IndexIntroductionEvaluationConclusionIntroductionWatson and Rayner (1920) studied classical conditioning, a behaviorist theory of learning. Researchers conditioned fear in little Albert and demonstrated that fear can be learned. This research was groundbreaking in that it demonstrated how phobias can be acquired at a young age. Although Albert was psychologically damaged, Jones (1924) discovered that fear could be unconditional and so Watson and Rayner's (1920) theory was used to develop systematic desensitization (Wolpe, 1958). In this essay I will describe Watson and Rayner (1920) and discuss potential criticisms and applications of their research. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay that Watson and Rayner (1920) aimed to research whether fear can be conditioned, whether this fear can be generalized, and whether time has an effect on responses. They also aimed to discover how to remove conditioning. To investigate this, Watson and Rayner (1920) used Little Albert who was a healthy, emotionless child admitted to the hospital where the study was conducted. Little Albert was presented with a white rat, a rabbit and other similar stimuli, but none of these provoked a fear reaction. A hammer hit a steel bar when the mouse was introduced, causing Albert to cry. Over the course of many trials, Albert began to show fear towards the mouse without any loud noises. Here the unconditioned stimulus (the loud noise) was paired with a neutral stimulus (the mouse) to produce the conditioned response (fear). So the researchers had conditioned Albert to fear the mouse and also found that the fear generalized to other objects. But Albert only showed fear towards similar objects that were white and soft like a Santa Claus mask and therefore discriminated against. The researchers also found that the same fear responses were still present after a certain period of time but were weaker. EvaluationWatson and Rayner (1920) did not test their fourth research aim to find out whether the conditioning could be removed because little Albert had left the hospital with his mother. But they had a theory that fear could be removed by combining the conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned pleasant stimulus during reconditioning. To test this theory Jones (1924) recruited little Peter who was afraid of rabbits. The rabbit was presented at a great distance from Peter who was given a biscuit then the distance was gradually decreased (the successive approximation of the conditioned stimulus). Peter learned not to fear the rabbit and so this supports Watson and Rayner's (1920) theory as it suggests that reconditioning works. However, Peter also observed non-fearful children interacting with rabbits, which is a confounding variable as it could mean that the fear response was removed due to imitation and not classical conditioning. A strength of reconditioning is that it has been used to develop systematic desensitization (Wolpe, 1958); an effective therapy for phobias. This is where the client is first taught relaxation techniques and then a fear hierarchy is created, e.g. Cartoon spider, an image of a spider, touching a spider. The client works through the hierarchy relaxing at each stage; in this way the client is reconditioned to associate the feared stimulus with relaxation, thus reducing fear. This therapy has proven to be successful. To.