Classic Study: Watson and Rayner

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

Demonstrate that simple emotional responses like fear can be acquired through a process of classical conditioning.

Question 2

Sample

Answer 2

9 month old healthy baby boy, Little Albert.

Question 3

How was he tested?

Answer 3

Tested his baseline emotional response to a range of objects, presented one at a time:

rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, masks, cotton wool and a set of wooden blocks.

Tested with a loud noise of a hammer on a steel bar.

Question 4

Session 1

Answer 4

White rat presented to him and a bar was struck loudly behind him when reaching to the rat.

Question 5

Session 2

Answer 5

A week later: Exposed 5 times to the paired rat plus loud noise. Was also tested with blocks, showing he wasn’t just getting generally scared.

Question 6

Session 3

Answer 6

5 days later they assessed his responses to same and new objects (wooden blocks, rabbit, dog, fur, cotton, hair).

Question 7

Session 4

Answer 7

5 days later taken to a new environment, a lecture room with 4 people. Placed on a table and assessed responses to objects

Question 8

Session 5

Answer 8

Tested 1 month later with santa mask, fur coat, rabbit, do and blocks.

Question 9

Findings

Answer 9

Baseline testing showed no fear response but he did respond to the loud noise (UCR)

S1: Cried to noise

2: Cautious to rat

3: Fear to furry white objects, mild fear to dogs.

4+5: Fear to furry white remained but was less extreme when in diff environment after time.

Question 10

Conclusion

Answer 10

Easy to condition an emotional response to a neutral stimulus. After 2 sessions pairing UCS and NS, it was enough to produce a fear response to rat and other similar (stimulus generalisation)

Question 11

Strength

Answer 11

Little Albert selected for his emotional stability so his individual characteristics less likely to impact results, reducing impact of EV.

Controls used make it more likely conditioning changed behaviour than EV.

Question 12

Competing

Answer 12

Rabbit suddenly placed in front of him and dog pushed to him. Not well controlled, the actions may have triggered the fear responses rather than animals

Question 13

Weakness

Answer 13

Only used 1 PP, who may have been unusual.

All studies using 1 PP have G problems as they may not represent wider pop.

Question 14

Application

Answer 14

Clinical applications in helping understand how we acquire phobias. Treatments can then be developed to help these.