Aim: To see if the emotional response of fear could be conditioned in a human.
Method: Albert was 11months old, he loved and had no fear of white furry objects including white rats. In the conditioning trials Albert was shown a white rat several times, however everytime Albert reached for the rat a metal bar was hit hard with a hammer. This was done several times.
Results: After seven hard, loud hits Albert was shown the same rat again. This time Albert screamed and tried to get away from the rat. (The bar was not hit after the seventh time.)
Conclusion: Fear responses can be learned and children can learn at very young ages through classical conditioning.
Evaluation: This study was conducted on one single child this means it cannot be generalized to the opposite gender we cannot know how other children would react so it lacks evidence that children can learn through classical conditioning at a young age. This experiment would have been very distressing to Albert.
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