John Watson's experiment with a young child and a white rat demonstrated the effectiveness of classical conditioning. He paired exposure to the rat with a loud noise and the child learned to be afraid of the rat. The child also demonstrated fear around other white furry objects. What is this an example of?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The child's learned fear of white furry objects other than the rat he was exposed to is an example of stimulus generalization. He generalized the qualities of the rat to other objects and demonstrated his learned response (fear) to them. This occurs without deliberate influence of the experimenter.

John Watson's Experiment with a Young Child and a White