Little Albert Experiment Results

It is hard to generalize the findings from the Little Albert experiment to other children for a variety of reasons. The main reason that stands out is the fact that there was no random sample. Watson, only used Albert in the study which did not allow for a great variation. Watson should have had two groups of children; one group being exposed to the noise and the other group not being exposed. The other issue that plays a part in this experiment was that Watson knew of Albert’s health condition. It’s hard to say whether, Albert responded in the way he did because of the conditioning or because of his brain. Problems within the experiment will lead to a false outcome. We have no means of knowing for certain whether the experiment conducted shows
an accurate representation of classical conditioning. The Little Albert study could be redesigned but steps would have to be taken to ensure an accurate outcome. As mentioned earlier, there should be a testable hypothesis, random sampling, and two different groups. Correctly following the steps for a true experiment can therefore, increase its generalizability.