Aims of the study

The researchers wanted to show that classical conditioning could create a fear response in a child towards a harmless object. By achieving this, Watson and Rayner sought to prove that human behaviour results from environmental conditioning.

Participant in the study

The study involved a single participant: a nine-month-old male infant known as Little Albert. He was selected because he appeared emotionally stable, showing no initial fear towards various objects.

Procedure of the study

The experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting over several weeks, starting when Little Albert was nine months old.

Key steps in the procedure

1. Initial assessment - At nine months, Little Albert was presented with objects like a white rat, rabbit, masks, and cotton wool. He showed no fear and even tried to play with them. The white rat was identified as a neutral stimulus, as it did not naturally cause distress.
2. Conditioning phase - Two months later, the white rat was shown again. Each time Little Albert reached for it, researchers struck a 4-foot (1.2-meter) metal bar behind him, creating a loud noise. This noise was an unconditioned stimulus, as it naturally caused fear and crying.
3. Repeated pairings - This process was repeated seven times across two sessions (with 2 pairings in the first session and 5 in the second session, approximately one week apart).
4. Testing responses - After conditioning, Little Albert's reactions were observed to the rat alone, without the noise, and to similar white, fluffy objects. Notes were taken on behaviours like crying or attempting to crawl away.

Results of the study

The experiment produced clear changes in Little Albert's behaviour, demonstrating the effects of conditioning.

Key observations from the trials

• Early trials - In the first pairing, Little Albert showed distress by jumping and burying his face. By the second trial, he became suspicious of the rat.
• Mid-trial responses - Soon after, he leaned away from the rat when presented, and later cried when a rabbit was placed near him.
• Later generalisation - In subsequent testing sessions, Little Albert cried at various white, furry items, such as a fur coat or a Father Christmas beard. This is known as stimulus generalisation, where the fear response extends to stimuli similar to the conditioned one.
• Overall fear indicators - By the end, seeing the rat alone caused immediate crying and attempts to escape, even without the noise.

Conclusions and implications

The study concluded that emotional responses, like fear, can be conditioned in humans after minimal pairings of stimuli. Little Albert should have undergone deconditioning to reverse the fear, but this did not happen due to his adoption, which ended further experiments.

Additional concepts from the conclusions

• Extinction - Conditioned responses can weaken over time if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, though this was not systematically demonstrated in the Little Albert study due to its early termination.
• Spontaneous recovery - After extinction, a conditioned response can spontaneously reappear after a rest period, showing that extinct responses are not fully erased.