The Bobo Doll Experiment
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REFERENCE SECTION Landmark Studies in Psychology The Little Albert Experiment . R2 Pavlov and Conditioned Reflex Theory . R3 The Rorschach Test . R4 Defense Mechanisms . R5 Skinner’s Superstitious Pigeons . R6 REM Sleep and Dreaming . R7 Piaget and Object Permanence . R8 Asch on Group Conformity . R9 Harlow’s Study of Contact Comfort . .R10 The Origin of Form Perception . .R11 The Bobo Doll Experiment . .R12 The Milgram Experiment . .R13 Internal and External Control . .R14 Learning to Feel Helpless . .R15 Facial Expressions and Culture . .R16 The Stanford Prison Experiment . .R17 Identifying Mental Illness in a Mental Hospital . .R18 Multiple Intelligences . .R19 Cultural Values and Human Behavior . .R20 The Minnesota Twins Study . .R21 Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct . R22 The Psychologist’s Bookshelf . R34 English and Spanish Glossary . R64 Index . R92 Credits and Acknowledgments . R108 R1 The Little Albert Experiment Background In psychology’s early years, Sigmund Freud’s theory that human behavior was largely a product of unconscious, internal processes dominated the field. In tandem with Ivan Pavlov’s work, the SYCHOLOGY P study described here resulted in an alternative theory called behaviorism. It held that human behavior was learned primarily through experiences with the outside environment. Little Albert learned to fear white, fluffy objects. TUDIES IN S Study Methodology demonstrated that he could teach, or condi- tion, a human to have a particular emotional John B. Watson, the experiment’s main author, response—in this case, fear—to a particular sought to find out if he could teach a human thing, or stimulus—in this case, the rat. infant to fear things that the child previ- Watson followed up this part of the experi- ously had viewed as benign. His subject was a ment by trying to transfer the newly taught ANDMARK baby boy known as “Baby Albert B.” or “Little L fear to another object that at the experiment’s Albert.” Watson began by identifying several start had not scared the baby. Sure enough, things that did not scare Baby Albert. These when a white rabbit was placed next to Albert, neutral stimuli (so called because they do not he also reacted with fear. This transfer of a provoke a reaction) included a white rat, a conditioned response to a larger set of similar white rabbit, a fake white beard, and white stimuli is called generalization. cotton. Albert expressed interest in these Watson’s study had additional findings. objects and even reached for them. Why they First, he showed that the objects continued were similarly white and somewhat furry will to induce fear outside the laboratory, but to a become clear later. lesser degree. He also went back and repro- The core of the experiment involved setting duced the response a month later, showing the baby next to one of the neutral stimuli, that the learning lasted for some time. the rat, and then making a loud noise, which Watson’s basic insight—that even emotions is known to cause instinctive fear in humans. can be learned—has held up over time. Subse- Watson chose banging on a metal bar with quent experiments, however, have shown that a hammer behind the baby. That noise is an conditioning can be lost over time through a example of an unconditioned stimulus, one for process called extinction. Moreover, research- which the reaction it causes, or stimulates, ers today would strongly reject on ethical does not need to be learned. After repeating grounds an experiment making a human baby this step a total of seven times over two the subject of such harmful treatment. separate sessions, Watson then moved to the experiment’s next step, setting Albert next to Watson, J. B., and Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional the rat without the noise. responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology 3, 1–14. Results and Interpretation Thinking Critically The baby reacted just as Watson had expected. Although there was no loud noise, Albert 1. Identify What is behaviorism? immediately recoiled in fear of the rat even 2. Predict How might a therapist have helped Albert though at the start of the experiment he to enjoy white rats and rabbits again later in life? had shown no such fear. Thus, Watson had R2 Pavlov and Conditioned L Reflex Theory ANDMARK Background This experiment conducted by the Russian scientist Ivan P. Pavlov led to his development of the conditioned reflex theory. That theory—also called classical conditioning—explains how noninstinctual behaviors are S TUDIES IN learned, one of the basic concerns of psychology. Tone=dro Pavlov trained dogs to associate a sound with food. P Study Methodology whether food was present. Pavlov then went SYCHOLOGY on to produce similar results with odors and Ivan Pavlov, who was a physiologist, not a visual cues instead of sounds. psychologist, came up with this experiment Pavlov interpreted the experimental results while conducting another one using dogs as proof of two types of behavior. The first, to study the mechanics of food digestion. In called an unconditioned reflex, was instinc- that experiment, Pavlov connected a tube to tual behavior that need not be learned. Such the dogs’ salivary glands and then collected behavior was triggered by what he called an and measured the amount of saliva the dogs unconditioned stimulus—in this case, food. produced when given food. During the course Pavlov called the second type of learned of that experiment, Pavlov observed an unex- behavior a conditioned reflex. It is learned pected result that could not be explained as by repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus—in an instinctual physiological response. Namely, this case, a metronome—with an uncondi- nonfood stimuli that regularly took place dur- tioned stimulus (food). By doing so, the neutral ing feedings—footsteps, for instance—began to stimulus is converted into what Pavlov called cause the dogs to salivate even in the absence a conditioned stimulus. of food. The hypothesis that this was learned, Pavlov’s use of empirical experimentation not instinctual, behavior prompted Pavlov to to discover the conditioned reflex helped bring set up a new experiment. much-needed respect to the emerging field To study the noninstinctual behavior he of psychology. Moreover, the experiment led observed during his earlier experiment, Pavlov Pavlov himself to switch from physiology to created a controlled environment that sepa- psychology, making him one of the discipline’s rated the dogs from all stimuli other than that pioneers. Pavlov was so influential that introduced by the experimenter. The experi- numerous other experiments have cited this ment itself consisted of playing a metronome, one—more than a thousand just since 2000. a device used to keep time in music, at the same time as feeding the dogs. This sequence Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. London: Oxford was repeated for several days. Then, Pavlov University Press. began playing the metronome by itself without feeding the dogs. Thinking Critically Results and Interpretation 1. Identify What basic question did Pavlov’s As Pavlov theorized, playing the metronome experiment address? always at the same time as the feedings 2. Explain How is a neutral stimulus converted caused the dogs to salivate profusely when- into a conditioned stimulus? ever they heard the metronome, regardless of R3 The Rorschach Test Background This study by the psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach started as an experiment aimed at comparing how people with different mental illnesses interpreted abstract forms made from a blob of ink. By the end of the study, Rorschach had concluded that the inkblots could also be used to diagnose psychological problems. SYCHOLOGY P What do you see in this inkblot? TUDIES IN Study Methodology Results and Interpretation S Have you and a friend ever looked at the Two major findings came out of Rorschach’s same cloud formations but seen very different experiment. First, he found that certain things? If so, in a way you have already been responses tended to correlate with specific introduced to the Rorshach inkblot test. mental conditions. For instance, “normal” sub- Hermann Rorschach’s experiment started jects seldom failed to provide an answer, while ANDMARK with the theory that when a person tries to subjects with schizophrenia often refused to L make sense of an abstract image, its ambi- do so. People who were depressed gave fewer guity causes the person to look inward and answers than those who were not. People with project meaning onto it, since it does not cor- depression saw more animals than did other respond to an actual thing. Thus, the meaning participants. The second major finding was a person projects onto the ambiguous image that the inkblot test, which Rorschach called provides a clue into the person’s unconscious. the form interpretive test, could be used to The tool used in Rorschach’s experiment help diagnose psychological disorders. was an inkblot made by dropping ink on a It should be noted that subsequent studies piece of paper and then folding the paper in have tended to question the effectiveness of half. The result was a random symmetrical the inkblot test as a diagnostic tool, although image that was ambiguous enough to be sug- some more recent studies have found it helpful gestive of various objects, in a similar way as in diagnosing some specific conditions. None- a cloud may look like other objects. (Rorschach theless, the test is still used by many psycho- found that symmetrical inkblots tended to be therapists, especially in the initial stages of more suggestive of other images.) therapy, as a way of gaining insight into the The subjects for the study consisted of a patient’s mental state. mix of people, some with mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Other subjects had no Rorschach, H.