9168260
Description
Flashcards by Ella Middlemiss, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Ella Middlemiss
almost 7 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Aim | To explore how classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia of previously unfeared objects in humans, see if the fear could be transferred to similar objects, see what effect time will have on the phobia and see if it's possible to remove the phobia. |
| Ppt | Little Albert, lived in a hospital environment, placid. Showed no fear of a rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, mask with hair or cotton wool. |
| What happened to Little Albert at 8 months? | fear response tested by hitting a suspended steel bar with a hammer behind him - he was startled and began to cry |
| What what age did they experiments begin? | 11 months |
| Procedure - session 1 | Rat + noise X2 Given a week off |
| Session 2 | Rat + no noise Rat + noise X3 Rat + no noise Rat + noise X2 Rat + no noise (Albert began immediately crying even when he saw the rat with no noise) 5 days off |
| Session 3 - generalisation | Neutral stimulus = toy blocks that calmed Albert down Albert was presented with: 1 - Rabbit 2 - Dog 3 - Seal-fur coat 4 - Cotton wool 5 - Watson's hair 6 - A santa claus mask (all interspersed with blocks to calm him down - he cryed and moved away from all) 5 days off |
| Session 4 - effect of time | Rat + noise = response was weaker Performed conditioning again = more fear Also conditioned response to dog and rabbit = large fear Also in well-lit lecture theatre = slight fear Given 1 month off |
| Session 5 | Tested again with various stimuli = varying degrees of fear reactions to all stimuli, still crying and crawling away most of the time. Although less frightened of the rabbit - wanted to play with it. |
| Findings | Session 2 = after 5 presentations, a fear response had been conditioned Sessions 3 & 4 = fear generalised to other similar objects Session 5 = fear response didn't disappear over time Little Albert was removed from the hospital after session 5 - never found out if fear response could be removed. |
| Conclusion | Succeeded in conditioning in an infant, fear of an animal the child wouldn't ordinarily be frightened of. Stimulus generalisation was also claimed as Albert transferred the fear to other similar stimuli. Because the conditioned response was still present after 31 days, W&R concluded it might last a lifetime. W&R demonstrated how CC can occur in humans. |
| Strengths | Lab experiment - standardised procedure, highly controlled - high internal validity and reliability. More than 1 researcher - inter-rater reliability. Good application - can provide a way to treat phobia. Psychological knowledge - demonstrated that CC can occur in humans. |
| Weaknesses | 1 ppt - may be unique, low pop. validity, age bias, culture bias. Artificial environment - low eco. validity. Observation - subjective. Used for social control/ socially sensitive. Unethical - no protection from harm, no debrief, no right to withdraw, no right to privacy. |
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