Classic Conditioning

* Read Chapter 3, "Classical Conditioning, " pages 50–86 in your Terry text.

Examine the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct in the resources. In part, this code of ethics is a response to activities performed in the past. Consider the APA code of ethics as you complete the following discussion.

What can classical conditioning theory teach us about both developing and alleviating fears and phobias? Using the Internet, research John B. Watson and Rosalyn Rayner with Little Albert. Which ethical standards did Watson and Rayner violate? Does the ends justify the means? Explain your answer.

Classical conditioning is a reaction learned through the pairing of stimuli; it simply transfers a response from one stimulus to another (Terry, 2009). The development of fears and phobias often occur in the same way. A person is subjected to a certain stimulus, usually traumatic or unpleasant, and pairs it with another stimulus present. The person then forms a negative response to the pairing. An example of a fear developed through classical conditioning is that of a child being placed in a bathtub that has their hair washed by an adult, which they dislike. The next time it is time to take a bath, the child cries, as they associate the bathtub with the unpleasant hair washing and rush of water in their eyes. Classical conditioning provides a way to treat fears and phobias as well by reconditioning the feared stimulus to that of a positive stimulus for the individual. In the bathtub case, we could introduce toys that the child associates the tub with instead of the hair washing so they are not always afraid of and associate the tub with the possibility of getting water in their eyes.

John B. Watson and Rosalyn Rayner conducted a study in 1920 that sought to find whether or not phobias could be learned through classical conditioning (Beck, Levinson, Irons, 2009). They assigned baby Albert as the participant of the experiment, and began to subject...