Little Albert experiment

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The Little Albert experiment is a psychological experiment. It should prove the possibility of classical conditioning of people, especially the learnability and generalizability of fear reactions. It was carried out in 1920 at Johns Hopkins University ( Baltimore , USA ) by John B. Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner. Their starting point was the empirical assumption that the number of stimuli that trigger an emotional response can be easily increased.

experiment

In a preliminary study, Watson and Rayner looked at the emotional reactions of a nine-month-old child called "Little Albert". He was shown briefly and for the first time in his life a white rat, a rabbit, a dog, a monkey, human masks with and without hair, cotton, burning newspapers and the like. The child never showed fear, but always reached for things with curiosity. The child did, however, show fear when it heard an iron bar being struck with a hammer behind him.

In the actual experiment, Watson showed "Little Albert" (he was now eleven months old) a white rat and at the same time made him hear the loud sound of the iron bar behind him. He whimpered slightly when he touched the rat with his hand. After two repetitions, "Little Albert" already refused to touch the rat, after seven repetitions he already showed a massive fear reaction when looking at the rat. Finally he also showed fear at the sight of stimuli similar to rats, namely fur (rabbit, dog, fur coat), tufts of cotton and white beards.

Watson and Rayner assumed that the reactions learned would last throughout life and permanently change personality. In fact, the empirical basis for such far-reaching conclusions was more than thin.

Identity of the child

The test subject, called "Little Albert" (German: Kleiner Albert), was the son of a wet nurse at Harriet Lane Hospital. According to information, it was Douglas Meritte. Further research also found a man with the first name Albert, who, according to a niece, was "very afraid of dogs" and, in contrast to the rather unhealthy Douglas, who died at the age of six, died in 2007 at the age of 87. This theory also explains Watson's statement that Albert was a very healthy child. The research is ongoing, so it is currently unknown who Little Albert really was.

criticism

From an ethical point of view, the experiment is now very controversial because the methods of the experiment, especially on a small child, do not meet today's ethical standards. Allegedly, Little Albert's mother moved to another area so Watson couldn't start reconditioning .

The experiment is also controversial from a scientific point of view. Based on current research, it can be assumed that Watson and Rayner violated fundamental principles of the methodology . There is no quantification or systematic control of the variables.

A problem with later presentations of the experiment arises from the fact that the experiment is sometimes not exactly reproduced in the following literature and certain aspects, such as B. the conditioned fear response, have been exaggerated. The experimental setup was also repeatedly changed and incorrectly reproduced in the literature.

See also

literature

  • Bandura, A. (1979). Aggression. A social-learning theory analysis. Stuttgart: Velcro.
  • Bandura, A. (1976). The analysis of modeling processes. In: A. Bandura (Ed.): Learning on the model. Approaches to a social-cognitive learning theory. (Pp. 9-67). Stuttgart: Velcro.
  • Bandura, A. (1976). Influence of the reinforcement contingencies of the model on the acquisition of the imitation reactions. In: A. Bandura (Ed.): Learning on the model. Approaches to a social cognitive learning theory. (Pp. 115-129). Stuttgart: Velcro.
  • Harris, Ben. Whatever Happened to Little Albert? In: American Psychologist. February 1979, Volume 34, Number 2, pp. 151-160.
  • Sammer, Günter (1999): The paradigms of psychology. An epistemological reconstruction of paradigmatic structures in the scientific system of psychology.
  • Watson, John B. & Rayner, Rosalie (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology. 3 (1), pp. 1-14. On the web: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/emotion.htm

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Original quote: "... there must be some simple method by means of which the range of stimuli which can call out emotions is greatly increased."
  2. ↑ a b Bernd Graff: What happened to Baby B.? In: sueddeutsche.de . June 15, 2014, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Günter Sämmer: The "Little Albert"