Imagine being nine months old, happily gnawing on life like it’s a giant teething ring, when suddenly two psychologists decide your future career should be “professional phobia model.” In 1920, John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner turned an innocent baby—dubbed Little Albert—into the world’s tiniest horror movie star by pairing cute fluffy animals with ear-splitting bangs louder than a toddler tantrum at 3 a.m. They terrorized the poor kid with rats, rabbits, dogs, monkeys, and even burning newspapers until he shuddered at anything white and furry. A month later? Still traumatized, thumb-sucking for comfort like it was emotional first aid. Modern ethics boards would yeet this experiment into the sun faster than you can say “informed consent doesn’t exist for infants.” Classic psychology: where “breakthrough” and “child abuse” accidentally rhyme.
‘Most unethical human experiment of all time’ was followed-up one month later to see true impact