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Think you know a lot about the little Albert experiment conducted by John Watson? Well, guess what – you’d be surprised at how much of the story is simply not true. If you’re wondering whatever happened to little Albert, whether the little Albert study created a lasting phobia in a small boy, or even what place this story has in the history of behaviorism, then I suggest you take a listen to this episode of The Psych Files and get the facts on this fascinating part of psychology’s history.
"Little Albert"’s real name has been identified! Go to video episode 114 to learn more about who was Little Albert.
Notes Regarding Little Albert’s "Phobia"
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When Albert was conditioned again to the rat, 10 days after the initial trials, Albert…
..fell over to the left side, got up on all fours and started to crawl away. On this occasion there was no crying but strange to say, as he started away he began to gurgle and coo, even while leaning far over to the left side to avoid the rat…
– in addition, on this same day he was again conditioned to fear the rabbit, albert’s response was reported as,
…fear reaction slight. Turned to the left and kept face away from the animal but the reaction was never pronounced.
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31 days after being shown the rat, Watson reports that when in the same room as the rat "He allowed the rat to crawl towards him without withdrawing"
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On the final day of testing when albert was exposed to the rabbit to which he had been conditioned to fear, he did not avoid the rabbit at all. Watson (1920) reports:
..after about a minute he [Albert] reached out tentatively and …touched the rabbit’s ear with his right hand…
Objects Albert was supposedly afraid of, but for which there is no evidence:
- Cats
- Fur muffs
- White furry gloves
- Albert’s aunt (who wore fur)
- Albert’s mother’s fur coat
- A teddy bear
Most overlooked facts:
- The study is not an experiment (an experiment requires at least two levels of an independent variable). It is a pilot study at best.
- The study had only one subject.
- The study has never been replicated.
Resources for This Episode on Little Albert
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Harris, B. (1979). Whatever Happened to Little Albert? American Psychologist, 34 (2), 151-160. Click here to download the article to your desktop.
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Samuelson , F. (1980). J.B. Watson’s Little Albert, Cyril Burt’s Twins, and the Need for a Critical Science. American Psychologist, 35 (7).
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Watson, J.B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned Emotional Reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14. This article is available online at Christopher Green’s excellent Psych Classics site.
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If you’re interested in learning more about the history of psychology, Chris Green’s excellent podcast (which is no longer being produced but which is still available in iTunes) is called This Week In The History of Psychology.
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Watson’s video of the little albert study is available on YouTube in several versions. Here’s one.
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
i made a song for him:
Ethical, ethical, ethical unethical
Ethical, ethical, ethical unethical
Little Albert, Little Albert
Why are you so afraid?
Little Albert, Little Albert
You're youth has been decayed
Little Albert, Little Albert
Just put on a brave face
Little Albert, Little Albert
Stay away from the rat race
Bang
White and fluffy
Cute and cuddly
BANG
Just a baby
But going crazy
Someone help me
Get me out of this misery
Im forsaken
My security blanket's been taken
Oh Ah Oh
Little Albert, Little Albert
Why are you so afraid?
Little Albert, Little Albert
You're youth has been decayed
Little Albert, Little Albert
Just put on a brave face
Little Albert, Little Albert
Stay away from the rat race
Crazy, crazy
Psychologists
Taking down notes
Now they're making votes
When will my mother
Take me home
I will always be afraid.
Repeat twice
Ethical, ethical, ethical unethical
I will always be afraid
Bang
ping_my_bra@hotmail.com
do you like it??
I do like it. Clearly you gave this some thought. The only thought I had is that you say that “I will always be afraid” and the research shows that “little Albert” was probably not harmed at all by the research and the effects were small and probably not long lasting.
Otherwise I like the rhyme.
ahhaha, well, it just rhymed with decayed lol
i HOPE he isn’t still afraid of white fluffy things….gah
that would be horrible..
thankyou though
means a lot
peace x
Epic.
Does anyone know what happened to little albert after the experiment and as an adult?
To my knowledge there is no information about what happened to him as an adult.
Michael
hey Micheal my name is Ashley, im in my last year of psychology in northern ireland. Im actually doing a piece of coursework on little albert and you’ve cleared alot of things up for me thanks for the help!
Ashley
P.S love the show
Ashley,
Thanks for leaving the comment about the show. Glad this episode helped! It was a fun one to do.
Michael
Little Albert is 89 years old and lives in Nebraska …
Charles: Interesting. What’s your source for this?
yes!!! we want to know
The Little Albert Study: What You Know is…Mostly Wrong
Thank you so much for this. It helped me a lot in psychology class, but i have a question :
Cna you explain a little bit how Watson study violates ethical guidelines?.
Well, even though it doesn’t look like Albert suffered any long term consequences from the study, Watson should still have taken some time to make sure that Albert was “deconditioned” (by pairing white rats with perhaps a soothing sound).
Have you seen Prince Albert in a can?
Then let him out! Sorry, couldn’t resist.
I heard they do this therapy to Guantanamo detainees so they are averse to (terribalism).
Hi Michael,
Great show! This is my first year studying Psychology and I find the contents are very interesting and relevant. However, I have difficulties remembering the terms/definitions for my examination that comprise of about 7 modules/chapters. While preparing for my exam, I chance upon this question.
Mary is trying to encourage ABC school to Go Green. She feels that the solution would be to encourage more staff and students to recycle more. Using the principles of Operant Conditioning, describe the type of operant conditioning Mary can use and explain how Mary can encourage ABC to recycle.
This is my answer but I am not sure if am on the right track. Could you assist me please?
Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences.
The type of operant conditioning Mary can use would be positive and negative reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour, in this case encouraging ABC’s staff and students to recycle more, as it is followed by the presentation a rewarding stimulus.
The rewarding stimulus could be sweets or praises given out in a variable interval to people who recycle. Moreover, she can also hold a inter-class recycling competition which awards the class that recycle the most with prizes and gifts.
Next, negative reinforcement strengthens a behaviour, in this case encouraging ABC’s staff and students to recycle move, as it is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus.
The aversive or unpleasant stimulus could be less work in the form of homework or marking for students and staff who recycle.
Thank you.
Best wishes,
Jen
Article about Watson’s Little Albert study:
Why Watson’s Little Albert became the most distorted study in the history of psychology
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Watsons-Little-Albert-Became-the-Most-Distorted-Study-in-the-History-of-Psychology&id=2408501
This is my first year studying Psychology, so this is very exciting to me to be learning something that i’m studying. I didnt expect little Albert to be 89 yrs. old. Thank you for your experiment or as you say a pilot study.
No problem Latoya. If this is your first year of studying psychology then you’ve got a lot of interesting reading/listening ahead of you! Enjoy.
Even though the study might not affected the boy, it’s was a bad idea to use a child in this experiment.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
Thanks Sandra:) – Michael
There is an interesting article by Hall Beck et al on little Albert and his subsequent fate (he died aged six from hydrocephalus) in the October 2009 issue of the American Psychologist: see http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/64/7/605/
Roger,
Thanks for the link. I remember hearing about this article but never got around to downloading it from our library to read. I just got a copy and will give it a look. Looks really interesting.
Thank you for this. You were right about the textbook problem. They spend a lot of time on how to make a good experiment and then they talk about the Little Albert EXPERIMENT.
In my textbook they said this:
“Little Albert’s newfound fear did not stop with the innocent rat. It spread, or generalized to objects similar in appearance to the rat, such as a rabbit or a fur coat. Because of his experiences with the rat and steel bars, Albert learned to fear other objects that were white and furry.” …… “Somewhere out there may be an older man who cringes at the sight of not only rats but also of little girls wearing fluffy sweaters, of small dogs, or maybe even of Santa Claus’s beard.”
I think they need to get their info straight. Even in my own research, (I am doing a paper on Watson) I have found inaccuracies in my textbook.
I hope the textbooks will get updated on the true story of Albert soon. There’s the information I report in this episode as well as episode 114 in which i talk about how they’ve identified “Albert’s” real identity.