The Mystery of Lost Little Albert in the History of Psychology

Abstract

Who was the real “Little Albert,” known as Albert B., who appeared in John B. Watson’s paper on conditioned emotional reactions (Watson & Rayner, 1920)? The 9-month-old boy has been a well-known figure in the history of psychology. Following the study’s conclusion, Albert was taken away, apparently by his family, from the hospital where he had lived since birth, leaving no clue as to his whereabouts thereafter. Recently, Beck, Levinson, & Irons (2009) claimed that Little Albert was actually an infant named Douglas Merritte who developed hydrocephalus in 1922 and died in 1925. Moreover, in 2012, Beck’s group reported some overlooked signs of Albert’s neurological impairment and suggested that Watson might have mistreated the baby had that been the case. However, in 2014, another group of psychologists identified a different baby, Albert Barger, as a more suitable candidate for Albert B. The controversy over “finding Little Albert” is discussed in the present paper.