PSYC 330 Video Project- Conditioned Emotional Responses

Krystal Remijas

9 Dec 201704:11

Summary

TLDRThis script discusses a classical experiment by Watson and Rayner that explores conditioned emotional responses. Using a participant named Albert B., the researchers aimed to condition fear by associating a neutral stimulus, such as a white rat, with an unconditioned stimulus, a loud noise. Over time, Albert developed a fear response not only to the rat but to other furry objects. The experiment demonstrated that conditioned emotional responses can persist and transfer across stimuli. However, it raised ethical concerns as no deconditioning was performed. The study also provided insights into understanding phobias and emotional conditioning.

Takeaways

🧠 Watson and Rayner's study focused on conditioning emotional responses like fear, rage, or love.
🐶 An example of a conditioned emotional response is feeling anxious around dogs after being bitten as a child.
👶 The study used a participant named Albert B. to explore how fear could be conditioned.
⚡ The researchers aimed to answer four questions: conditioning fear, transfer of fear, effects of time, and ways to remove fear responses.
🔔 At 9 months, Albert was shown neutral stimuli, and at 11 months, he was conditioned to fear a white rat through the use of a steel bar.
🐀 Albert developed a fear response to the rat, which generalized to other furry objects like rabbits, fur coats, and dogs.
📊 Observational techniques were used to gather data, showing that the conditioned response persisted for over a month but decreased in intensity over time.
🧩 Albert showed no fear toward blocks, indicating they were used as a neutral control stimulus.
😱 The study highlighted that conditioned emotional responses can persist and influence personality, and phobias may result from these reactions.
🍼 Albert’s coping mechanism, thumb-sucking, was compared to Freud's theory of erogenous zones that block fear, contributing to the understanding of coping and phobias.

Q & A

What is a conditioned emotional response as described in the script?
-A conditioned emotional response is an emotional reaction, such as fear or anxiety, that is learned through the process of classical conditioning. In the script, it is demonstrated by the example of feeling nervous around dogs after being bitten by one in childhood.
What was the main objective of Watson and Rayner's experiment?
-The main objective was to explore whether emotional responses, such as fear, could be conditioned. Specifically, they aimed to condition fear in a child using stimuli and examine whether this response could be transferred to other objects or animals.
Who was the participant in the Watson and Rayner experiment, and what stimuli were used?
-The participant was a child named Albert B. The stimuli included a white rat, which was initially neutral, and a loud noise created by striking a steel bar, which served as the unconditioned stimulus to elicit fear.
What were the four research questions Watson and Rayner sought to answer?
-1. Can fear be conditioned by presenting an animal and striking a steel bar simultaneously? 2. Can the conditioned emotional response transfer to other animals or objects? 3. What effect does time have on the conditioned emotional response? 4. What laboratory methods can remove a conditioned emotional response if it does not die out over time?
How did Albert respond to neutral stimuli at nine months old?
-At nine months old, Albert did not show any signs of fear when presented with neutral stimuli, such as a white rat or other objects.
How was the fear response conditioned in Albert?
-The fear response was conditioned by showing Albert a white rat and simultaneously striking a steel bar behind his head, which caused him to cry in fear. This process was repeated, leading Albert to associate the rat with fear.
What was the outcome of Albert's response to other furry objects?
-After conditioning, Albert showed fear not only toward the white rat but also toward other furry objects like a fur coat, rabbit, cotton wool, and even a dog, suggesting the conditioned response transferred to similar stimuli.
What role did the blocks play in the experiment?
-The blocks served as a neutral stimulus control. Albert never showed a fear response to the blocks and played with them readily, demonstrating that the fear was specific to furry objects.
What long-term effects did the study suggest regarding conditioned emotional responses?
-The study suggested that conditioned emotional responses, such as fear, can persist over time and may modify personality. Although the intensity of the fear response lessened, it did not disappear within a month.
What was one major ethical issue raised by the study?
-A major ethical issue was that Albert was removed from the hospital before any deconditioning could take place, meaning his conditioned fear response was never reversed. This raised concerns about the long-term effects of leaving conditioned emotional responses untreated.

Outlines

00:00

🐶 Conditioned Emotional Responses Explained

This paragraph introduces the concept of conditioned emotional responses, using the example of someone being bitten by a dog in childhood and feeling anxious around dogs as an adult. It explains that this reaction is an example of a conditioned emotional response, a key focus of Watson and Rayner’s study.

🧪 Watson and Rayner's Emotional Conditioning Experiment

Watson and Rayner aimed to test if emotional responses like fear, rage, or love could be conditioned. They outlined four key research questions for their experiment involving a participant named Albert B: Can fear be conditioned? Can conditioned responses transfer to other stimuli? How does time affect the conditioned response? What methods can remove a conditioned emotional response?

👶 Albert B. and the Initial Stimulus Introduction

The experiment began with Albert B. at nine months old. He was introduced to neutral stimuli, such as animals, without showing fear. Then, a steel bar was struck behind his head, eliciting a fear response. This served as the unconditioned stimulus (steel bar) and the unconditioned response (crying).

🐁 Conditioning Fear with a White Rat

At 11 months, Albert was shown a white rat (neutral stimulus), and when he reached for it, the researchers struck the steel bar again. This conditioned Albert to associate the rat with fear. When shown the rat later, he hesitated and exhibited fear without the bar being struck, demonstrating a conditioned emotional response.

🐇 Furry Objects and the Spread of Conditioned Fear

Albert’s fear extended to other furry objects like fur coats, cotton wool, and dogs. This demonstrated the transferability of conditioned responses to stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus. Albert did not show fear towards blocks, confirming the association with furry objects rather than all objects.

📉 Persistence of Conditioned Responses Over Time

Conditioned emotional responses persisted in Albert for over a month, though the intensity of fear lessened over time. The study concluded that fear responses can be conditioned at an early age and persist or even increase with repeated exposure.

🚫 Lack of Deconditioning and Long-Term Implications

The study's major flaw was the absence of deconditioning. Albert was removed from the hospital before deconditioning could be attempted, leaving him with lasting conditioned emotional responses. The researchers noted that such responses could modify personality throughout life.

👶 Thumb Sucking and Freud's Erogenous Zones

An incidental observation was Albert's use of thumb-sucking to cope with fear, which the researchers compared to Freud's theory of erogenous zones that can block fear responses when stimulated.

📊 Real-World Application of Emotional Conditioning

The researchers concluded that many phobias in psychopathology are conditioned emotional reactions, either directly or through transfer. This study became foundational for understanding phobias in clinical settings.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Conditioned Emotional Response

A conditioned emotional response refers to an emotional reaction, such as fear, that is learned through association between a neutral stimulus and an emotionally charged event. In the video, Watson and Rayner conditioned Albert to fear furry objects by pairing a neutral stimulus (a white rat) with a loud, frightening noise. This study highlights how emotional responses, like fear, can be conditioned through classical conditioning.

💡Unconditioned Stimulus

An unconditioned stimulus is something that naturally triggers a response without prior learning. In this case, the steel bar struck behind Albert’s head acted as the unconditioned stimulus, causing him to feel fear and cry. It is the stimulus that automatically provokes an unconditioned response before any conditioning takes place.

💡Neutral Stimulus

A neutral stimulus is an object or event that initially does not produce a specific reaction. In the experiment, the white rat was a neutral stimulus because Albert initially had no fear of it. After pairing the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus (loud noise), the rat became associated with fear, turning it into a conditioned stimulus.

💡Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response. Watson and Rayner's experiment on Albert demonstrates classical conditioning, where the white rat (neutral stimulus) was paired with a loud noise (unconditioned stimulus) to produce a fear response.

💡Transfer of Conditioned Response

This refers to the spread of a conditioned emotional response from one stimulus to other similar stimuli. In the video, after being conditioned to fear the white rat, Albert also began to fear other furry objects like a fur coat, a rabbit, and a dog. This concept shows how fear can generalize to other stimuli.

💡Unconditioned Response

An unconditioned response is an automatic, reflexive reaction to an unconditioned stimulus. In the study, Albert’s initial fear and crying when hearing the loud noise were unconditioned responses because they occurred naturally without any prior learning. The loud noise triggered this fear reaction.

💡Conditioned Stimulus

A conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a conditioned response. In the video, the white rat became the conditioned stimulus once Albert associated it with the frightening noise, leading to his conditioned emotional response of fear.

💡Phobia

A phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object or situation, often caused by a past traumatic or conditioned experience. The video mentions that the study of conditioned emotional responses provided a foundation for understanding how phobias develop, as they can be the result of direct or transferred conditioned emotional reactions.

💡Deconditioning

Deconditioning refers to the process of reversing a conditioned response. In the video, it is noted that Albert was removed from the hospital before deconditioning could be carried out, meaning his conditioned fear of furry objects was never eliminated. This is significant as it emphasizes the lasting impact of conditioned emotional responses.

💡Observational Techniques

Observational techniques involve watching and recording behaviors to gather data. Watson and Rayner used these techniques to document Albert’s reactions during the experiment, noting how he responded to the stimuli both before and after conditioning. This method was crucial in tracking the development of Albert's conditioned fear.

Highlights

Watson and Rayner explored conditioning emotional responses like fear, rage, or love through experimental methods.

The study focused on a participant named Albert B, examining if fear could be conditioned by associating an animal with a startling noise.

At 9 months old, Albert was shown neutral stimuli and did not exhibit any fear responses.

The steel bar, acting as the unconditioned stimulus, elicited a fear reaction (crying) when struck behind Albert's head.

At 11 months, Albert began associating a white rat (neutral stimulus) with the loud noise, resulting in a conditioned emotional response of fear.

Albert's fear response transferred to other furry objects, including a rabbit, fur coat, cotton wool, a dog, and a Santa beard.

The experiment suggested that conditioned emotional responses can generalize across various similar stimuli.

Albert did not display fear towards neutral stimuli like blocks, indicating a control mechanism in the experiment.

Conditioned emotional responses in Albert persisted for over a month, though the intensity decreased with time.

The study concluded that conditioned fear can increase over time with repeated exposure, impacting behavior long-term.

A limitation of the study was the lack of deconditioning, leaving Albert with unresolved conditioned emotional responses.

The researchers indicated that these emotional responses can affect personality development throughout life.

Incidental observations noted Albert's thumb sucking as a coping mechanism, compared to Freud's theory of erogenous zones blocking fear.

The study laid the groundwork for understanding phobias as conditioned emotional reactions, either direct or transferred.

This experiment offered insights into the systematic study of phobias and their clinical treatment in psychopathology.