classic study: Watson and Rayner (1920)

Question 1

what is the aim of this study ?

Answer 1

• to investigate if classical conditioning can be generalised to human behaviour in terms of generating a phobia
• to see if stimulus generalisation occurs in humans

Question 2

independent variable ?

Answer 2

the behaviour of little Albert before and after conditioning

Question 3

dependent variable ?

Answer 3

the number of fearful behaviours displayed by little Albert in response to white rat

Question 4

what type of experiment was it?

Answer 4

laboratory experiment with a structured observation

Question 5

what experimental design ?

Answer 5

repeated measures

Question 6

sample?

Answer 6

9 month baby

Question 7

why was LA chosen ?

Answer 7

he showed no fear response to the animals prior to being chosen

Question 8

what was the neutral stimulus ?

Answer 8

white rat

Question 9

what was the unconditioned stimulus ?

Answer 9

the sound of the hammer on the steel bar

Question 10

what was the the unconditioned response ?

Answer 10

fearful crying

Question 11

what was the conditioned stimulus ?

Answer 11

white rat and other white fluffy objects

Question 12

what was the conditioned response ?

Answer 12

fearful crying in response to the white rat

Question 13

what were the findings of the study ?

Answer 13

• after the conditioning (in the second week), when presented with the white rat, LA cried (NS became the CS which triggered the CR)
• stimulus generalisation took place as LA responded with the CR to other white fluffy objects (Santa beard, white rabbit)
• 5 days after being conditioned LA’s transferral response was tested - he was moved to a brighter room with more people and he exhibited the same behaviours towards the rat and rabbit

Question 14

what is the conclusion from the study ?

Answer 14

the fear response can be conditioned in to humans using classical conditioning, this supports pavlov’s generalisation with dogs to humans

Question 15

generalisability in terms of population validity ?

Answer 15

• it only has one ppt
• ethnocentric
• androcentric

Question 16

generalisability in terms of ecological validity ?

Answer 16

• study was a structured observation in a lab
• lacks ecological validity as it is very unlikely LA would ever acquire a phobia of white fluffy things mundanely.
• this restricts the generalisability as it lacks mundane realism

Question 17

reliability?

Answer 17

• study has high reliability because it took place in a lab which means all stimuli could be controlled.
• however, due to its poor ethics, it would not ever be replicated

Question 18

why could the study have poor internal validity ?

Answer 18

the dog and rabbit are recorded to be shoved in LA’s face as they were reluctant - this action alone could have triggered LA’s natural fearful response, rather than the animals themselves

Question 19

what is the application of this study ?

Answer 19

• it has clinical applications
• helpful in helping us understand how we acquire phobias - by understanding how they can be acquired we can develop therapies for them - such as systematic desensitisation