The experiment was said to be less accurate because it was conducted in a laboratory and therefore would not reflect a real life situation.

The experiment didn't account for the fact that the children, upon being told that they were not good enough for the special toys, would try and anticipate what the adults wanted and act up accordingly.

Lab Setting

Motivation

Follow Up

Objectivity

CONTROVERSY

There is no data on how the conditioned behavior held up over time, because the results were taken immediately and had no follow up after the initial experimentation.

Even though the adults were careful to act towards the children in a certain way, things such as their clothing, hair styles and tone could have influenced the child's learning: if the child recognized some trait of the adult that they were comfortable with, they might respond better to their influence and be more motivated to please that person.