Question

How did Watson describe the conditioned reflex method and the idea of instincts? Why did he find it indispensable from a behaviorist perspective? Describe how Watson and Raynor used this method to condition an emotional response as in the Little Albert experiment.

Answer 1

Conditioned reflex method: Watson described the conditioned reflex method as a contiguous condition or a continuation of stimuli accompanying a movement such that it is repeated, which tends to be followed by the same movement.

Idea of instinct: Watson explained the idea of instinct in three stages:From a more or less conventional acceptance to rejecting their existence in humans where he portrayed reflective behavior of infants such as crying.

He found the condition reflex method as indispensable from a behaviorist perspective because it allowed psychologists to carry out laboratory investigation of complex human behavior. He described everything as a stimulus response.

Watson carried out the Little Albert experiment was a controlled experiment showing empirical evidence of classical conditioning in humans. The study also provides an example of stimulus generalization.