Core Study: Watson and Rayner (1920)

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Core Study Watson and Rayner (1920)

• Little Albert

BATs Outline and evaluate Watson and Rayners
experiment to induce a phobia in a young child
(C)
Hand in Revision Booklets please Homework this
week Blog quiz and practice questions - Memory
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Watson and Rayner (1920)
http//www.psychexchange.co.uk/videos/view/20132/
John Watson Little Albert

• The idea that Phobias can be learnt through
  Classical Conditioning is supported by a very
  famous experiment carried out by John Watson and
  Rosalie Rayner in 1920

You need to be able to describe this piece
research and then evaluate how good it was
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Over to you ..

• Read about Watson and Rayners experiment on
  pages 71-72
• Create a story board to show what they did.
  Include ..
• Aim
• Procedure
• Results

There is a summary sheet if it helps
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Fill in the key words to explain how a Phobia of
rats was induced in Little Albert
UCS
UCR
NS
CR
CS
5
UCS
UCR
LOUD BANG
FEAR
NS
WHITE RAT
CR
CS
WHITE RAT
FEAR
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(No Transcript)
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Limitations of Watson Rayners study

• Explain how the following limitations apply to
  the study
• 1. It lacked ecological validity.
• Too much control artificial conditions
  relevance to real-life?
• 2. The sample only consisted of one child.
• Unrepresentative difficult to generalise does
  it apply to adults and other children?
• 3. The study was unethical.
• The child cannot give consent causing distress
  long-term consequences of having a phobia.

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Over to you again ..

• Answer questions 1-7 on page 73, in full
  sentences
• Look at the number of marks for each question
  make sure you include enough detail to achieve
  full marks!!

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Watson Rayner (1920)

• Watson Rayners subject was a baby known as
  Little Albert, who they first tested at _____
  months old. They tested his reactions to a range
  of different stimuli, none of which frightened
  him. They were all __________ stimuli. The only
  stimulus that triggered a natural ______ reaction
  was a hammer striking a steel bar.
• When Albert was just over _________ months old,
  Watson Rayner brought him back to their
  laboratory. Their aim was to ____________ him to
  fear a white rat. They did this by offering it to
  the boy. As Albert reached out to stroke the rat,
  Watson crept behind the baby and brought the
  hammer crashing down on the steel bar! This was
  repeated ________ times over the next two weeks.
• By the end of the trials, the rat on its own was
  enough to frighten Albert even though it had not
  done before. When presented with the rat he would
  now cry and try to avoid it. Watson Rayner had
  successfully (and deliberately!) conditioned a
  _______ of rats in the boy.

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Watson Rayner (1920)

• Watson Rayners subject was a baby known as
  Little Albert, who they first tested at nine
  months old. They tested his reactions to a range
  of different stimuli, none of which frightened
  him. They were all neutral stimuli. The only
  stimulus that triggered a natural fear reaction
  was a hammer striking a steel bar.
• When Albert was just over eleven months old,
  Watson Rayner brought him back to their
  laboratory. Their aim was to
• condition him to fear a white rat. They did this
  by offering it to
• the boy. As Albert reached out to stroke the
  rat, Watson crept behind the baby and brought the
  hammer crashing down on the steel bar! This was
  repeated seven times over the next two
• weeks.
• By the end of the trials, the rat on its own was
  enough to frighten Albert even though it had not
  done before. When presented with the rat he would
  now cry and try to avoid it. Watson Rayner had
  successfully (and deliberately!) conditioned a
  phobia of rats in the boy.