Comments on: Episode 47: The Little Albert Study: What You Know is…Mostly Wrong

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:24:52 +0000

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.

By: Gianna

Gianna — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:11:41 +0000

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.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:19:25 +0000

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.

By: Roger Willoughby

Roger Willoughby — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:40:07 +0000

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/

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:15:41 +0000

Thanks Sandra:) – Michael

By: sandrar

sandrar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:02:10 +0000

Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. Cheers! Sandra. R.

By: Junepeg

Junepeg — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:23:38 +0000

Even though the study might not affected the boy, it’s was a bad idea to use a child in this experiment.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:50:32 +0000

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.

By: Latoya Luckett

Latoya Luckett — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:23:04 +0000

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.

By: Dr. Artour Rakhimov

Dr. Artour Rakhimov — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:04:29 +0000

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