Little Albert Experiment

Classical conditioning is the repeated association of an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus making it into a conditioned stimulus. Classical conditioning deals with unconditioned stimulus that produces an automatic response or unlearned (UCS/US), unconditioned response that is an automatic or unlearned response that is produced by and unconditioned stimulus (UCR/UR), neutral stimulus that is a stimulus that had no response to it prior to learning (NS), conditioned stimulus that was originally the neutral stimulus but was pair frequently with the unconditioned stimulus to produce a response (CS), and conditioned response that is the response to the conditioned stimulus (CR). Acquisition is the initial stage of learning. Extinction happens when the unconditioned stimulus stops being followed by the conditioned stimulus, this will cause the response to stop occurring. Spontaneous recovery is when the reappearance, after a rest period, of the conditioned response. The recovery will happen faster than the first time did. Generalization is the tendency for the same response to a similar stimulus to the conditioned stimulus. Discrimination is the ability to learn the difference between the conditioned stimulus and other stimuli. Operant conditioning is a type of learning that is strengthened by reinforcement or weakened

Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning which occurs when two stimuli are paired together repetitively and therefore become associated with each other eventually producing the same response. Classical conditioning was developed from the findings of Ivan Pavlov to account for associations between neutral stimuli and reflexive behavior such as salivation. Pavlov (1927) accidently discovered that dogs began to salivate before they had tasted their food. To support his theory, he carried out experiments using dogs which involved measuring the amount of saliva they produced. In his experiments, food started off as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which produced salivation, an unconditioned response (UCR). They are both unconditioned as they occur naturally without being learned. The dogs were presented with a bell (NS), this provided no salivation. The bell and food were presented together and after many trails an

Respondent conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned response, such

Little Albert an 11 month old boy was chosen as the participant. Watson identified that a white rat did not provoke any fear response in Albert, so it was a neutral stimulus. Little Albert was then exposed to the white rat, but every time he reached out to touch it Watson would make a loud noise. Albert would get frightened and start to cry. After repeating this several times, Albert started getting frightened just by seeing the rat. Just like the bell in Pavlov's experiment, the white rat had become a conditioned stimulus to Albert. Watson therefore concluded that even complex behaviour such as fear was a learned response.

Douglas Merritte, better known as Little Albert was 9 months when he participated in a study along with John Watson. Watson exposed Little Albert to a white rat and furry objects, who before not feared rats and furry objects. As he played with the rat, Watson made a loud noise with a hammer. After numerous of trials, Watson introduced the rat and the furry objects to Little Albert who began to cry in fear of the loud noise. When the rate and furry objects were placed in front of Albert he cried, although there was no noise. Something that was first enjoyment to him has become fear to him. The bad thing about this experiment is that Watson created a child with a previously nonexistent fear. It has been said that Douglas known as Little Albert

There are countless scenarios in which a young child could develop a classically conditioned fear of bugs. The most well-known example of instilling an emotional response in a child via classical conditioning is the Little Albert experiment. This experiment was Conducted by John B. Watson and his graduate student Rosalie Rayner, and the results were published in the February 1920 issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology. The study used a subject named Albert who was around 9 months old. They exposed him to various unconditioned stimuli such as a monkey, masks, a white rat, etc. They observed his reactions, then the next time Albert saw the rat, they added a loud noise that caused the child to cry. After numerous times of the rat being shown with

The third and final stage is called after conditioning. Formerly, once the association has been made between the unconditioned stimulus and the condition inspiration, presenting the adapted stimulus unaccompanied will come to animate a response even in the inexistence of the unconditioned stimulus. After conditioning, rehashed pairings of the NS and US, the stimulus is no longer nonpartisan. The human or nonhuman creature has framed a relationship between the two matched stimuli, so the beforehand unbiased stimulus is currently called a conditioned stimulus, and the organic response it inspires is known as an adapted reaction. The important reaction is known as the conditioned reaction. The conditioned response is learned from the previous

In the text book it describes US as unconditioned stimulus it, “is significant to the subject at the start of the experiment (Terry, 2018).CR stand for conditioned response in the classical conditioning. Conditioned response is based on the learned response which is concerned the reflexive behavior which is stimulus by a certain condition. The classical conditioning defined CS as conditioned stimulus. As the therapist I will first evaluate the child and run random testes to see what the problem and what the cause of the outburst, which the child throw tantrum and throwing objects. Next, I will speak to the parents alone and let them know what I think and let them know it is a reason why their child is seek negative behavior. It always a reason

Watson tested Albert with a white rat, a white rabbit, a monkey, a variety of mask, and burning newspaper. This was the neutral stimulus because he showed no fear when presented with these objects. Then he was placed on a mattress with a rat. When he would touch the rat Watson would hit a piece of steel with a hammer. This was the unconditional stimulus. Albert would roll over and cry, now in fear of the rat. He would later be placed on the mattress with a rat again, and would try to crawl away as fast as possible. The rat was considered a

Food was the unconditioned stimulus, the bell was the conditioned stimulus, and salivation was the conditioned response. Pavlov’s work showed that the conditioned response could be reduced or eliminated by presenting the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus. Generally this required several pairings or a pairing for an extended period of time to be successful. This process is called extinction. John Watson, in his famous Little Albert experiment, was able to build on Pavlov’s work when he conditioned a young child to fear a white rat using a loud noise. Joseph Wolpe studied Watson’s work. Wolpe was able to reduce fear in cats by feeding them in various feeding situations (Abramowitz, Deacon, & Whiteside, 2010). He created a hierarchy of feared situations for the cats. He began by feeding the cats in the least threatening situation and gradually was able to move to the most threatening situation (Abramowitz, Deacon, & Whiteside, 2010). He noticed that the cats became

The actual practise of conditioning only started when Albert was 11 months old. The first step Watson and Raymer took towards conditioning Little Albert, was paring the loud noise, unconditioned stimulus, with the white rat, conditioned stimulus. The responses were fear of the

Reading the "Little Albert" experiment, I found it to be very entertaining. John B. Watson was a behaviorist whom headed out an famous psychology experiment with a graduate student named Rosalie Raynor. Apparently the goal of their experiment was to demonstrate if it was possible to manifest a fear reaction. The fear reaction would be to a "previously neutral stimuli through experience". In order to show their experiment they used a nine month old baby boy from the hospital.

This eventually caused Little Albert to show signs of fear at just the sight of the rat. In this study, the unconditioned stimulus was the loud noise and the unconditioned response was fear. By the end of the experiment, the conditioned stimulus was the white rat and the conditioned response was fear. Watson went on further to show stimulus generalization as Little Albert feared other stimuli aside from white rats; these other stimuli are suggested to be either white and/or furry objects, such as a stuffed animal and a Santa Claus mask

The Little Albert experiment has become a famous case study that has been discussed by a plethora of professionals in the psychology industry. In 1920, behaviorist John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner began to conduct the first experiment that had been done with a child. Watson and Rayner chose Albert because they thought he was stable; he was accustomed to a hospital environment due to his mother’s career as a wet nurse, he was healthy and showed little emotion. Stability played a major factor in choosing Albert for this case study because Watson wanted to ensure that they would do as little harm as possible with the experiment. The conditioning of Albert began with a series of emotional tests that became part of a routine in which Watson and Rayner were “determining whether fear reactions could be called out by other stimuli than sharp noises and the sudden removal of support” (-----). Watson’s method of choice for this experiment was using principles of classic conditioning to create a stimulus in children that would result in fear. Since Watson wanted to condition Albert, he used a variety of objects that would otherwise not scare him. These objects included white rat, dog, blocks, rabbit, fur coat, wool and a Santa Claus mask.

For the second stage, a white rat was used as Watson’s CS, the CS must be a neutral stimulus that initially has no effect on the UR. Little Albert showed no phobia towards the rat before conditioning occurred. By pairing the US with the CS, the infant learned to associate the loud noise of the hammer and metal bar with the white rat. After strengthening the association between the US and the CS by repetition, Little Albert eventually became fearful and upset when only presented with the once neutral stimulus, the white rat. This response was the CR which marked the completion of step three. Little Albert was now afraid of the white rat because it triggered his fear of the loud noise. Classical conditioning can be used to prove many forms of behavior between subjects when looking at the the right unconditioned/ conditioned stimuli and unconditioned/ conditioned responses. The theory of classical conditioning can be used to explain the development of distrust and trust issues in the relationships between people.