CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PROCESS – THE THEORY OF LEARNING
The "Little Albert" experiment was a famous psychology experiment conducted by behaviorist
John B. Watson and graduate student Rosalie Raynor. Previously, Russian physiologist Ivan
Pavlov had conducted experiments demonstrating the conditioning process in dogs. Watson was
interested in taking Pavlov's research further to show that emotional reactions could be
classically conditioned in people. The participant in the experiment was a child that Watson and
Rayner called "Albert B.", but is known popularly today as Little Albert.
Around the age of nine months, Watson and Rayner exposed the child to a series of stimuli
including a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, and masks and burning newspapers and observed the
boy's reactions. The boy initially showed no fear of any of the objects he was shown. The next
time Albert was exposed the rat; Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a
hammer. Naturally, the child began to cry after hearing the loud noise. After repeatedly pairing
the white rat with the loud noise, Albert began to cry simply after seeing the rat.
The instant the rat was shown, the baby began to cry. Almost instantly he turned sharply to the
left, fell over on [his] left side, raised himself on all fours and began to crawl away so rapidly
that he was caught with difficulty before reaching the edge of the table." In addition to
demonstrating that emotional responses could be conditioned in humans, Watson and Rayner
also observed that stimulus generalisation had occurred. After conditioning, Albert feared not
just the white rat, but a wide variety of similar white objects as well. His fear included other
furry objects including Raynor's fur coat and Watson wearing a Santa Claus beard.
b. From the case study above identify and explain the following : neutral stimulus,
unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus and conditioned
response
- Neutral stimulus: In the case study, the neutral stimulus would be the white rat initially shown to Little Albert. Before any conditioning took place, the white rat did not elicit any fear or emotional response from the child.
- Unconditioned stimulus: The unconditioned stimulus in the experiment was the loud noise made by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer. This loud noise naturally elicits a fear response in most individuals, including children.
- Unconditioned response: The unconditioned response was the natural fear response displayed by Little Albert after hearing the loud noise. Crying was the specific response observed in this case.
- Conditioned stimulus: The conditioned stimulus was the white rat that was repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus (loud noise). Eventually, Albert began to associate the rat with the loud noise and developed a conditioned response.
- Conditioned response: The conditioned response refers to the fear response that Little Albert displayed after repeatedly pairing the white rat (conditioned stimulus) with the loud noise (unconditioned stimulus). This response involved crying and other physical reactions, such as turning sharply, falling over, and crawling away rapidly. The fear response generalized to other similar white objects, such as the fur coat and Santa Claus beard.
In the case study mentioned above, the following elements of classical conditioning can be identified:
1. Neutral stimulus: At the beginning of the experiment, the white rat was considered a neutral stimulus because it did not elicit any fear or emotional response from Little Albert.
2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): The loud noise created by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer served as the unconditioned stimulus. This stimulus naturally elicited an unconditioned response, which was crying, from Little Albert.
3. Unconditioned response (UCR): The unconditioned response in this case was the natural emotional response of crying displayed by Little Albert in response to the loud noise that occurred during the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus.
4. Conditioned stimulus (CS): The white rat, which was initially a neutral stimulus, became a conditioned stimulus after being consistently paired with the unconditioned stimulus (the loud noise). Through repeated association of the white rat and the loud noise, Little Albert eventually began to display a fear response in anticipation of the rat's presentation.
5. Conditioned response (CR): The conditioned response is the learned response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus. In this case, the conditioned response was Little Albert's fear and crying when he saw the white rat alone, even without the loud noise being present.
In summary, the neutral stimulus was the white rat, the unconditioned stimulus was the loud noise, the unconditioned response was crying, the conditioned stimulus became the white rat through association, and the conditioned response was fear and crying elicited by the presence of the white rat alone.
In the "Little Albert" experiment, several elements of classical conditioning can be identified:
1. Neutral Stimulus: In the experiment, before any conditioning took place, the white rat was considered a neutral stimulus. It did not initially elicit any fear response from the baby Albert.
2. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): The unconditioned stimulus in this case was the loud noise made by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer. The loud noise naturally elicited a fear response from Albert.
3. Unconditioned Response (UCR): The unconditioned response is the natural response that occurs without any prior conditioning. In this case, the unconditioned response was Albert's cry and fear after hearing the loud noise.
4. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The conditioned stimulus refers to a previously neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, becomes associated with it and elicits a conditioned response. In this experiment, the white rat became the conditioned stimulus, as it was repeatedly paired with the loud noise.
5. Conditioned Response (CR): The conditioned response is the learned response that occurs after the conditioned stimulus is presented. In this case, Albert's cry and fear in response to seeing the white rat alone became the conditioned response.
To summarize:
- The neutral stimulus was the white rat.
- The unconditioned stimulus was the loud noise made by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer.
- The unconditioned response was Albert's cry and fear after hearing the loud noise.
- The conditioned stimulus was the white rat, which became associated with the loud noise through repeated pairings.
- The conditioned response was Albert's cry and fear in response to seeing the white rat alone.