The Little Albert Experiment by John Watson and Rosalie...

The Little Albert experiment has become a widely known case study that is continuously discussed by a large number of psychology professionals. In 1920, behaviorist John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner began to conduct one of the first experiments done with a child. Stability played a major factor in choosing Albert for this case study, as Watson wanted to ensure that they would do as little harm as possible during the experiment. Watson’s method of choice for this experiment was to use principles of classic conditioning to create a stimulus in children that would result in fear. Since Watson wanted to condition Albert, a variety of objects were used that would otherwise not scare him. These objects included a white rat, blocks, a†¦show more content†¦This occurrence between the rat and the bar showed that the dual stimulations the week prior had a lasting effect on Albert. In his case study, Watson explained that the stimulations were given to get a complete reaction from Albert. The response from the stimulations â€Å"was as convincing a case of a completely conditioned fear response as could have been theoretically pictured† (Watson, 1920, pp. 314). Every time the rat was joined with the loud sound (dual stimulation), Albert gave the same complete negative reaction. In the experiment, pairing the rat and noise caused by the hammer striking the bar, play the role of unconditioned stimulus (US), conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned response (CR). Introducing Albert to the loud sound of hammering the bar is measured as the unconditioned stimulus. The loud sound is something that Albert is not accustomed to, so the response is unlearned. Conditioned stimulus occurred when Albert was continuously introduced to the rat alone. Since Albert experienced the rat at the same the bar was hammered, he has learned to associate the rate with the sound of the bar (US). Albert’s conditioned response in the experiment transpired wh en he was able to perform the same behavior when he was presented with the rat (CS) over and over. After Watson was able to condition a fear response in Albert for one object, he wanted to know if the response was carried over.Show MoreRelatedThe Little Albert Experiment By John B. Watson And Rosalie Rayner956 Words   |  4 PagesThe ‘Little Albert’ experiment was a psychological experiment conducted by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner. This experiment was inspired by Ivan Pavlov’s experiment ‘Pavlov’s dog’ which studied the conditioning process in dogs. The Little Albert experiment was created to bring Pavlov’s research further to show how emotional reactions could be classically conditioned in people. In the experiment, Little Albert was presented with various animals including a rabbit, a monkey, and a white rat as wellRead MoreRosalie Raynor958 Words   |  4 PagesRosalie Rayner Women in Psychology Mark Suarez University of Phoenix History and Systems of Psychology Cheri Meadowlark April 29, 2013 Rosalie Rayner Watson was John Watson’s second wife. She assisted her husband in the development of applied behavioral psychology. Not only did she co-author the seminal paper on conditioned emotional reactions, she also assisted Watson in preparing the most popular child care book of the time (Duke, 1989). For these reasons she can be recognized asRead MoreJohn Broadus Watson : The Son Of Emma And Pickens Watson1007 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Broadus Watson was born near Greenville, South Carolina on January 9, 1878. He was the son of Emma and Pickens Watson. In the year 1891, John and the rest of his family was left behind by his father, complicating everything. 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The experiment began with the introduction of a white rat, which alone, produced no fear response. At 11 months and 3 days, the rat was paired with a loud noise. The loud noise frightened â€Å"Little Albert†. He began to associate the fear heRead MoreJohn B. Watson s Theory Of Psychology1048 Words   |  5 PagesJohn B. Watson was a great American psychologist whose theories, publications, and experiments had an enduring influence on psychology. Possibly his biggest contributions to psychology were his theory of behaviorism and his experiment on Little Albert. Though Watson’s experiments were extremely unethical and behaviorism doesn’t account for biological psychology, Watson was an extremely remarkable psychologist because of his principal of behaviorism and his findings on classical conditioning. Background