Albert was well documented

  -There were a lot of strict controls due to being a lab experiment (very reliable)

  -Provides evidence for CC in humans

  -It could be easily repeated
• W and R- Little Albert: Evaluation (Weaknesses)

  -Lacks ecological validity due to being a lab experiment

  -Very unethical for humans, especially as they could not remove the fear

  -It is not generalisable as he was specifically chosen and they only used on baby