Rosalie Raynor Essay Example
Rosalie Rayner
Women in Psychology
Mark Suarez
University of Phoenix
History and Systems of Psychology
Cheri Meadowlark
April 29, 2013
Rosalie Rayner Watson was John Watson’s second wife. She assisted her husband in the development of applied behavioral psychology. Not only did she co-author the seminal paper on conditioned emotional reactions, she also assisted Watson in preparing the most popular child care book of the time (Duke, 1989). For these reasons she can be recognized as a woman who has made significant contributions to the field of psychology. Her background, theoretical perspectives, and contributions to the field of psychology have made her stand out above the crowd.
Early Years Rosalie was born in 1899 to a prestigious well to do family. Many of her family members were well known, including her uncle Senator Rayner who conducted the trials on the sinking of the Titanic. Her father was Albert Rayner, who was a prominent businessman in Boston. In 1919, Rosalie graduated from Vassar and then began her graduate career at John Hopkins University. It was here that she assisted and studied under John Watson. During her time at John Hopkins University, she assisted Mr. Watson in many research experiments. One major experiment that they conducted together in 1920 was called “Little Albert.” The Little Albert experiment was a case study showing empirical evidence of classical conditioning in humans. This study was also an example of stimulus generalization (Wikipedia, 2013). Rosalie and Watson wanted to find support for their notion that the reaction of children, whenever they heard loud noises, was prompted by fear. They used a baby to condct their experiment. They introduced different items to the baby, including animals. They baby was not afraid of any of the items. However, the next time a rat was introduced to the baby, Rayner and Watson made loud noises behind the baby. The baby associated the loud noises with the rat
Women in Psychology
Mark Suarez
University of Phoenix
History and Systems of Psychology
Cheri Meadowlark
April 29, 2013
Rosalie Rayner Watson was John Watson’s second wife. She assisted her husband in the development of applied behavioral psychology. Not only did she co-author the seminal paper on conditioned emotional reactions, she also assisted Watson in preparing the most popular child care book of the time (Duke, 1989). For these reasons she can be recognized as a woman who has made significant contributions to the field of psychology. Her background, theoretical perspectives, and contributions to the field of psychology have made her stand out above the crowd.
Early Years Rosalie was born in 1899 to a prestigious well to do family. Many of her family members were well known, including her uncle Senator Rayner who conducted the trials on the sinking of the Titanic. Her father was Albert Rayner, who was a prominent businessman in Boston. In 1919, Rosalie graduated from Vassar and then began her graduate career at John Hopkins University. It was here that she assisted and studied under John Watson. During her time at John Hopkins University, she assisted Mr. Watson in many research experiments. One major experiment that they conducted together in 1920 was called “Little Albert.” The Little Albert experiment was a case study showing empirical evidence of classical conditioning in humans. This study was also an example of stimulus generalization (Wikipedia, 2013). Rosalie and Watson wanted to find support for their notion that the reaction of children, whenever they heard loud noises, was prompted by fear. They used a baby to condct their experiment. They introduced different items to the baby, including animals. They baby was not afraid of any of the items. However, the next time a rat was introduced to the baby, Rayner and Watson made loud noises behind the baby. The baby associated the loud noises with the rat