Little Albert – boy who took part in one of the most severe experiments
Scientists are well-known for making sacrifices in the pursuit of outstanding innovations, research, and discoveries. In this setting, the scientist John Watson was able to provide mankind with a systematic perspective of the behavior of living things, but he did so by employing methods that were not universally recognized. He is the mastermind of the amazing “Little Albert” experiment. The protagonist in that uncommon psychological experience was an 11-month-old boy.
Childhood memories of the scientist
In the year 1878, the future scientist was born in Southern California. John’s mother was a devoted wife, but his father was not. When his kid was 13 years old, he abandoned his family. The boy was very concerned about his family’s breakup and became hostile with other children as a result. However, the young guy eventually decided to change and enrolled at the University of Southern California’s philosophy department. Despite his mother’s wishes for him to become a priest, he eventually joined the scientists.
In 1920, John successfully got his doctoral dissertation in experimental psychology, and he conducted an experiment that drew widespread attention. He then turned to physiologist Pavlov’s understanding, which he sought to apply to the study of fear development in children.
Albert, an 11-month-old kid, was chosen for additional study. It’s unclear why this particular child was chosen. The sole requirement was that the youngster be restored to normal living settings after one month of the experiment.
Various animals were brought to the confined room where the young one was alone during the test. Initially, the youngster interacted with all of the animals and showed no fear of any of them.
Then, while the youngster was touching a white rat, John began hitting with a rod in a metal structure to generate a conditioned phobia.
Little Albert was clearly terrified by the noise, and he was afterwards terrified of coming into contact with the animal. The experiment was restarted after a few days. Watson was surprised to discover that the youngster was terrified of even a fluffy white rabbit. Did not react to man-made objects like a mask or a strand of thread.
However, over a short period of time, the psychologist was able to generate an antipathy to all objects that resembled the white rat.
The psychologist’s efforts were not well received by society.
It’s worth noting that the public did not applaud the psychologist’s accomplishments, but rather blamed him for instilling phobias in the youngster while failing to liberate him from them in the future. Everyone is wondering how the little experimenter’s life later ended out. Watson, on the other hand, has been able to compensate science for its flaws over time, and in the course of study comparable to the previous one, he has also discovered novel methods for removing children’s fears.
