This is Why We Have IRBs

A colleague at another university posted this story today, about a young boy used in a psychological experiment in the 1920s:


Many of us (criminologists) have taken psychology courses, so you may be aware of the story of Little Albert, who was conditioned to fear a white rat. The researcher--John Watson--associated a loud "clang" with the rat so that the child learned to fear the rat. He also learned to fear anything generally "fuzzy" or rat-like.

Now, 90 years later, new information has come to light about the plight of Little Albert. According to two researchers looking into this case, he was not the "normal" child presented by the researcher. Rather, he had a neurological condition that likely exaggerated his response to the stimulus (the rat). It is highly likely the researcher knew this.

There are also serious concerns about the mother's role in the experiment. Specifically:

But there may have been less humanitarian reasons for choosing Merritte ["Little Albert"]. The authors write about the baby’s mother, Arvilla, who was a wet nurse at the hospital. Because wet nurses were of low social status, and because she worked for the institution itself, she may have felt unable to turn down a request for her baby to be used in Watson’s experiment. “Voluntary consent, as we understand the term today, was not possible to give or to withhold,” they write. Presumably, most parents, if given a choice, would not allow their babies to participate in an experiment in which researchers terrify them. But Arvilla found herself in a bind. She was dependent on her employer both for her job and for the medical care of her sick baby.

And THIS is why we have informed consent and follow IRB regulations.


Additional Sources for Instructors:

Beck, H.P., Levinson, S. & Irons, G. (2009). Finding Little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson's infant laboratory. American Psychologist, 64, 605-614.

Fridlund, A.J., Beck, H.P., Goldie, W.D. & Irons, G. (2012). Little Albert: A neurologically impaired child. History of Psychology (online 1/23/12).