Little Albert
You may recall a previous article that I posted to the blog as an April Fool’s Day joke last year. Aside from being a joke, the article was intended to point out the fact that there seem to be countless rumors and myths surrounding the nature of Little Albert’s conditioning. I mentioned in that article that, to the best of my knowledge, no one really knew what exactly had happened to Little Albert. What I didn’t know at the time was that two people had embarked on a journey nearly seven years before that article was written to solve the mystery behind what happened to Little Albert. Roughly six months after my initial post, their findings were made public in an article entitled, “Finding Little Albert,” published in the October 2009 issue of the American Psychologist.
Hall P. Beck and Sharman Levinson examined every ounce of evidence they could find that might form a trail leading to the identity of Little Albert. Beck and his students were able to narrow down when Watson and Rayner filmed Albert based on correspondence between Watson and Frank Goodnow, president of Johns Hopkins University, concerning the purchase of the film roll used in filming the study. Beck and his students knew that Albert was assessed for a baseline at 8 months, 26 days, so knowing the date the study was filmed allowed them to get an idea of when Little Albert might have been born.
Beck and Levinson were able to find census reports from 1920 that were done for the Harriet Lane Home, where Little Albert’s mother was documented as residing during the time of the study. Using the census data and looking at all possible wet nurses from the Harriet Lane Home during that time frame, they were able to narrow the search down to three women. Of those three women, Arvilla Merrite seemed most likely to be Little Albert’s mother, since she had a child born March 9th, 1919 (8 months and 26 days before December 5th, 1919), and since she was the only one of the three mothers to be both Caucasian and to have record of having a child while serving as a wet nurse at Johns Hopkins. Arvilla Merrite’s son was named Douglas Merritte. Albert B. was most likely a pseudonym given to Douglas for the study.
The article is a very interesting, and I would highly recommend if you haven’t already that you check it out. If you’re a college student, or have access to EBSCOhost, you can do a search for “Finding Little Albert” which will give you access to the full text article. The article goes into much more depth than I did here to discuss how they came to the conclusion that Albert B. was most likely Douglas Merritte.
So now that we know who Little Albert really was, whatever became of him? Sadly, Douglas Merritte passed away at the young age of 6 from hydrocephalus. There are no records to indicate whether or not the conditioning of his fears were generalized to all things white, or all things furry, and no mention of whether or not the conditioning remained with him until the end of his life. A picture of his grave can be found at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=22681621&PIpi=8256255
If Douglas were still alive, today would have been his 91st birthday. Happy birthday Douglas. We’ll miss you.
A special thanks to comments on the previous blog entry pointing to the article published in the American Psychologist.
An Exploration of Humanity Part 2
We began this inquiry of culture yesterday with the question of whether or not society today has put their racial and cultural differences aside and made a great leap forward in terms of cultural awareness and understanding. We’ve already seen that while our chosen field is very self-aware when it comes to issues of culture, we still have much to learn and much to do.
I suggested previously that society may be supressing or sublimating the issues inherent in cultural difference. I based that idea on my own personal encounters with others of different races, religions, and cultures than my own. My wife and I come from very different cultural reference groups. I come from a lower-middle class Caucasian American family, and am myself Caucasian. My wife comes from a lower-middle class Chinese family, and is herself Asian, or more specifically, Han Chinese. Studies have seperated culture into two main types: individualistic cultures, and collectivist cultures. Individualistic cultures tend to represent the “Western” perspective, while Collectivistic cultures tend to make up the “Eastern” perspective. So for me and my family, we could literally say that our pairing is “East meets West.”
Let me give you an example that we’ve shared in our lives of the difference between our cultures. My wife worked before at a King Buffet as a waitress. While we were dating, I learned that the tip that I would leave on the table did not go directly to her. All the tips that the waitresses received were collected into a “Tip Jar” and then divided evenly at the end of the month. As someone from an individualistic culture, this was very shocking to me. I was always raised to believe that tips were related to a waitress or waiter’s ability to serve you. Leaving a substantial tip on the table was an indication of how well they did. Their sharing of the tip though was a prime example of the value of a collectivist culture, a valuing of the group over the individual. What is interesting though is that my wife had an opportunity to work as a waitress at a restaurant where they did things differently. At this other Chinese restaurant, the tips were not shared, since the other waitresses were all natural born Americans. During this time, my wife came to appreciate the fact that she could make more or less money based on how hard she worked! Later she found it impossible to go back to the old way of sharing her earnings with other members of the group. This isn’t to say that she had converted from collectivism to individualism. In this particular case though, her cultural value system was refined and adjusted to handle the situation at hand. Her reasoning behind not wanting to go back to the old system was that she would be able to make more money the “indivdualistic” way, and therefore be better able to support her family. So in the end, the collectivistic idea of valuing the group reminded, even if which group that was had changed.
I’ll continue with Part 3 of the Exploration of Humanity next week. Check back in then to learn how these ideas fit together, and why it is I consider this an exploration of humanity rather than an exploration of culture!
An Exploration of Humanity Part 1
It’s far more common today to see people of different races and different cultures, but just how culturally in tune are we? Many people would like to think that the time when a person was treated differently based on their race or ethnicity is long gone. Have we truly moved forward, or are we as a society employing the classical defense mechanisms of suppression and sublimation?
Since my very first years of undergraduate study, I’ve found the idea of cross-cultureal psychology very fascinating. What intrigues me most is the tendency of reports to indicate that many of our counseling methods are less effective when used with those of other cultures, particularly those from the major collectivist cultures of Asia. I’m reminded of the cultural awareness activity that many mental health organizations employ entitled “If the World Were a Village of 100 People.” As it breaks it down there are “60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific.” ( see http://www.familycare.org/news/if_the_world.htm for the rest of the breakdowns).
What does that say for our methods and techniques, if so many of them are tailored to western culture? What would the world be like if this were the case for the entire field of medicine? What if the physicians and surgeons of the world were only able to help that 12-17percent of the world that is Caucasian? Many people who have suffered a mental illness would tell you that a difficulty in the mind can be just as painful, if not more so, than a difficulty with the body. Psychiatrists and Psychotherapists have helped a great many people, but still yet, there is litterally a world full of people out there in need of help. Even though it may seem at times all the “thinks” have been “thunk” when it comes to ideas for helping better society, there’s still a lot of ground to cover and a vast ocean to cross before we get there.
This idea that our discipline still has much to develop when it comes to cultural differences is just the beginning of our exploration of humanity. Look for Part 2 of this exploration of culture on Friday, when I’ll start to discuss the aforementioned idea that we may or may not be as culturally aware as we think we are. Feel free to comment here on the page, or e-mail a personal story of your own that you would like me to share with others on the blog!
Little Albert: 1920-2009
The psychology community today mourned the passing of a giant in the field. Albert B., affectionately known throughout the psychology community as “Little Albert” passed away yesterday at the age of 89. The Los Angeles county coroner’s office has listed his cause of death as myocardial infarction.
Reporters spoke with Dr. Hammill at St. Sebastian’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California about Little Albert’s last days. “He had been coming to see me the last few weeks for chest pains.” Dr. Hammill explained. “Albert had become a recluse and had only recently, due to his ailing condition, found the courage to get out to see a doctor. We originally thought his chest pains were due to his anxiety, but Albert refused to see a psychologist or any other mental health professional.”
A friend of Little Albert’s had went to check on him just this morning. “I usually drop by to see how he’s doing and take him a few things since he never gets out.” his friend explained. His friend went on to tell how he had found Little Albert lying there on the kitchen floor with an aspirin bottle by his side, cotton ball still in place.
“It was only after his death,” Dr. Hammill explained, “that we learned who Albert really was. Had I known who he was and his history when he first came to see me, I would have been more careful.” When asked about what caused Little Albert’s death, Dr. Hammill had a firm response. “It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes, or Dr. Watson for that matter, to see what happened here. He opened the bottle of aspirin, saw the cotton ball, and had a heart attack. He was literally scared to death. It’s baffling really. This is the first time we’ve ever had anything like this happen. This is the first time I can think of where prescribing aspirin actually served to exacerbate the patient’s condition.”
The psychology community had long wondered what had became of their beloved teacher of behaviorism. In the brief time he was with us, he answered so many questions and yet left us with so many more. Little Alberts soon grow into Big Alberts, and Big Alberts into Old Alberts and before we know it they’re gone. You taught us much about our lives and our behavior, Albert. We pray that wherever you go now, it’s a better place than this. A place devoid of white rats, fuzzy bunnies, cotton balls, and old men that get their kicks from scaring babies. We’ll miss you.
And as the saying goes, “If you bought that, I’d love to sell you a bridge in New York.”
This was, if you haven’t guessed by now, an April Fool’s joke. This in no way reflects the real life Little Albert and is purely a work of fiction. To the best of my knowledge, no one knows what became of Little Albert after the experiments were over. It’s quite possible that he overcame his fears later in life and became a well-adjusted individual. It’s also possible that he was incarcerated for shooting an obnoxiously loud man in white fur coat.
If you’d like to read a bit more about Little Albert, there are two resources to check out. First is where I got the picture from, http://www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/fear_not.html. This article talks about steps that are being taken to help uncondition those fear responses that Little Albert developed (a step that Watson himself had planned to do had Little Albert not been removed before the completion of the study). Also, there is a very interesting paper prepared by Ben Harris from Vasser College entitled, “Whatever happened to Little Albert?” that can be found here: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/documents/harris_-1979.pdf The paper debunks some of the myths that have began to develop over the years about Watson’s study and the effects it had on Little Albert.
Springtime at last!
Much like the trees outside, the blog has seen plenty of new growth in the past week. We’re seeing regular posts by a couple of our favorite teachers, Professor Hammersley and Dr. Keefe, and there are more new faces on the way! We have two students from the department, one from the undergraduate program and one from the graduate program, that will be added as authors to the blog in the coming days. They both have some fantastic ideas to discuss, and I can’t wait for you all to hear them!
We’re also working to change the theme to make it a little more vibrant and user friendly. Our plan is to make the different posts easier to see at a glance, add some pictures, a little color, and more information about Union College, its programs, and the fine women and men that work there. The deliberation on the new theme is still under way, so if you have any thoughts on the matter feel free to post them in the comments section or send me an e-mail.
Lot’s of great stuff going on here, so keeping checking back regularly!
Halfway there
Ah, the dreaded mid-terms! I trust you all fared well and survived with passing grades and new found vigor to see yourselves through to the end of the semester. If you didn’t do as well as you hoped, now’s the perfect time to place your nose to ther proverbial grindstone and bring it up! If you’re struggling in class there are a multitude of options at your disposal. Seek out a classmate, talk to your advisor, see someone in the counseling center, or post a cry for help in the comments section here! Whatever you do though, don’t lose hope.
As a quick message to all the procrastinators out there, now is also the time to get started on those term papers! Don’t know where to start? Setting up your tital page, your formatting and your references is a great place to start. You may even start on your abstract or introduction, just to give yourself some direction. Who knows? You may enjoy it so much you forego all else until it’s finished! Despite the popular belief amongst the masses, I’m fairly certain that finishing your paper early will not bring about the cataclysmic doom of mankind. In the event it does though, you can proudly say “I told you so!” and I will sullenly hang my head in shame.
Before I go, here’s a little humor to help you relax. The following was found at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychology website, and you’re sure to find plenty more bits of Psychology humor on their site at http://www.psych.upenn.edu/humor.html#ring. Enjoy!
The following list of phrases and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science (including psychology) and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone reading a PhD dissertation or academic paper.
“IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN”… I didn’t look up the original reference.
“A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT”… These data are practically meaningless.
“WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS”… An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.
“THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY”… The other results didn’t make any sense.
“TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN”… This is the prettiest graph.
“THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT”… I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.
“IN MY EXPERIENCE”… Once
“IN CASE AFTER CASE”… Twice
“IN A SERIES OF CASES”… Thrice
“IT IS BELIEVED THAT”… I think.
“IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT”… A couple of others think so, too.
“IT MIGHT BE ARGUED THAT” … I have such a good answer for this objection that I now raise it. [Thanks to Brendan Keefe.]
“CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE”… Wrong.
“ACCORD1NG TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS”… Rumour has it.
“A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS”… A wild guess.
“A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA”… Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.
“IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS”… I don’t understand it
“AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES”… They don’t understand it either.
“THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOGGS FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS”… Mr. Bloggs did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.
“A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY”… A totally useless topic selected by my committee.
“IN AN IMPORTANT PAPER BY SMITH AND JONES, …” This obscure paper by Smith and Jones agrees supports my theory.
“IT IS HOPED THAT THIS WILL STIMULATE FURTHER WORK IN THIS FIELD” … This paper isn’t very good, but neither are any others on this miserable subject. [Thanks to Brendan Keefe.]
“IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER 1NVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD”… I quit.
The Cost of War
So many things changing, so many things staying the same. One thing that’s changed since Obama has entered office is the way that the war in Iraq is being handled. Browsing MSN today, I happened across this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29410258?GT1=43001#storyContinued
I wasn’t aware of the ban in 1991 on photographing our fallen soldiers as they returned home. I found the image of the flag covered coffins and the men tending to them to be deeply moving. As I looked through those images, and read through the article, I couldn’t help but feel that allowing the decision for our deceased’s homecoming to be photographed being left up to their families was a very good thing.
Another thing that’s come from Obama’s presidency, and a thing I think we could label as a good thing, is the ban on torture. Following is another article from MSN, Obama’s declaration that the U.S. will no longer torture prisoners of war:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28574408/ .
I believe that the APA would be in agreeance with Obama when he said, “We must adhere to our values as diligently as we protect our safety with no exceptions.” If you’re unfamiliar with their stance on torture, you can find it here:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/04/torture.html
It’s not uncommon for a new president to be met with some opposition, but being ever the optomist, I prefer to keep in consideration the good things that have come from the situation. This is in no way an intention to sway your political beliefs, or an attempt to give you a glimpse into my own thoughts on politics. This isn’t about whether you’re a republican or a democrat, a liberal or a conservative. This is about putting all that aside for a moment and focusing on some of the positives that are happening in our world today. Perhaps it’s just the particular environment I find myself in day to day, but it seems that environment is focused on all the negative aspects of our country and our economy. In light of that, I felt that it was important to mention a few of the positives I’ve found. Looking at the pictures of all those men, symbols of freedom lying under our symbol of freedom, I forgot all about the cost of the stimulus bill and was reminded of the cost of war.
Make yourself heard!
Just a friendly announcement to let you know that we’re still looking for contributors to the blog, and looking for more people to send feedback with what they like, dislike, and what they want to read about here. Until we get more bloggers, you can plan to see at least one fresh new post every Thursday by yours truly. Keep an eye out for a post from your favorite professor (or professors!) coming within the next few weeks!
Don’t be afraid to make yourself heard, click the comment section and say hello! If you don’t feel like setting up a new account, don’t worry about it–you should be able to say hello without being a user. All you have to do is fill out the name and the e-mail section and you’re good to go!
A vignette on Letterman?
Lately, I’ve found myself watching the Joaquin Phoenix interview on Letterman over and over again. If you haven’t had the chance to see the clip, check it out here:
There’s been a lot of debate as to what exactly was going on with him during that appearance. There’s been theories that it was all just a hoax, that he was method acting for a new role, that he was on drugs, or that he’s possibly in the middle of a breakdown. As budding psychologists, we should have a little insight into what’s going on, right? My first impression watching the video was that he was having some mental or emotional difficulties, or possibly a drug problem (glasses to hide the tell-tale signs in his eyes perhaps?). It was very uncomfortable listening to the laughter and watching as Dave tried to prod answers out of him. After reading some of the comments others have made on the video, and watching it again, I really can’t say I know for sure what’s going on. I do think though that, as someone deeply interested in Psychology, this is a fascinating video. This would make an excellent vignette for a counseling class. What do you think? Is it just a big joke, or is he in role for another movie he’s working on? Could it simply be a drug problem, or is it something deeper than that? If you haven’t already done so, sign up for an account and post your thoughts. I’m eager to hear what others think about this. I will say though that if it is a mental health issue, I hope the best for him.
Here it is!
No doubt you’ve spent countless hours waiting in anticipation of this very moment. You spoke of this day in hushed whispers, plotting and planning with your friends and loved ones. You braved the bitter cold to camp for what seemed like days in front of the ticket booths. You persevered as each awkward glance from the guy dressed as Princess Leia stole away a little piece of your soul. Wait…maybe I’m thinking of something else… At any rate, here it is! The inaugural post for the Union College Psychology Department’s official blog!
While it may not be as memorable as that special day you spent in line waiting to watch the newest Star Wars film, this is nevertheless an important day for faculty and students alike. We finally have a place where we can come together for casual conversation, discussions on current events, and information about the goings-on of the Psychology department and the field of Psychology in general. As you may have already inferred from the mendacious yarn above, this isn’t simply another informational source that requires checking in order to keep up to speed on the happenings around campus. This is also a place to relax and take things just a little less seriously. Think of this blog as the recess of college—except without the cooties! Make no mistake though, you can expect to find informational posts, serious discussions about current events, and the latest departmental news here as well.
Feel free to leave a comment and say hello! Those of you out there that aren’t psychology majors, or don’t even have the first clue about where Union College or Barbourville, Kentucky is–you’re welcome to comment too! All we ask is that you keep your comments clean and respectful. Aside from that, comment however you like. If there’s a topic you’d like to hear us blog about, or if you have any relevant campus news or happenings you’d like plugged, send an e-mail my way. I’ll see what I can do. Send it to dorian.asher@unionky.edu with BLOG in all caps in the subject line, so I’ll know what you’re talking about. If you have any suggestions for the blog, comment away! Don’t forget to check back in with us on a regular basis to see what’s new!
