Phobias

Phobias

Do you have any?

What do you think

caused them?

Behavioural Explanations

Watson & Raynor (1920)

Study of classical conditioning

Aim1.To see if a fear of a previously unfeared objects

can be induced through classical conditioning

2.To see if the fear will be transferred to other similar objects

3.To see what effect time will have on the fear response

4.To see how it is possible to remove the fear response in the laboratory

METHODOLOGYCASE STUDY – 1 CHILD ‘LITTLE ALBERT’

CONTROLLED LAB CONDITIONS

DV – ALBERT’S REACTIONS TO STIMULI BEFORE & AFTER CONDITIONING

Participant• Little Albert• Lived in a hospital environment• “Stolid (not overly sensitive/excitable)

and unemotional”• Showed no fear of a rat, rabbit, dog,

monkey, mask with hair or cotton wool

When Albert was 8 months old, researchers tested hitting a suspended steel bar with a hammer above Little Albert

He was startled, held his breath and began to cry.

As this was something he clearly did not like, the researchers decided to use it to condition Albert to fear certain objects

ProcedureTested at 8 months old for fear responses. Experiments began at 11 months

SESSION 1• When they presented Albert with a rat,

experimenters hit the steel bar with the hammer just as he reached for it.

• Albert jumped and fell forward.

o For a second time, they presented Albert with a rat and hit the steel bar with the hammer just as he reached for it.

o This time Albert began to whimperAlbert was then given a week off.

1 week later… SESSION 2First, the rat was presented with no noise

Next, the rat was presented with the noise three more times

Then, the rat was presented with no noise

Next, the rat was presented with the noise twicemore

Finally, the rat was presented with no noise

SESSION 2 Albert’s reactions After Albert had experienced the rat and loud noise together 5 times…

…he began immediately crying even when he saw the rat with no noise and crawled quickly away

5 days later… SESSION 3To see if the fear was transferred/ generalised

Neutral stimulus – Little Albert like playing with blocksso they were used to calm him down

As he was playing with them he was presented with:1. A rabbit2. A dog3. A seal-fur coat4. Cotton wool5. Watson’s hair6. A Santa Claus mask

Interspersed with being given the blocks to calm him down

SESSION 3 Albert’s reactions

= Happy Albert

= Crying, moving away from stimulus & crawling away

= Less negativity

5 days later… SESSION 4To see how time had affected the response

1. Albert was presented the rat with no noise. The response was present but weaker so they performed conditioning again

2. Also conditioned response to the dog and rabbit by making loud noise with their presentation

3. Albert was taken to well-lit lecture theatre to see if the response was same as in the small lab room

SESSION 4 Albert’s reactions

= Fear response large, cried, crawled away

= Fear reaction was slight

= Still no fear response

1 month later… SESSION 5Albert was tested again with various stimuli including the rat, rabbit, dog, fur coat and Santa Claus mask

SESSION 5 Albert’s reactionsAlbert still showed varying degrees of fear reactions to all of the stimuli, still crying and crawling away some of the time

He did seem less frightened of the rabbit and wanted to play with it BUT when he touched it he usually showed the fear response

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?Session 2After just 5 paired presentations a fear response had been conditioned so fear can be created through classical conditioning.

Sessions 3 & 4The fear could be transferred/ generalised to other similar objects

Session 5The fear response did not disappear over time

Aim 4: To see how it is possible to remove the fear response in the laboratory• Little Albert was removed from the hospital after session 5.

• Watson and Raynor were never able to see if they could remove the fear response

• Little Albert may well have had a fear or furry animals for ever more.

When we move onto the treatments section of this topic we can see how the fear could have been removed with de-sensitisation.

Let’s watch it in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FKZAYt77ZM