Learning/Memory

Episode 47: The Little Albert Study: What You Know is…Mostly Wrong

 

What happened to Little Albert? If you think you know a lot about the little Albert experiment conducted by John Watson? Well, guess what – you’d be surprised at how much of the story is simply not true. If you’re wondering whatever happened to little Albert, whether the little Albert study created a lasting phobia in a small boy, or even what place this story has in the history of behaviorism, then I suggest you take a listen to this episode of The Psych Files and get the facts on this fascinating part of psychology’s history.

“Little Albert”‘s real identity has been identified! Go to episode 223 to learn more about who  Little Albert really was.

Notes Regarding Little Albert’s “Phobia”

    • When Albert was conditioned again to the rat, 10 days after the initial trials, Albert…

      ..fell over to the left side, got up on all fours and started to crawl away. On this occasion there was no crying but strange to say, as he started away he began to gurgle and coo, even while leaning far over to the left side to avoid the rat…

      – in addition, on this same day he was again conditioned to fear the rabbit, albert’s response was reported as,

      …fear reaction slight. Turned to the left and kept face away from the animal but the reaction was never pronounced.

    • 31 days after being shown the rat, Watson reports that when in the same room as the rat “He allowed the rat to crawl towards him without withdrawing”

    • On the final day of testing when albert was exposed to the rabbit to which he had been conditioned to fear, he did not avoid the rabbit at all. Watson (1920) reports:

      ..after about a minute he [Albert] reached out tentatively and …touched the rabbit’s ear with his right hand…

Objects Albert was supposedly afraid of, but for which there is no evidence:

  • Cats
  • Fur muffs
  • White furry gloves
  • Albert’s aunt (who wore fur)
  • Albert’s mother’s fur coat
  • A teddy bear

Most overlooked facts:

  • The study is not an experiment (an experiment requires at least two levels of an independent variable). It is a pilot study at best.
  • The study had only one subject.
  • The study has never been replicated.

Resources for This Episode on Little Albert

  • Harris, B. (1979). Whatever Happened to Little Albert? American Psychologist, 34 (2), 151-160. Click here to download the article to your desktop.

  • Samuelson , F. (1980). J.B. Watson’s Little Albert, Cyril Burt’s Twins, and the Need for a Critical Science. American Psychologist, 35 (7).

  • Watson, J.B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned Emotional Reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14. This article is available online at Christopher Green’s excellent Psych Classics site.

  • Watson’s video of the little albert study is available on YouTube in several versions. Here’s one.

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Michael

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55 Comments

  1. Avatar

    jill

    February 19, 2008

    what solutions do you think to prevent this little albert issues?

  2. Avatar

    Janet

    February 19, 2008

    Hi,
    Why did the APA give Watson an award in 1957. Did they not recognize how unethical and skewed his work was with the Albert study?

    Thanks, Janet

  3. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Well, according to behavioral theory, you’d have to present Albert with the white objects but not strike a bar or make any annoying noises behind him. Do this repeatedly and then white things will return to being normal stimuli. Pavlov called it simply “extinction”.

  4. Avatar

    Destiny

    February 19, 2008

    How would you treat or “cure” baby Albert if you had the chance?

  5. Avatar

    Ben Harris

    February 19, 2008

    I’m afraid that your bibliography confuses Franz Samelson with someone named Samuelson (the economist?).

  6. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Yes, Albert/Douglas’s life is kind of a sad story.

  7. Avatar

    Rishad DeSouza

    February 19, 2008

    Heard the unfortunate baby was sickly and died at the age of 6 to hydrocephalus! 🙁

  8. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Kye: yes indeed, we believe that “Albert”‘s real name has been identified. I covered this in episode 114: https://thepsychfiles.com/2010/01/episode-114-video-finding-little-albert/

  9. Avatar

    Kye Zimmerman

    February 19, 2008

    Michael,
    I believe that Roger is correct. According to http://www.apa.org, Little Albert, real name Douglas Merritte, died at age 6 from hydrocephalus. Thanks again for the interesting lectures.

  10. Avatar

    Jim

    February 19, 2008

    Did John Watson believe that fear could ONLY be displayed as an “Unconditioned Response” after an “Unconditioned Stimulus” of a loud noise?

    Or in other words, all other fear reactions were learned?

  11. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Vee: I don’t know if I would use “terrified” to describe “Albert”‘s reaction, that’s sounds too strong. Perhaps “upset” or “scared” would be a better description of his emotional reaction.

  12. Avatar

    Vee

    February 19, 2008

    this article is confusing me. all of the others say he was terrified but i found three that said he wasnt. how do you know which one is true?

  13. Avatar

    Tiffany

    February 19, 2008

    According to an American Psychologist report, “Little Albert” whose real name was Douglass Merrite, “died at the age of six on May 10, 1925 of hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in his brain”.

    Source: Beck, H. P., Levinson, S., & Irons, G. (2009). Finding little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson’s infant laboratory. American Psychologist, Vol 64(7), 605-614.

  14. Avatar

    Michelle Allen

    February 19, 2008

    Michael,

    This is my first year of psychology as well and I have to tell you , after looking at a few of your episodes regarding personality and this one about baby Albert, I am really impressed. This had helped me A lot especially with your episode on Dr Buss and Evolutionary Psychology!
    THANK YOU!!!!

  15. Avatar

    Dr. Boa Janglies

    February 19, 2008

    Wow, this experiment blew my mind, who knew mapquest was available in 1919. And i love how you just stole their trunk and took their photo and then stalked him down. It was all very interesting. Thank you for your creepy experiment.

  16. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    You’re right Paul. His mother removed Albert from the laboratory before the planned extinction of the fear could take place.

  17. Avatar

    Paul Brandon

    February 19, 2008

    I seem to recall reading that Watson had in fact planned to desensitize (in today’s terms) little Albert, but the child was withdrawn from the study before Watson was able to do so.

  18. Avatar

    blackdog

    February 19, 2008

    According to Watson’ paper, he described that:

    5. The rat. He allowed the rat to crawl towards him without withdrawing. He sat very still and fixated it intently. Rat then touched his hand. Albert withdrew it immediately, then leaned back as far as possible but did not cry. When the rat was placed on his arm he withdrew his body and began to fret, nodding his head. The rat was then allowed to crawl against his chest. He first began to fret and then covered his eyes with both hands

    I think Albert was still feared by the rat after 31 days.

    Micheal wrote:

    31 days after being shown the rat, Watson reports that when in the same room as the rat “He allowed the rat to crawl towards him without withdrawing”

    Readers may be misunderstood, that Albert didn’t fear the rat completely, by his fragmented quote.

  19. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    I believe that the disease that Albert died from (hydrocephalus) was something he was born with. It’s not something that could have been caused by Watson’s study.

    From Wikipedia, “Pediatric hydrocephalus affects one in every 500 live births, making it one of the most common developmental disabilities, more common than Down syndrome or deafness It is the leading cause of brain surgery for children in the United States. There are over 180 different causes of the condition, one of the most common acquired etiologies being brain hemorrhage associated with premature birth. Pediatric hydrocephalus may also be a heritable condition, and mainly affects males.”

  20. Avatar

    Les

    February 19, 2008

    wow I can not believe this, I went on the web site that says that little albert died at age of 6 and it says that he died for having fluid on his brain, I personally think that the experiment might’ve cause that. It makes me sick that anyone would ever do that to a baby.

  21. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    H: yup. Great article on the Finding of Little Albert. I went over some of the details in this video episode: https://thepsychfiles.com/2010/01/episode-114-video-finding-little-albert/

  22. Avatar

    H

    February 19, 2008

    According to :
    http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/little-albert-experiment.htm

    Little Albert died at the age of 7.
    Beck, H. P., Levinson, S., & Irons, G. (2009). Finding little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson’s infant laboratory. American Psychologist, Vol 64(7), 605-614

  23. Avatar

    abongile jaca

    February 19, 2008

    nchooo am sure litlle albert would have appriciated that song it’s so sweet:)

  24. Avatar

    N.H

    February 19, 2008

    Just what I was looking for Michael,
    my Prof just gave us the Little Albert topic.
    Thanks!

  25. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Thanks so much Sarah!

  26. Avatar

    sarah

    February 19, 2008

    i just love listening to you! your so interesting in the topics you chose!!! 🙂

  27. Avatar

    emily

    February 19, 2008

    For anyone interested, this is what really happened to Little Albert:

    ‘The question of what happened to Little Albert has long been one of psychology’s mysteries. Watson and Raynor were unable to attempt to eliminate the boy’s conditioned fear because he moved with his mother shortly after the experiment ended. Some envisioned the boy growing into a man with a strange phobia of white, furry objects.
    Recently, however, the true identity and fate of the boy known as Little Albert was discovered. As reported in American Psychologist, a seven-year search led by psychologist Hall P. Beck led to the discovery. After tracking down the location of the original experiments and the real identity of the boy’s mother, it was discovered that Little Albert was actually a boy named Douglas Merritte.
    The story does not have a happy ending, however. Douglas died at the age of six on May 10, 1925 of hydrocephalus, a build up of fluid in his brain. “Our search of seven years was longer than the little boy’s life,” Beck wrote of the discovery.’

    I found this information in one of my psychology text books.

  28. Avatar

    shannon hopewell

    February 19, 2008

    I also heard that he died at a young age can you verify this from the previous post by the website http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/64/7/605/. Did you find anything other than what this site states? I am very interested as I used to feel Watson was completely immoral but now view him as an ethical scientist, although I still debate motive for the experiment. Thanks Shannon

  29. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    I hope the textbooks will get updated on the true story of Albert soon. There’s the information I report in this episode as well as episode 114 in which i talk about how they’ve identified “Albert’s” real identity.

  30. Avatar

    Gianna

    February 19, 2008

    Thank you for this. You were right about the textbook problem. They spend a lot of time on how to make a good experiment and then they talk about the Little Albert EXPERIMENT.

    In my textbook they said this:
    “Little Albert’s newfound fear did not stop with the innocent rat. It spread, or generalized to objects similar in appearance to the rat, such as a rabbit or a fur coat. Because of his experiences with the rat and steel bars, Albert learned to fear other objects that were white and furry.” …… “Somewhere out there may be an older man who cringes at the sight of not only rats but also of little girls wearing fluffy sweaters, of small dogs, or maybe even of Santa Claus’s beard.”

    I think they need to get their info straight. Even in my own research, (I am doing a paper on Watson) I have found inaccuracies in my textbook.

  31. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Roger,

    Thanks for the link. I remember hearing about this article but never got around to downloading it from our library to read. I just got a copy and will give it a look. Looks really interesting.

  32. Avatar

    Roger Willoughby

    February 19, 2008

    There is an interesting article by Hall Beck et al on little Albert and his subsequent fate (he died aged six from hydrocephalus) in the October 2009 issue of the American Psychologist: see http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/64/7/605/

  33. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Thanks Sandra:) – Michael

  34. Avatar

    sandrar

    February 19, 2008

    Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.

  35. Avatar

    Junepeg

    February 19, 2008

    Even though the study might not affected the boy, it’s was a bad idea to use a child in this experiment.

  36. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    No problem Latoya. If this is your first year of studying psychology then you’ve got a lot of interesting reading/listening ahead of you! Enjoy.

  37. Avatar

    Latoya Luckett

    February 19, 2008

    This is my first year studying Psychology, so this is very exciting to me to be learning something that i’m studying. I didnt expect little Albert to be 89 yrs. old. Thank you for your experiment or as you say a pilot study.

  38. Avatar

    Dr. Artour Rakhimov

    February 19, 2008

    Article about Watson’s Little Albert study:
    Why Watson’s Little Albert became the most distorted study in the history of psychology
    http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Watsons-Little-Albert-Became-the-Most-Distorted-Study-in-the-History-of-Psychology&id=2408501

  39. Avatar

    Jen

    February 19, 2008

    Hi Michael,

    Great show! This is my first year studying Psychology and I find the contents are very interesting and relevant. However, I have difficulties remembering the terms/definitions for my examination that comprise of about 7 modules/chapters. While preparing for my exam, I chance upon this question.

    Mary is trying to encourage ABC school to Go Green. She feels that the solution would be to encourage more staff and students to recycle more. Using the principles of Operant Conditioning, describe the type of operant conditioning Mary can use and explain how Mary can encourage ABC to recycle.

    This is my answer but I am not sure if am on the right track. Could you assist me please?

    Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences.
    The type of operant conditioning Mary can use would be positive and negative reinforcement.
    Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour, in this case encouraging ABC’s staff and students to recycle more, as it is followed by the presentation a rewarding stimulus.
    The rewarding stimulus could be sweets or praises given out in a variable interval to people who recycle. Moreover, she can also hold a inter-class recycling competition which awards the class that recycle the most with prizes and gifts.
    Next, negative reinforcement strengthens a behaviour, in this case encouraging ABC’s staff and students to recycle move, as it is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus.
    The aversive or unpleasant stimulus could be less work in the form of homework or marking for students and staff who recycle.

    Thank you.
    Best wishes,
    Jen

  40. Avatar

    Papa_Flint

    February 19, 2008

    Have you seen Prince Albert in a can?
    Then let him out! Sorry, couldn’t resist.
    I heard they do this therapy to Guantanamo detainees so they are averse to (terribalism).

  41. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Well, even though it doesn’t look like Albert suffered any long term consequences from the study, Watson should still have taken some time to make sure that Albert was “deconditioned” (by pairing white rats with perhaps a soothing sound).

  42. Avatar

    rossie

    February 19, 2008

    The Little Albert Study: What You Know is…Mostly Wrong
    Thank you so much for this. It helped me a lot in psychology class, but i have a question :
    Cna you explain a little bit how Watson study violates ethical guidelines?.

  43. Avatar

    rossie

    February 19, 2008

    yes!!! we want to know

  44. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Charles: Interesting. What’s your source for this?

  45. Avatar

    Charles

    February 19, 2008

    Little Albert is 89 years old and lives in Nebraska …

  46. Avatar

    Michael

    February 19, 2008

    Ashley,

    Thanks for leaving the comment about the show. Glad this episode helped! It was a fun one to do.

    Michael

  47. Avatar

    Ashley

    February 19, 2008

    hey Micheal my name is Ashley, im in my last year of psychology in northern ireland. Im actually doing a piece of coursework on little albert and you’ve cleared alot of things up for me thanks for the help!

    Ashley

    P.S love the show 🙂

  48. Avatar

    Michael Britt

    February 19, 2008

    To my knowledge there is no information about what happened to him as an adult.

    Michael

  49. Avatar

    Anonymous

    February 19, 2008

    Does anyone know what happened to little albert after the experiment and as an adult?

  50. Avatar

    kooooo

    February 19, 2008

    Epic.

  51. Avatar

    anita

    February 19, 2008

    ahhaha, well, it just rhymed with decayed lol
    i HOPE he isn’t still afraid of white fluffy things….gah
    that would be horrible..
    thankyou though
    means a lot
    😛

    peace x

  52. Avatar

    Michael Britt

    February 19, 2008

    I do like it. Clearly you gave this some thought. The only thought I had is that you say that “I will always be afraid” and the research shows that “little Albert” was probably not harmed at all by the research and the effects were small and probably not long lasting.

    Otherwise I like the rhyme.

  53. Avatar

    anita

    February 19, 2008

    ping_my_bra@hotmail.com

    do you like it??

  54. Avatar

    anita

    February 19, 2008

    i made a song for him:
    Ethical, ethical, ethical unethical
    Ethical, ethical, ethical unethical

    Little Albert, Little Albert
    Why are you so afraid?
    Little Albert, Little Albert
    You're youth has been decayed
    Little Albert, Little Albert
    Just put on a brave face
    Little Albert, Little Albert
    Stay away from the rat race

    Bang

    White and fluffy
    Cute and cuddly
    BANG
    Just a baby
    But going crazy
    Someone help me
    Get me out of this misery
    Im forsaken
    My security blanket's been taken

    Oh Ah Oh

    Little Albert, Little Albert
    Why are you so afraid?
    Little Albert, Little Albert
    You're youth has been decayed
    Little Albert, Little Albert
    Just put on a brave face
    Little Albert, Little Albert
    Stay away from the rat race

    Crazy, crazy
    Psychologists
    Taking down notes
    Now they're making votes
    When will my mother
    Take me home
    I will always be afraid.

    Repeat twice

    Ethical, ethical, ethical unethical
    I will always be afraid
    Bang

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