Watson and Rayner (1`920) conditioned "Little Albert' to fear white rats by banging a hammer on a steel bar as the child played with a white rat. Later, it was discovered that Albert feared not only white rats but white stuffed toys and Santa's beard as well. Albert's fear of these other objects can be attributed to:
Correct answer: B. stimulus generalization
- A. the law effect
- B. stimulus generalization
- C. stimulus discrimination
- D. an overactive imagination
Explanation
Stimulus generalization occurs when a conditioned response spreads from the original stimulus to similar stimuli, such as stuffed white toys and Santa's beard after conditioning to a white rat. Stimulus discrimination would mean responding only to the rat and not to similar objects.
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