The Little Albert Experiment

How you can condition the mind with a stimulus that causes a recurring physical reaction every time the unconditioned stimulus is used. His experiment influenced other psychologists. Watson and Rayner conducted the Little Albert experiment, to show classical condition in humans. Unfortunately, a child was used to demonstrate this, but the test was very successful. Albert while sitting in a room was showed a monkey, a rabbit, a white rat and other things. He wasn’t afraid or bothered by them at all.

That was until they were accompanied by a loud noise that scared him and caused him to cry. Afterwards, when he saw a white rat, he would cry and try to leave. Where there once was no fear, there it resided. An opposite of this experiment is Wolpe’s systemic desensitization.

The best way to soothe someone’s anxieties, fears and phobias to this day is with Wolpe’s systemic desensitization. He came up with this from Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments.

His system is set up in three steps. First, is the identification of the initial fear, phobia or anxiety triggers. They are then categorized by the level of fear, anxiety or phobia it causes to the individual. Second, the individuals learn coping techniques and how to relax. Third, the individual must apply the coping and relaxation techniques to help them overcome their fears. In my opinion, both tests done by Watson and Wolpe, encouraged by Pavlov has made a major impact on people’s lives. People are still benefiting from their accomplishments.

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Researchers, scientists, businesses, teachers, parents and many more, all play a role in the classical conditioning of a person. Today, people are classically conditioned by an array of technology, media, advertisements and their smart phones, to name a few. Businesses are the main ones using classical conditioning for their benefit. They hire people who are great at devising marketing strategies to advertised and win over customers. Two good examples would be McDonald’s golden arches and Krispy Kreme’s red light. When many people see the arches they feel hungry and stop to order. When Krispy Kreme’s red light comes on everyone knows they have hot and fresh donuts that just came up. Everything a person sees hears tastes and feels has some form of conditioned stimulus attached to it.

The way it’s used with fast food and junk food could be one of the main reasons of obesity in America. Rarely, does one see healthy food conditioning stimuli.  Thinking of the negative aspects of conditioning, one of the main ones plaguing this generation is how the addictive nature of social media is conditioning people. Many people especially teens that post on social sites get classically conditioned to likes. The posts are their conditioned stimulus and the likes are the unconditioned stimulus that causes the reaction. A person addicted to likes would check every few minutes to see how many likes they have. Every like brings about how that person sees their value. It then affects their mental state.

They will more than likely seek counseling and the counselor will probably use Wolpe’s systemic desensitization system to help them cope and soothe them. Positive reinforcement by B. F. Skinner showed how a person could be changed after a classical conditioning. Unfortunately, little Albert died at the early age of six, so no one knows if he still had a fear of white rats. Had he lived, someone could have de-conditioned him with Wolpe’s systemic desensitization or using Skinner’s operant conditioning. In positive conditioning a positive stimulus is added behind the behavior given by a classical conditioning. By doing so, it shows a favorable outcome, changing the response of the individual or animal. Pavlov’s classical conditioning opened many avenues. The effects of it are endless.

It is still used today. It influences the behaviors of everyone and every animal walking on this earth. It was developed over time by other great psychologists. It has shaped people’s outlooks on life, religion, their world views. Conditioning gives instruction for pretty much everything; how to function in society, how to cope with the stresses of society, how to love a spouse, how to raise a child, how to train a pet, how to concur fear, the list can go on and on. Classical conditioning has also shaped the business world in a major way. It took it from a small stature and made it a giant. It helped opened the door for greed and assistance. All in all, conditioning can make a life better or it can make it worse. It can make the world better or make it worse. People should pay close attention to how they react to the things they see, what people do to them and the things others say.