Interesting Psychology! The Little Albert Experiment (live footage)
Summary
TLDRJohn Watson, the American psychologist who founded behaviorism, conducted an experiment in 1920 with Rosalie Rayner on a nine-month-old orphan, 'Little Albert.' They aimed to study conditioned emotional responses by exposing Albert to various stimuli, including animals and a white rat, to which he initially had neutral reactions. Through classical conditioning, they paired a loud noise with furry animals, successfully instilling a fear response in Albert. This experiment highlighted the behavioral approach to learning fear, although it raises significant ethical concerns today.
Takeaways
- 🧠 John Watson, the American psychologist, established the psychological school of behaviorism.
- ⏳ Behaviorism, now a less dominant discipline, focuses on behavioral factors rather than cognitive or genetic ones.
- 🔬 Watson and his assistant, Rosalie Rayner, conducted research on emotional conditioning with a nine-month-old boy known as 'Little Albert.'
- 🔍 The experiment was conducted before the establishment of ethical research committees.
- 👶 Little Albert, whose real name was Douglas Merritt, was exposed to various stimuli like fire, a monkey, a dog, a rabbit, and a white rat.
- 😐 Initially, Albert showed neutral or amused reactions to these stimuli, with no signs of fear.
- 🔊 Watson used classical conditioning by pairing loud noises with the animals to induce a fear response in Little Albert.
- 🐁 Little Albert eventually developed a fear of animals with fur due to the conditioning.
- 😨 After conditioning, Little Albert showed a fear response not only to real animals but also to furry objects resembling animals.
- ✅ The experiment demonstrated the success of classical conditioning in creating an emotional reaction.
Q & A
Who was John Watson, and how is he different from the fictional character John Watson in Sherlock Holmes?
-John Watson was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism. He is different from the fictional character in Sherlock Holmes, who is a doctor and friend of Sherlock Holmes in the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
What is behaviorism, and how has its prominence changed over time?
-Behaviorism is a psychological approach that focuses primarily on observable behaviors rather than innate cognitive or genetic factors like temperament. It has lost much of its prominence since the cognitive revolution, which began in the second half of the 20th century.
Who was Rosalie Rayner, and what role did she play in the research with John Watson?
-Rosalie Rayner was an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University and John Watson's assistant, as well as his romantic partner. She worked with Watson on the 'Little Albert' experiment, helping to conduct the research.
What was the 'Little Albert' experiment, and why is it significant?
-The 'Little Albert' experiment was a study conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner in 1920 to understand conditioned emotional reactions. It is significant because it demonstrated that fear could be conditioned in a child through classical conditioning.
What stimuli were used in the initial phase of the 'Little Albert' experiment?
-The stimuli used included fire, a monkey, a dog, a rabbit, and a white rat. Little Albert initially displayed neutral responses to all of these stimuli.
How did Little Albert react to the animals before any conditioning took place?
-Before conditioning, Little Albert showed no signs of fear. He was neutral toward the fire, monkey, dog, and rabbit, and he interacted with the white rat without any distress.
What method did Watson and Rayner use to condition fear in Little Albert?
-They used classical conditioning, pairing a loud, frightening noise (banging on a metal bar) with the sight of the furry animals. Over time, this caused Little Albert to associate the animals with fear.
What was the outcome of the conditioning process in the 'Little Albert' experiment?
-The outcome was that Little Albert developed a fear response to furry animals. He became frightened of any furry object, such as a rabbit or dog, even when the loud noise was no longer present.
How did Watson and Rayner confirm that their conditioning of Little Albert was successful?
-They confirmed the success by exposing Little Albert to a furry object that resembled an animal. When Albert exhibited a fear response to this object, it showed that the classical conditioning had worked.
What ethical concerns are associated with the 'Little Albert' experiment?
-The experiment is considered ethically questionable today because it was conducted without the protection of research ethics committees. It involved deliberately inducing fear in an infant without apparent concern for the potential long-term psychological effects.
Outlines
👨🔬 Introduction to John Watson and Behaviorism
This paragraph introduces John Watson, an American psychologist who established the school of behaviorism. It highlights the contrast between Watson and the fictional character John Watson from Sherlock Holmes. The paragraph also provides context about behaviorism, explaining that it focused on behavioral aspects rather than cognitive or genetic factors. Behaviorism's influence waned due to the cognitive revolution in the latter half of the 20th century.
👶 Little Albert Experiment: The Setup
This section discusses Watson's controversial experiment on a nine-month-old orphan known as Little Albert, later revealed to be Douglas Merritt. Watson, along with his assistant and partner Rosalie Rayner, conducted the experiment at Johns Hopkins University. The goal was to study conditioned emotional responses by exposing Albert to different stimuli, such as fire, a monkey, a dog, a rabbit, and a white rat. Albert initially showed neutral reactions to all these stimuli, indicating he wasn't fearful or upset.
🔊 Classical Conditioning of Fear in Little Albert
This paragraph explains how Watson and Rayner introduced classical conditioning to elicit fear in Little Albert. They repeatedly paired the sight of animals, particularly furry ones, with a loud noise (banging on a metal bar) to condition Albert's fear response. Over time, Albert developed a fear of animals with fur. The experiment demonstrated successful classical conditioning as Albert became fearful of both real animals and objects resembling furry creatures.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡John Watson
💡Behaviorism
💡Little Albert experiment
💡Classical conditioning
💡Rosalie Rayner
💡Conditioned emotional reaction
💡Stimuli
💡Fear response
💡Ethics in research
💡Cognitive revolution
Highlights
John Watson, the American psychologist, established the psychological school of behaviorism.
Behaviorism focuses on observable behavioral factors rather than innate cognitive or genetic factors.
John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner conducted research on conditioned emotional reactions using a nine-month-old orphan boy known as Little Albert.
The experiment exposed Little Albert to five different stimuli: fire, a monkey, a dog, a rabbit, and a white rat, all of which initially evoked neutral responses.
When exposed to the white rat, Little Albert showed no fear, following it around without distress.
Watson and Rayner used classical conditioning to fabricate a fear response in Little Albert by pairing loud noises with furry animals.
As a result of the conditioning, Little Albert became fearful of any animal with fur.
Albert demonstrated a fear response when interacting with a bunny and a dog after conditioning.
Watson and Rayner tested the conditioning by showing Albert a furry object resembling an animal, and he showed a fear response.
The experiment was successful in inducing fear responses through classical conditioning.
The Little Albert experiment remains a controversial study in the history of psychology due to its ethical concerns.
At the time of the experiment, no ethics committees existed to protect participants, including infants like Little Albert.
The identity of Little Albert was later revealed as Douglas Merritt.
The study is often cited as an example of unethical research practices.
The findings of the Little Albert experiment contributed to the understanding of conditioned emotional responses in humans.
Transcripts
John Watson the American psychologist
not the fictional character in the
Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle established the
psychological school of behaviorism
behaviorism then almost dad discipline
today due to the emergence of the
cognitive revolution beginning in the
second half of the 20th century focuses
primarily on behavioral factors of
individuals rather than innate cognitive
and genetic factors such as temperament
before us research ethics committees
existed and had the power to stop
researchers from possibly harming
infants and others in studies John B
Watson and his assistant / paramour
Rosalie Rayner an undergraduate student
at Johns Hopkins University did research
on a nine-month-old orphan boy they
called little Albert most likely to
protect his anonymity in the future his
real name was Douglas Merritt in 1920
Watson and Rayner worked with little
Albert to try to understand conditioned
emotional reactions in the experiment
they exposed Albert to five forms of
stimuli first they exposed him to fire
that a monkey a dog a rabbit and then a
white rat as you can see from the video
footage of the experiment little Albert
had a neutral response to fire he had a
similar response to other stimuli as the
monkey is pulled around with a leash you
can see that he's not affected by it
when Albert notices the dog he's not
scared there are no signs of fear even
when Albert touches the dog he doesn't
look at all upset
when exposed to the rabbit Albert looks
at it he's amused but doesn't cry
as Albert interacted with the white rat
he followed it around but wasn't upset
or fearful after little Albert was
observed during these initial
experiments Watson and Rayner
implemented classical conditioning
Watson banged on a metal bar as outter
interacted with the various animals they
were able to fabricate a fear response
in Albert by pairing the loud noise with
the furry animals to the point where
little Albert was scared of any animal
with firm notice the fear response in
Albert as he interacts with the bunny
and also with a dog to test little
Albert to see if the conditioning was
successful they exposed him to a furry
object made to look like a furry animal
sure enough little Albert demonstrated a
fear response when he saw it the
classical conditioning had worked
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