John Broadus Watson was a well-known psychologist. He became known as a behaviorist within the field of psychology. He later founded a school of behaviorism which was open from 1920s through the 1950s. The school surpassed many expectations and even ruled in the field of American psychology. John Watson’s theory of behaviorism consisted of two major components. Essentially, these principles were the core of his studies; systematic psychology focused on the connection between behavior and environmental contingencies. Consequently, differing from what was expected in respect of consciousness. The second principle stated that human and animals behaved in the same fashion. The latter proved true over many years according to numerous thinkers.
…show more content…
He wanted to see how his principles would apply with humans as he had suspected. The theory led to John B. Watson’s well-known conditioning experiment with a small child, later known as the “little Albert” experiment. Watson himself would lead the experiment alongside his assistant Rosalie Rayner. Baby Albert was an orphan who lived in the hospital where Watson was employed. The experiment using baby Albert started with him being shown various objects. Some of the objects he was shown were a dog, monkey, rabbit, fire, and seemingly baby Albert’s favorite, a white rat. As the condition got underway, each time baby Albert touched the white rabbit a loud clang occurred. However, the child did not cry the first time he heard the sound, but he did nearly fall …show more content…
The experiment with baby Albert did have some negative connotations and rightfully so. First and foremost, the experiment was wrong because Watson did not reverse the conditioning. Even though Watson knew a process that could undo the conditioned fear, he later said he did not have time to complete the process on baby Albert. The experiment was also criticized for not being ethical. In particularly, because the small child could not object to the conditioning method; nor does anyone know the full effect of conditioning fear. Furthermore, infants have an underdeveloped sensory motor coordination, which means that they lack the ability to make varying associations. However, it is known today that small children who are conditioned to fear objects are more difficult than previously. In addition, people are thought to be naturally predisposed to a motivation that produces
He wanted to see how his principles would apply with humans as he had suspected. The theory led to John B. Watson’s well-known conditioning experiment with a small child, later known as the “little Albert” experiment. Watson himself would lead the experiment alongside his assistant Rosalie Rayner. Baby Albert was an orphan who lived in the hospital where Watson was employed. The experiment using baby Albert started with him being shown various objects. Some of the objects he was shown were a dog, monkey, rabbit, fire, and seemingly baby Albert’s favorite, a white rat. As the condition got underway, each time baby Albert touched the white rabbit a loud clang occurred. However, the child did not cry the first time he heard the sound, but he did nearly fall …show more content…
The experiment with baby Albert did have some negative connotations and rightfully so. First and foremost, the experiment was wrong because Watson did not reverse the conditioning. Even though Watson knew a process that could undo the conditioned fear, he later said he did not have time to complete the process on baby Albert. The experiment was also criticized for not being ethical. In particularly, because the small child could not object to the conditioning method; nor does anyone know the full effect of conditioning fear. Furthermore, infants have an underdeveloped sensory motor coordination, which means that they lack the ability to make varying associations. However, it is known today that small children who are conditioned to fear objects are more difficult than previously. In addition, people are thought to be naturally predisposed to a motivation that produces