In the "Little Albert" experiment, what was the main psychological phenomenon observed?

The primary psychological phenomenon observed in the "Little Albert" experiment is stimulus generalization. This study, conducted by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner, aimed to demonstrate that emotional responses could be conditioned in humans, much like Pavlov had shown with dogs. Little Albert was initially exposed to a white rat, which he showed no fear towards. However, Watson and Rayner paired the presentation of the rat with a loud, frightening noise, leading Albert to develop a fear of the rat.

What is particularly significant about this experiment is that after Albert was conditioned to fear the rat, he not only displayed fear towards the rat but also generalized this fear to other similar stimuli, such as other white furry objects—like a rabbit and a Santa Claus mask. This shows that the fear response acquired from the rat was not just a specific fear; it expanded to other objects that shared similar characteristics, illustrating the process of stimulus generalization. This concept is crucial in understanding how learned behaviors can transfer to other stimuli, an important part of classical conditioning.