In the context of classical conditioning, what did the Little Albert studies demonstrate was possible?

• A. Operant conditioning is the only way to change human behavior.
• B. Classical conditioning only works with animals and not with humans.
• C. Humans are born with all of their emotional responses and cannot learn new ones.
• D. Emotional responses such as fear can be conditioned in humans through association with neutral stimuli.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the context of classical conditioning, which involves learning through association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits a response.
2. Recall that the Little Albert study was a famous experiment conducted by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner to investigate whether emotional responses like fear could be conditioned in humans.
3. Recognize that in the study, a neutral stimulus (a white rat) was repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (a loud noise) that naturally caused fear, leading the neutral stimulus to eventually elicit fear on its own.
4. Interpret the results to conclude that emotional responses such as fear are not solely innate but can be learned through classical conditioning by associating neutral stimuli with aversive events.
5. Therefore, the study demonstrated that classical conditioning can be applied to humans to condition emotional responses, challenging the idea that such responses are only innate or unchangeable.