We have talked many times that parenting behaviorism, used to manipulate the behavior of healthy and normal children, is dangerous and has hardly foreseeable consequences. But one thing is clear, It has been shown that a child can be manipulated with behaviorism. Already demonstrated by psychologist John Watson in 1920 with his experiments, of doubtful ethics, with the little Alber, as we show in the video with which we illustrate this article.
Little Alber, who was not afraid of white rats, was conditioned to cry when he saw them and feared them, as well as any other object, lively or inanimate, that was even hairy and even white. The way to do this programming was to sound a loud noise every time the animal appeared until the child reacted to his sight crying without needing to hear any unpleasant sounds.
Unpleasant, immoral and hairy it seems to me that it was the concept of experimentation that Watson had and still seems to me very unethical to manipulate healthy children that way because they do not want to sleep alone in their cribs or do not adapt to the needs of adults.
What Watson, the creator of the Behavioral Psychological School, did, reveals how harmful it can be use conditioning to manipulate a healthy person with normal reactions and the little that is known of the consequences that these actions can have in the long run.
In fact, then these manipulation procedures have had great followers among the most dangerous characters in the history of the twentieth century, who have found a way to modify human behavior to their advantage and to harm.
Of course, in certain circumstances, with the express consent of the patient and to treat psychological problems it may be useful to resort to behavioral techniques, but there is no justification in using it to modify non-dangerous or insane behaviors much less in children as they did to little Albert. I have already explained that I do not like the behavioral methods of raising and manipulating children, such as those used, for example, by Supernanny or those of Dr. Estivill.
Once this document on Watson's experiment with the little Alber is seen, it seems that although, although parenting behaviorism is not true Science, in a sense it is shown that certain cases behaviorism serves to manipulate children. Another thing is if it is ethical or harmless.
