Watson's Theory Of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a process in which behaviour is modified. It was made famous by Ivan Pavlov and the experiments he carried out by using his dogs. Classical conditioning occurs when an unconditioned stimulus is paired with a conditioned stimulus. When both stimuli have been repeatedly paired, the organism which in Pavlov’s case was his dog shows a conditioned response to the conditioned stimulus.
During the 1890’s, Pavlov accidentally discovered classical conditioning when feeding his dog. His dogs produced excess saliva when he entered the room with their food but he noticed that even when he entered the room with no food for his dogs, they began to salivate also. To begin his studies, Pavlov’s lab assistant gave his dog some food …show more content…
Watson, another psychologist, carried out another classical conditioning experiment. He titled it the ‘Little Albert experiment’. This experiment can be used to explain the creation of phobias within people using classical conditioning. Little Albert was a young child who was introduced to a rat. He showed no fear of the rat so, Watson struck a steel bar with a hammer to create a loud noise and it caused Little Albert to burst into tears. After this experiment was repeated a number of times i.e. introducing Little Albert to the rat (unconditioned stimulus) and then banging the steel bar with a hammer (neutral stimulus), Watson discovered that after a number of attempts, Little Albert would burst into tears as soon as he saw the rat, the loud noise was no longer needed. This experiment is used to explain classical conditioning. Watson created the fear in Little Albert. Without the neutral stimulus, Little Albert showed no fear of the rat. It wasn’t until Watson introduced the loud noise that Little Albert showed fear. Watson created the phobia of the white rat in Little Albert by using the loud noise as a neutral stimulus. Every time Little Albert went to touch the white rat, Watson would make the noise and Little Albert would burst into tears. After this experiment was repeated a number of times, the rat was placed in front of Little Albert again and without the use of the neutral stimulus, Little Albert would burst into tears. Watson used the loud noise to create the phobia in Little Albert.
Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioural therapy based upon the principal of classical conditioning. It was discovered by Joseph Wolpe in the early 1950’s after Wolpe spent time researching Pavlov’s study of classical conditioning. Wolpe tested his findings on neurotic cats before further research lead him to testing his findings on