Learning

Running head : CONDITIONED FEAR RESPONSE

Conditioned Fear Response : How to extinguish it

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John B . Watson and Rosalie Rayner carried one of the most significant psychology studies out in 1920 . The reason it is such a landmark study is because Watson was able to show that emotional responses could be conditioned , or learned . Preceding Watson , Freud and James believed in instinctual systems . Freud thought there were two types of instincts sexual and life- preservation . James , however , claimed there were many more innate instincts

Conversely , Watson stressed

the importance of environmental factors on behavior . Pavlov introduced experiments showing classical conditioning of responses in dog . Pavlov and Watson 's behavioral work lead to B .F Skinner 's operant conditioning experiments ten years later . The implications of this research (Little Albert ) over the years have been outstanding Albert B . was born to a woman who was a wet nurse in the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children . Although raised in the hospital environment Albert developed normally and was very stable . When he was about eight months old , Watson wanted to determine if a loud sound would cause a fear response in the child . He was placed in a room and an experimenter stood behind him and made a loud noise by striking a hammer on a steel bar . The first time this was done , Albert startled and raised his hands up . The second time , he began to tremble , and on the third time he was crying and having a fit...