RESEARCH METHODS THINKING CRITICALLY WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND DESCRIPTION
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Scientific
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About conditioning
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Ethical
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Psychological
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Detailed explanation-1: -This experiment is considered very unethical. The researchers failed to decondition Albert to the stimuli he was afraid of, which should have been done after the experiment. Albert ended up passing away at the age of six due to hydrocephalus, a condition that can lead to brain damage.
Detailed explanation-2: -A white laboratory rat was placed near Albert and he was allowed to play with it. At this point, Watson and Rayner made a loud sound behind Albert’s back by striking a suspended steel bar with a hammer each time the baby touched the rat. Albert responded to the noise by crying and showing fear.
Detailed explanation-3: -No, there were ethical issues in Little Albert experiment. For instance, Watson harmed little Albert by instilling the fear of white rats in him. Such fear did not exist prior to the experiment. Further, Watson did not follow the principle of free consent and did not give participants the right to withdraw.
Detailed explanation-4: -This experiment demonstrated that a little child could be conditioned to fear a stimulus that the child was not previously afraid of, which is also known as a neutral stimulus. This finding was also generalized to include other similar-looking objects or animals.