What items was Albert's fear generalized to?

What items was Albert's fear generalized to?

• A. White rabbits, a white fur coat, cotton wool, Santa's beard.
• B. Black cats, dogs, fire, water.
• C. Toys, music, clothing, hats.
• D. Spiders, snakes, heights, crowds.

Answer: (A)

Stimulus generalization in classical conditioning is when a learned fear to one stimulus starts to appear in response to similar stimuli. In the Little Albert study, after a white rat was paired with a loud noise, Albert developed fear of the rat itself. Because the fear was tied to features shared with the rat—being white and fluffy—the response extended to other similar, fluffy white objects. That’s why items like a white rabbit, a white fur coat, cotton wool, and Santa’s beard elicited the same fear. The other options involve stimuli that aren’t similar to the rat in color or texture, or they’re different kinds of fear-provoking stimuli altogether, so they don’t show the same generalized response based on resemblance to the conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus generalization in classical conditioning is when a learned fear to one stimulus starts to appear in response to similar stimuli. In the Little Albert study, after a white rat was paired with a loud noise, Albert developed fear of the rat itself. Because the fear was tied to features shared with the rat—being white and fluffy—the response extended to other similar, fluffy white objects. That’s why items like a white rabbit, a white fur coat, cotton wool, and Santa’s beard elicited the same fear.

The other options involve stimuli that aren’t similar to the rat in color or texture, or they’re different kinds of fear-provoking stimuli altogether, so they don’t show the same generalized response based on resemblance to the conditioned stimulus.