The Little Albert

ExperimentCorrin, Erica, Millie, Patrick

John B. Watson(assisted by Rosalie Rayner)

Watson was born January 9th, 1878 and grew up in South Carolina. Though he thought of himself as a

poor student, he enrolled at Furman University at age 16. He graduated 5 years later, and earned his PhD. In

psychology in 1903.

He began teaching psychology at John Hopkins University in 1908.

Purpose

To show that you can teach the behavior of fear (using an infant as an example)

The Experiment

Tested on a nine month old infant- Douglas Merritte

Conducted in 1920 by Watson and Raynor Took a white rat (which the child had

befriended) Conditioned the child to fear the rat Accomplished this by repeatedly pairing the

rat with a loud, frightening sound.

Results

Experiment was a successThe child feared everything furry

including Santa Claus and dogsChild was never deconditioned

Problems

It is criticized by its design and lack of effort in its construction

Raised ethical concerns Evidence has been shown that the child had

neurological impairments at the time of the experiment

Child was misrepresented as healthy and normal for experiment

Would we participate?

Patrick- yes, if I were still a babyMillie- No, because I enjoy fluffy thingsCorrin- No, its rude and not accurateErica- If I were tested on as an infant I

wouldn’t have a choice