Which of the following is a valid criticism of the methodology of Watson and Rayner's "Little Albert" study?
A) Using a loud clang as a conditioned stimulus is not an acceptable scientific practice.
B) The behavior of an infant is not representative of adult human behavior.
C) Albert's fear and distress were not objectively measured but were subjectively evaluated by the experimenters themselves.
D) The experimenters did not evaluate Albert's responsiveness to different stimuli.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The criticism that Albert's fear and distress were not objectively measured but were subjectively evaluated by the experimenters themselves is a valid one. This introduces a bias into the results and undermines the scientific validity of the study. The other answer choices are not valid criticisms. Using a loud clang as a conditioned stimulus is a common practice in classical conditioning studies, and the fact that Albert was an infant is not relevant to the scientific validity of the study. The experimenters may not have evaluated Albert's responsiveness to different stimuli, but this is not a major flaw in the methodology of the study.

Which of the Following Is a Valid Criticism of the Methodology