What Are The Ethical Implications Of The Little Albert Experiment

As the title suggests, The Little Albert experiment was based on a small nine-month-old baby. In this experiment John B. Watson was trying to find out if conditioning could be done on humans to invoke an emotion. Cherry (2022) states that Watson and his colleague Rayner exposed the baby to a series of stimuli which included: white rats, rabbits, and face masks. Watson would expose a rat to the baby while simultaneously hitting a pipe with a hammer to make a loud noise. Albert would instantly cower with fear and start crying. The main problem with this experiment that should be considered is that a baby was harmed against his will and left with a new fear. This experiment is extremely unethical and goes against many APA principles. The American

However, to make this study meet the APA’s standards it would have to change basically the whole experiment. For starters, Watson’s whole question that he wanted to solve was to find out if conditioning could work on humans. In my opinion, why did he have to choose a negative approach with loud noise to observe the baby’s emotional response. Watson could have started with a positive approach. He could have offered the baby sweets or even his usual snacks to be associated with the rat. This would’ve ended with a positive ending and a happy baby away from harm and trauma. In addition, getting consent from his mother while being informed of the whole truth and the risks that came with the experiment. As little albert was a nine-month-old baby, his mom should have been allowed to know and observe what really was going on in these

According to Mcleod (2023), he emphasizes that Watson did not desensitize Albert to his fear of rats. Therefore, not only was Albert put through about ten days of fear and torture of loud noises, but he was not able to get over the fear. This experiment went against another principle in the APA Code of Conduct. The American Psychological Association (2017) states in their Principle D: Justice section, that psychologist should recognize justice entitled to all people and know their boundaries and limitations. As the leader of this experiment, Watson needed to consider how he was basing his experiment on a baby. Those who aren’t in the science or medical field even know how sensitive babies are. In addition to the baby’s fear of rats, Albert would constantly be hearing loud banging noises. These loud banging noises could have ruptured his eardrum and left him with potential hearing problems. The information gathered does not outweigh all the harm little Albert had to endure during and after the