Question

a full explanation of the Little Albert Experiment conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Raynor

Answer 1

Little Albert's study was conducted/studied by John W Watson and Rosalie Rayner at Johns Hopkins University. This experiment was conducted to understand the facets of classical conditioning and especially in the sense of stimulus generalization.

Methodology

Aim of the study was to condition or develop a phobia in a child. For this experiment, a 9 month-old infant was chosen who was referred to as ‘Albert’

The test started with baseline procedures. Albert was shown/exposed to various white objects such as cotton, monkey, rabbit, dog, wool, newspaper, etc. The child showed no signs of fear.

In the main investigation-experiment, Albert was given a white rat and he was provided to explore and play with it. Watson and Rayner behind Albert’s back produced a loud noise[banging steel with a hammer] when the Albert touched/played the rat. Albert hearing sudden loud noise responded with crying and started showing fear. This whole procedure was repeated several times. After continuous pairing of stimulus, when rat was shown/presented alone- Albert didn't touch it. He started crying and showing distress.

Albert associated noise with the rat. The rat was originally a neutral stimulus[NS] which later becomes a conditioned stimulus [ associating with noise-UCS] which inflicted conditioned response[fear and distress]

Later, it also showed a stimulus generalization result where Albert showed distress and fear when he saw/got acquainted with a white furr, rabbit, cloth, or a white beard of Santa Claus.

This experiment was highly criticized based on not considering the ethical guidelines and it was immoral to develop a phobia in an infant.