Overview
This lecture covers classical conditioning, its foundational experiments by Pavlov and Watson, and the ethical issues related to the "Little Albert" study in the development of behaviorism.
Classical Conditioning: Pavlov’s Experiments
- Classical conditioning, or Pavlovian conditioning, is learning through association between two stimuli.
- Ivan Pavlov discovered that dogs could be trained to associate a neutral stimulus (bell) with food to produce salivation.
- Food is the unconditioned stimulus (US) causing salivation (unconditioned response, UR).
- The bell starts as a neutral stimulus (NS) with no response.
- After repeated pairing, the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and causes a conditioned response (CR): salivation.
Watson & Rayner’s "Little Albert" Experiment
- Watson theorized that emotional responses, like fear, could be conditioned in humans.
- Little Albert, a nine-month-old baby, was chosen for his stable temperament.
- Baseline tests showed Albert had no fear of objects like rats, dogs, rabbits, masks, or newspapers.
- Loud noises (US) made Albert cry (UR) due to an innate startle reflex.
- Pairing the white rat (NS) with loud noises conditioned Albert to fear the rat (CS), producing a fear response (CR).
- Albert’s fear generalized to similar objects, such as other animals and masks.
Ethical Considerations in Research
- The "Little Albert" study violated ethical principles, including informed consent, the right to withdraw, and participant welfare.
- Albert’s mother was not informed, and no effort was made to reverse the induced fears.
- Professional competence was questioned due to poor experimental controls and subject distress.
- Modern ethics require approval, informed consent, participant rights, and researcher competence.
Impact and Legacy
- Despite its flaws, the Little Albert experiment demonstrated the role of conditioning in emotional responses.
- This research helped establish behaviorism as a major school of thought in psychology.
- The experiment has influenced therapies for treating conditioned fears.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Classical Conditioning — Learning by associating two stimuli to produce a new response.
- Unconditioned Stimulus (US) — A stimulus that naturally triggers a response.
- Unconditioned Response (UR) — An automatic, natural reaction to a stimulus.
- Neutral Stimulus (NS) — A stimulus that initially produces no response.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS) — A previously neutral stimulus that now triggers a response after association.
- Conditioned Response (CR) — A learned response to a conditioned stimulus.
- Behaviorism — A psychological approach focused on observable behaviors and their conditioning.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review the definitions of classical conditioning terms.
- Read about ethical guidelines in psychological research.
- Prepare for discussion on how conditioning principles apply to modern therapy.