Introduction
Based on his observations of children in the wild, Watson hypothesized that the terrified response of youngsters to loud noises is an innate response that has not been conditioned. The Little Albert Experiment provided evidence that classical conditioning might be utilized to induce a phobia in a test subject artificially. In this experiment, an infant who had not previously shown any signs of fear was conditioned to develop a fear of a rat.
Discussion
John B. Watson, a behaviorist, a baby Albert male aged nine months, and Rayner, a doctoral student, were responsible for the psychology experiment. John Watson, a psychologist, was the one who experimented on Little Albert.
Watson is renowned for his groundbreaking studies. He held a position as a professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University, and most of his work focused on the behavior of animals.
The experiment that Watson and Rayner conducted was intended to show that the principles of classical conditioning can be applied to human behavior. They used repetition to instill fear in Baby Albert of a white rat by showing him the rat repeatedly. The independent variable (IV) in this experiment was the conditioned stimulus, while the dependent variable (DV) was Baby Albert’s emotional responses recorded.
Watson and Rayner discovered that a neutral-conditioned stimulus, when combined with an unpleasant unconditioned stimulus, can lead to a conditioned fear response with just the presentation of the conditioned stimulus alone. As a result of classical conditioning, a negative emotional reaction, generally fear or anxiety, was recorded after becoming associated with a neutral stimulus. This association was made as a result of the stimulus effect.
This research method would be considered unethical in the modern era, and according to the guidelines stated by the American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Society, the study would be considered unethical as well (Watson & Rayner, 1920). The nature of the study itself would be considered unethical by today’s standards of ethics because its objective was to produce a state of fear, and it did not protect Albert from psychological injury.
Conclusion
The primary objective of the study was to discover, through observation and experimentation, how learning influences behavior; the research approach of choice was the experimental one, and environmentalist explanations were given preference. The goal was to test hypotheses about the nature or effects of stages and changes in stages during childhood. Both versions of the experiment were intended to be carried out during childhood.
Reference
Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3(1), 1–14.