What was the result of the Little Albert experiment?
The Little Albert Experiment demonstrated that classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia. A phobia is an irrational fear, that is out of proportion to the danger. In this experiment, a previously unafraid baby was conditioned to become afraid of a rat.
Why is the conditioning of Little Albert unethical?
Unfortunately, one of the Little Albert experiment ethical issues was that Little Albert was harmed during the experiment. This is because he was classically conditioned to fear white rats, and such fear did not exist earlier in baby Albert. This could also have resulted in Albert suffering for his entire life.
What was used to condition Little Albert?
At this point, Watson and Rayner made a loud sound behind Albert’s back by striking a suspended steel bar with a hammer each time the baby touched the rat. Albert responded to the noise by crying and showing fear. After several such pairings of the two stimuli, Albert was presented with only the rat.
What was the conditioned stimulus in the case of Little Albert?
In Watson’s experiment with Little Albert, the white rat was the (conditioned, unconditioned) stimulus, and Albert’s crying when the hammer struck the steel bar was the (conditioned, unconditioned) response. Albert’s fear of the white rat transferred to a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, and a mask.
What happened to Little Albert when he grew up?
Soon after the experiments, Little Albert and his mother moved away from John Hopkins and disappeared. By tracking down financial records Beck found out that he was most likely to be the illegitimate son of the campus nurse, Arvilla Merritte, who had a boy called, Douglas.
What happened to Little Albert after?
Tragically, medical records showed that Douglas had severe neurological problems and died at an early age of hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. According to his records, this seems to have resulted in vision problems, so much so that at times he was considered blind.
Was Little Albert adopted?
Now this experiment could never be done in present day due to ethical reasoning but for your own piece of mind I’ll have you know that Little Albert was shortly adopted after this experiment and his parents did reveal that he eventually came over his fears with time. Watson, J. B. (1924).
Is baby Albert still alive?
But what of Albert Barger? He died in 2007 after a long, happy life, says his niece. She says the family had no idea he might be Little Albert, and that his mum had hidden the fact that he was born out of wedlock.