Interesting Psychology! The Little Albert Experiment (live footage)

The Vids

21 May 201603:29

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

00:00

👨‍🔬 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

John Watson was an American psychologist who founded the school of behaviorism. In the video, he is discussed as a key figure who conducted the 'Little Albert' experiment to study conditioned emotional responses. Watson’s focus on observable behavior, as opposed to innate cognitive factors, is central to the theme of the video.

💡Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a psychological approach that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors rather than internal mental processes. The video highlights how John Watson, the founder of behaviorism, used this approach in his famous experiment with Little Albert, focusing on how emotional reactions can be conditioned by external stimuli.

💡Little Albert experiment

The Little Albert experiment was a study conducted by John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner in 1920. The experiment aimed to demonstrate how fear can be conditioned in humans. In the video, the process is explained in detail, where Little Albert was exposed to various stimuli and then conditioned to fear them through the association of loud noises.

💡Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is a learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, eventually triggering a conditioned response. In the video, Watson and Rayner used classical conditioning on Little Albert by pairing a loud noise with furry animals, causing him to develop a fear response toward the animals.

💡Rosalie Rayner

Rosalie Rayner was John Watson’s assistant and a key figure in the Little Albert experiment. The video mentions her role in conducting the experiment and how she collaborated with Watson to study emotional conditioning. She also played a personal role in Watson’s life, as mentioned in the script.

💡Conditioned emotional reaction

A conditioned emotional reaction occurs when an emotional response, such as fear, is learned through classical conditioning. The video illustrates this concept through Little Albert, who initially had neutral reactions to various stimuli but developed fear after being conditioned with loud noises.

💡Stimuli

Stimuli refer to any objects or events that elicit a response in an organism. In the video, Little Albert was exposed to several stimuli, such as fire, a monkey, a dog, a rabbit, and a white rat. These were used to assess his emotional responses, which were initially neutral until he was conditioned to fear them.

💡Fear response

A fear response is an emotional reaction of fear to a particular stimulus. In the video, Little Albert’s fear response was artificially created through classical conditioning, demonstrating how external factors can induce fear. This is seen when Little Albert becomes afraid of the furry animals after repeated exposure to loud noises.

💡Ethics in research

Ethics in research refers to the moral principles that guide research, particularly the protection of participants from harm. The video highlights that Watson and Rayner's experiment on Little Albert occurred before ethical guidelines were in place, emphasizing how the experiment would likely be considered unethical by today’s standards.

💡Cognitive revolution

The cognitive revolution refers to a shift in psychology during the mid-20th century that emphasized the importance of mental processes. The video contrasts this shift with the focus on behaviorism, noting that behaviorism, which Watson championed, is less prominent today because of the rise of cognitive psychology, which looks at cognitive and genetic factors like temperament.

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.