Pavlov discovered that dogs drool when they anticipate food. If dogs could be taught to anticipate food at the sound of a bell, could they also be made to drool upon hearing the bell? Yes. This is classical conditioning.
Could the same be done with humans?
In 1920, psychologist John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner of Johns Hopkins University hoped to find the answer. Their test subject was an eleven-month-old baby boy named Albert. Albert was allowed to play with a white pet rat, which at first he very much enjoyed. But then, whenever he actually touched the rat, Watson and Rayner began smacking a steel bar that was hung behind his crib, making a terrific noise and terrifying the hell out of poor little Albert. Eventually Albert learned to associate the rat with fear.
The good doctors insist they planned to desensitize Albert at the end of the study. But unfortunately, Albert left the study a month early. Nothing is known of Albert’s later life.
This may be why psychology PhD students are now commonly required to have ethics committees evaluate dissertation proposals.
iDread
Peladophobia: fear of bald people.
The mind is like a parachute—it works only when it is open.
—Frank Zappa
I try to catch them right on the tip of his nose, because I try to punch the bone into the brain.
—Mike Tyson
iDread
Musophobia: fear of mice and rats.
