LITTLE ALBERT: A Neurologically Impaired Child

Evidence collected by Beck, Levinson, and Irons (2009) indicates that Albert B., the “lost” infant subject of John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner’s (1920) famous condi tioning study, was Douglas Merritte (1919 –1925). Following the finding that Merritte died early with hydrocephalus, questions arose as to whether Douglas’s condition was congenital, rather than acquired in 1922, as cited on his death certificate. This etiology would imply that “Little Albert” was not the “healthy” and “normal” infant described by Watson and numerous secondary sources. Detailed analyses of Watson’s (1923) film footage of Albert suggested substantial behavioral and neurological deficits. The anomalies we observed on film of Albert B. are insufficiently explained by his hospital upbringing but are consistent with findings from newly discovered medical records of Douglas Merritte. These documents revealed that the infant suffered from congenital obstructive hydrocephalus, iatrogenic streptococcal meningitis/ventriculitis, and retinal and optic nerve atrophy. The medical history also indicates that Albert’s sessions with Watson occurred during periods when Douglas’s clinical course was relatively stable. Further inquiries found ample sources of information available to Watson that would have made him aware of Douglas/Albert’s medical condition at the times he tested the baby. Experimental ethics, Watson’s legacy, and the Albert study are discussed in light of these new findings

Development and Validation of Scores on a Measure of Six Academic Orientations in College Students

This article describes the development and score validation of a 36-item measure of six academic orientations in college students: structure dependence, creative expression, reading for pleasure, academic efficacy, academic apathy, and mistrust of instructors. Results from three studies indicate that the measuring instrument, the Survey of Academic Orientations (SAO), has six factorially distinct scales (Study 1) whose scores are stable across different semesters, yielding test-retest coefficients that range from .63 to .86 (Study 2). Also, each of the six scales relates in expected ways to basic personality traits, yielding validity coefficients of .30 to .69 (Study 3). Scores on the six scales are internally consistent, yielding coefficients alpha that range from .59 to .85 (Studies 1-3). Scale scores and a summative score of all 36 items, called the Adaptiveness index, are examined for their potential in predicting a variety of important student outcomes

The Relations of Learning and Grade Orientations to Academic Performance

This investigation assessed the roles of learning orientation (LO) and grade orientation (GO) in academic performance. Most important, we found that GO was negatively correlated with grade point average (GPA) and General Psychology test scores. Correlations of LO scores with the academic performance measures were not significant. The poor academic performance of students with high GO scores can be partially attributed to lower Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) scores. Even after the effects of SA T were controlled, GO scores were negatively related to G PA and psychology test scores. These findings demonstrate the need for investigations to determine the effects of grading practices on students with high and low grade orientations

Finding Little Albert: A Journey to John B. Watson’s Infant Laboratory

In 1920, John Watson and Rosalie Rayner claimed to have conditioned a baby boy, Albert, to fear a laboratory rat. In subsequent tests, they reported that the child’s fear generalized to other furry objects. After the last testing session, Albert disappeared, creating one of the greatest mysteries in the history of psychology. This article summarizes the authors’ efforts to determine Albert’s identity and fate. Examinations of Watson’s personal correspondence, scientific production (books, journal articles, film), and public documents (national census data, state birth and death records) suggested that an employee at the Harriet Lane Home was Albert’s mother. Contact with the woman’s descendents led the authors to the individual they believe to be “Little Albert.

The College Persistence Questionnaire: Development and Validation of an Instrument That Predicts Student Attrition

The investigators reviewed the retention literature and developed a 53-item questionnaire and tested its validity. Component analysis of the responses of 2,022 students at four schools yielded six reliable factors: Institutional Commitment, Degree Commitment, Academic Integration, Social Integration, Support Services Satisfaction, and Academic Conscientiousness. A second study on 283 first-semester freshmen examined whether factor scores predicted which students returned for their sophomore year. Logistic regression found that three factors were statistically significant predictors of enrollment status, after controlling for high school class rank and standardized test scores: Institutional Commitment, Academic Integration, and Academic Conscientiousness. Strategies are provided for making use of scores based on differences between institutions and between individual students

Finding Little Albert: Reports on a seven-year search for psychology’s lost boy

In 1920 the British Psychological Society invited John Broadus Watson to address a symposium on behaviourism (Watson, 1920). Watson was disappointed that his university was unable to fund his crossing. This article provides new information about a study Watson would most likely have presented to the Society had his monetary circumstances been more favourable.In the winter of 1919/20, Watson and his graduate assistant, Rosalie AlbertaRayner, attempted to condition a baby boy, Albert B., to fear a white laboratory rat (Watson & Rayner, 1920). They later reported that the child’s fear generalized to other furry objects. The ‘Little Albert’ investigation was the last published study of Watson’s academic career. Watson and Rayner became embroiled in a scandalous affair, culminating in his divorce and dismissal from Johns Hopkins.Despite its methodological shortcomings and questionable ethics (Cornwell & Hobbs, 1976; Samelson, 1980), the attempted conditioning of Albert is a staple in psychology textbooks and one of the most influential investigations in the discipline. The continuing appeal of Watson and Rayner’s research is not solely due to the importance of their purported findings. Much of the fascination with the study is attributable to Albert himself. After the last day of testing, Albert left his home on the Johns Hopkins campus.His disappearance created one of the greatest mysteries in the history of psychology. ‘Whatever happened to Little Albert?’ is a question that has intrigued generations of students and professional psychologists (Harris, 1979). This article is a detective story summarizing the efforts of my co-authors, my students and myself to resolve a 90-year-old cold case

The Evidence Supports Douglas Merritte as Little Albert

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Demonstration of an Actuarial Method for Estimating Preinjury Hand Strength

Assessments of the magnitude of performance loss caused by injury or disease necessarily involve a comparison of a person's performance before and after the onset of impairment. Well-established procedures are available for measuring current performance on a variety of evaluation instruments. However, few actuarial methods have been developed for estimating the person's performance prior to injury. This study demonstrated how regression equations can be used to estimate preinjury hand strength. Although the equations generated in this investigation are specific to hand strength, the methodology can be extended to estimate the preinjury performances of persons with a variety of physical and intellectual impairments

Effects of Human–Machine Competition on Intent Errors in a Target Detection Task

Objective: This investigation examined the impact of human–machine competition (John Henry effects) on intent errors. John Henry effects, expressed as an unwilling- ness to use automation, were hypothesized to increase as a function of operators’ per- sonal investment in unaided performance. Background: Misuse and disuse often occur because operators (a) cannot determine if automation or a nonautomated alternative maximizes the likelihood of task success (appraisal errors) or (b) know the utilities of the options but disregard this information when deciding to use or not to use automation (intent errors). Although appraisal errors have been extensively studied, there is a paucity of information regarding the causes and prevention of intent errors. Methods: Operators were told how many errors they and an automated device made on a target detection task. Self-reliant operators (high personal investment) could depend on their performance or automation to identify a target. Other-reliant operators (low personal investment) could rely on another person or automation. Results: As predicted, self-reliance increased dis- use and decreased misuse. Conclusion: When the disuse and misuse data are viewed together, they strongly support the supposition that personal investment in unaided per- formance affects the likelihood of John Henry effects and intent errors. Application: These results demonstrate the need for a model of operator decision making that takes into account intent as well as appraisal errors. Potential applications include develop- ing interventions to counter the deleterious effects of human–machine competition and intent errors on automation usage decisions

Predicting Misuse and Disuse of Combat Identification Systems

Two combat identification systems have been designed to reduce fratricide by providing soldiers with the ability to "interrogate" a potential target by sending a microwave or laser signal that, if returned, identifies the target as a "friend." Ideally, gunners will appropriately rely on these automated aids, which will reduce fratricide rates. However, past research has found that human operators underutilize (disuse) and overly rely on (misuse) automated systems (cf. Parasuraman & Riley, 1997). The purpose of this laboratory study was to simultaneously examine misuse and disuse of an automated decision-making aid at varying levels of reliability. With or without the aid of an automated system that is correct about 90%, 75%, or 60% of the time, 91 college students viewed 226 slides of Fort Sill terrain and indicated the presence or absence of camouflaged soldiers. Regardless of the reliability of the automated aid, misuse was more prevalent than disuse