Rosalie Rayner
American research assistant and co-author of the Little Albert study
American graduate student and research assistant at Johns Hopkins who co-authored the 1920 Little Albert paper with John B. Watson. She left graduate study without a degree and married Watson on 31 December 1920.
Why this person matters
Rayner is the second author of one of the best-known studies in introductory psychology, yet she is often missing from accounts of it. Sources record her as Watson's assistant but say little about her own contribution, which shows how thinly women collaborators in early behaviourism were documented.
Main contributions
Little Albert study
She worked as Watson's assistant on the study of an infant conditioned to fear a white rat. It was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in 1920 as 'Conditioned emotional reactions', with Watson as first author and Rayner as second.
Writing on child-rearing
She contributed to Psychological Care of Infant and Child (1928), a popular guide whose chapter 'Too Much Mother Love' argued against maternal affection. Her 1930 article about being the mother of a behaviourist's sons was her only solo publication.
Context and limits
Sources describe her as an assistant to Watson. The published paper refers to 'the senior author' and 'two experimenters' without saying who carried out which part of the procedure, so her exact duties cannot be stated. The study's ethical and methodological problems are described under John B. Watson, and one biography notes that its findings have never been adequately replicated. Her relationship with Watson ended his academic career. She died in 1935.
In your introductory course
Learning.Named as co-author whenever the Little Albert study is taught, and an example of a woman collaborator whose role is thinly documented.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 6.2. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1919
Took a BA at Vassar College and enrolled in graduate study at Johns Hopkins University, which she left without completing a degree.
- 1920
Co-authored the Little Albert paper with Watson and married him on 31 December.
- 1928
Co-authored Psychological Care of Infant and Child with Watson.
- 1930
Published an article on being the mother of a behaviourist's sons, her only solo publication.
Sources
- Psychology's Feminist Voices, Rosalie RaynerSociety or association. Institutional biography inspected.
- Classics in the History of Psychology (York University), Watson and Rayner, Conditioned emotional reactions (1920)Original work. Text passages inspected.
- Wikipedia, John B. WatsonReference work. Reference article inspected.