Evaluation of Little Albert

The study was carefully documented; witnesses helped to record the data and there were strict controls. Albert’s reactions were recorded carefully, the setting(s) were controlled and only one variable was changed at a time. If it could have been repeated ethically, it would have been replicable and could, therefore, have been tested for reliability.

Another application is for your own habits and reactions. If you have a fear or an irrational dislike, it may be because of conditioning at an early age, when the object of your fear or dislike was once a Neutral Stimulus. If so, it can become a Neutral Stimulus again if you want it to: if our emotional reactions are learned, then they can be un-learned and we don’t have to put up with them.

The study may not be valid. The setting and tasks were artificial. It could be argued that a noise from a hammer and steel bar could represent a real-life noise and that playing with white fur and animals is natural. However, the setting was not natural, and Albert was in a laboratory situation, which may have made him initially fearful. Therefore…