Aim: To see if Albert could be conditioned to dislike (be scared of) a white rat, which had previously been a loved pet .They used the theory of classical conditioning in order to explain the fear that is linked to an otherwise liked stimulus.

Procedure: Controlled observation was used on one participant, Little Albert. A diary was kept over the course of a month to record emotional respones.
Albert wasa normal child and so the experimenters did not believe he would react adversely to the stimulus.
Stage 1: Experimenters determined Albert was not afraid of rats, this was important as they needed to be neutral stimuli which did not causes an effect in Albert. They then tested the loud noise of banging together metal bars, this illicited a fear response. Albert's feasr was shown through his startled behaviour which included lip trembling and tears.
The experimenters decided to test : whether a fear could be conditioned to the rat
whether the fear would be generalised to other stimuli
how long the learning would last and could the extinguish the fear.
Conditioning Trial: As Albert went to touch the rat, the loud crashing of the bars would sound, ALbert showed fear. This was repeated and then left for one week. After the week Albert went to touch the rat but withdrew his hand before he touched it. This was repeated and by the 7th trial ALbeert crawled away when presented with the rat.
Stage 2: the fear response had been established, the generalising hypothesis was tested, could this fear be associated with other white fluffy/furry objects? Building blocks were used instead of the metal rods, but no fear was shown but when presented with a rabbit, cotton wool and a fur coat Albert did show signs of fear. Illustrating that fear had been generalised to furry objects and not just the rat.
Stage 3: they transferred Albert to a large lecture hall and still he showed a fear response when faced with the rat. This showed that learning can be transferred to another context.
Stage 4: At 13 months, (2 months on) ALbert still showed the fear response when shown the rat, santa clauses beard and rabbit, but there was still NO fear with the building blocks.

Conclusion: the learnt fear does last and it can be generalised, as well as being present in new contexts.

Evaluation:
Strengths -->
Principles of the study have been used in development for treatments for phobias.
The experiment was undertaken in a lab setting and so all extraneous variables were controlled, this increases the ability to replicate the study as the variables can be kept constant. Provides evidence that the theory of classical conditioning is true. Albert was successfully conditioned to ilicit a fear response every time he was faced with the rat. A rat which had previously enjoyed playing with. He successfuly been taught to associate the loud noise (fear) with the rat.

Weaknesses -->
Unethical, Watson and Raynor deliberately caused distress to Albert. This is against ethical guidelines today as scientists have to protect the welfare of their PPs and not cause them harm. ALso some would argue that leaving Albert in the state that all whit animals scared him for the rest of his life was irresponsible and could potential have a serious effect on the rest of ALberts life.
The results can not be generalised as Albert was the only participant and so they can not be certain that just because classical condition was successful for Little Albert, it may not be successful for a different participant. Thereofre there is not enough supporting evidence to truly say the theory would work on all types of people.
The study also lacks ecological validity as it was carried out under lab conditions this means that events that occured were unrealistic and Albert would not have been subjective to continuous loud noise and white rats in everyday life.
Results were only measured by the quantity of Alberts responses raher than the quality of them, the results were not collated in good enough detail for valid conclusions to be drawn.

	Created by madisonreilly over 11 years ago

Note on Psychology Studies, created by madisonreilly on 04/06/2013.