Individual Perspectives Paper Free Essay Example, 1500 words

In the case of Watson’s experiment, the unconditioned stimulus was the noise resulting from the banging of the iron rod whereas, the neutral stimulus was the white rat. After Watson repeatedly paired the two, Albert cognitively associated the noise made by the iron rod when banged with the white rat. Therefore, the presentation of the white rat alone without the accompanying sound made by the iron rod when banged solicited fearful reactions from Albert (Barker, 1997). Based on his findings, it is evident that associations formed via conditioning result in behavioural change, which is the definition of learning. Watson’s experiment proved useful in advertising campaigns, which he designed while working on a part-time basis for J. Walter Thompson, an advertising agency (Hothersall, 1995). Reiterating Pavlov’s presumptions on extinction and re-emergence of classically conditioned behaviors, Watson explained how fearful responses invoked by a conditioned stimulus c ould become extinct. Failure to pair the unconditioned stimulus with the conditioned stimulus (previously neutral stimulus) resulted in cognitive dissociation in the organism, which triggered the forgetting of the learnt material. However, after repairing the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, the extinct behaviour re-emerges. We will write a custom essay sample on Individual Perspectives Paper or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page