Whatever happened to little Albert?

Harris, Ben

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.34.2.151

Cited by 209 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…For example, see Samelson (1974) on Comte as the supposed first positivist, operationist, and behaviorist, Harris (1979) on Watson and Rayner's (1920) poorly conducted and reported "Little Albert" study, Buck (1990) on Benjamin (1988) on teaching machines, and Verhave (1990) on Watson's actual views regarding thinking-it was not merely subvocal speech.…”

Section: Chaptersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The History of Behavior Analysis: Some Historiography and a Bibliography

et al. 1990

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This article has two main purposes. First, it introduces the discipline of historiography and, second, it provides a selected bibliography on the history of behavior analysis. In introducing the former in the context of the latter, four important methodological considerations involved in the process and product of historiography are described: The sources from which historical materials are drawn (i.e., primary, secondary, and tertiary) and three dimensions along which historiography is conducted and evaluatedinternalist vs. externalist, great person vs. Zeitgeist, and presentist vs. historicist. Integrated throughout are four purposes for the historiography ofbehavior analysis, as well as an overview ofthe topics covered in the extant literature. The manuscript concludes with a listing of current bibliographic material by publication type and topic.

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Section: Chaptersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The History of Behavior Analysis: Some Historiography and a Bibliography

et al. 1990

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“…Two excellent examples in the field of psychology of this lack of accuracy are the use of the "little Albert" story to demonstrate the role of classical conditioning in learning phobias and the use of the "Kitty Genovese" story to demonstrate the lack of bystander intervention. In reviews of the accuracy of textbook information, Harris (1979) found many errors in the secondary accounts of little Albert, as did Manning, Levine, and Collins (2007) with what really happened to Kitty Genovese. For example, Harris found that two texts indicated that little Albert was conditioned to fear a rabbit rather than a rat; many texts incorrectly included such postconditioning stimuli as a teddy bear, a white furry glove, a fur pelt, a cat, and Albert's aunt; and three texts described how Watson removed little Albert's fear of the rat, although no such reconditioning was actually done.…”

Section: The Loss Of Information Across Secondary Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Misconceptions and False Beliefs in Police and Criminal Psychology

Aamodt

2008

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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Although certainly not alone, the field of police and criminal psychology seems to be an area that is highly susceptible to myths and misinformation. Whether it is the notion that police have higher suicide and divorce rates or that crime rates greatly increase during a full moon, there are many commonly held beliefs that are not supported by scientific evidence. This article discusses research conducted by the author and his students over the past several years to investigate the accuracy of some common beliefs in police and criminal psychology. Four principles are proposed that, if considered, might reduce the level of misinformation in police and criminal psychology. These principles include using primary sources, comparing apples with apples, avoiding the oversimplification of what is being studied, and understanding that in general, human judgment is not a good predictor of behavior.

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“…Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) had conditioned a child's fear of a rat (see B. Harris, 1979) and, under Watson's oversight, Mary Cover Jones (1924b) eliminated a child's fear of a rabbit (see also Jones, 1924a;Ollendick & King, 1998). In 1935, Hobart andMolly Mowrer (1938) developed the bell-andpad method for treating nocturnal enuresis (see Houts, 2003).…”

Section: Applications: Scientific Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

B. F. Skinner’s contributions to applied behavior analysis

2005

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Our paper reviews and analyzes B. F. Skinner's contributions to applied behavior analysis in order to assess his role as the field's originator and founder. We found, first, that his contributions fall into five categorizes: the style and content of his science, his interpretations of typical and atypical human behavior, the implications he drew from his science for application, his descriptions of possible applications, and his own applications to nonhuman and human behavior. Second, we found that he explicitly or implicitly addressed all seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis. These contributions and the dimensions notwithstanding, he neither incorporated the field's scientific (e.g., analytic) and social dimensions (e.g., applied) into any program of published research such that he was its originator, nor did he systematically integrate, advance, and promote the dimensions so to have been its founder. As the founder of behavior analysis, however, he was the father of applied behavior analysis.

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Whatever happened to little Albert?

Cited by 209 publications

References 59 publications

The History of Behavior Analysis: Some Historiography and a Bibliography

The History of Behavior Analysis: Some Historiography and a Bibliography

Reducing Misconceptions and False Beliefs in Police and Criminal Psychology

B. F. Skinner’s contributions to applied behavior analysis

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