by The “Little Albert” experiment was a controversial psychological study conducted by John B. Watson and his assistant, Rosalie Rayner, in 1920. The experiment aimed to investigate classical conditioning, which is a form of learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a specific response through repeated pairings with another stimulus.
The subject of the experiment was an 11-month-old infant named Albert. Watson and Rayner exposed Albert to various stimuli and observed his reactions. Initially, Albert showed no fear of the objects presented, which included a white rat, a rabbit, a dog, masks, and other objects.
The experimenters then introduced a loud noise by striking a steel bar with a hammer whenever Albert reached for the white rat. The noise startled Albert, and he exhibited signs of fear, including crying and attempting to move away. This procedure was repeated several times, pairing the rat with the loud noise, until Albert started to associate the rat with fear.
Eventually, even without the loud noise, Albert began to display fear responses to the white rat alone. This suggested that the fear response had been conditioned through the repeated pairing of the rat with the loud noise. The experimenters claimed that this showed how a neutral stimulus (the rat) could become a conditioned stimulus eliciting a fear response.
It is important to note that the “Little Albert” experiment has been widely criticized for ethical reasons. Albert was subjected to emotional distress without proper consent or consideration for his well-being. Additionally, the study lacked proper follow-up and did not attempt to reverse the conditioned fear response in Albert.
The identity and long-term effects on “Little Albert” remained unknown for many years, but recent research suggests that Albert’s real name was Douglas Merritte. However, this identification is not universally accepted, and there is ongoing debate about the true identity of “Little Albert.”
