The study, “It’s Not Just About Salivating Dogs” was a digestive process study done by Ivan Pavlov in the early 1900s. Ivan started this study because he wanted to know more about salvation in dogs in response to being fed. Pavlov’s hypothesis was that dogs are able to be conditioned when exposed to an external stimulus.
Ivan began to conduct his laboratory observation with his assistant by introducing various kinds of food/nonfood substances to the dogs in their experiment, so they could then study the amount and rate of saliva that was produced from the various kinds of food. In order to measure the amount of salivation, “minor surgery was performed on the dogs so that a salivary duct was redirected through an incision in the dog’s cheek and connected to a tube that would collect the saliva” (Hock, 2013 pg. 66). Pavlov discovered that there was a significant difference in the amount of saliva that was produced when the dogs were introduced to moist vs. dry food. There was little saliva flow when introduced to the moist food and heavy saliva flow when introduced to dry food. Pavlov regarded this saliva production as a “reflex”. Salvation was an automatic reflex to the food without any conditioning, and required no learning. As research continued Ivan found that the dogs began salivating before they were presented with food, and before the odor of the food was able to be smelled. Shortly after they would start salivating when there was no salivary stimulus whatsoever. “Somehow, the reflexive action of the salivary glands had been altered through the animals’ experience in the lab” (Hock, 2013 pg. 67).
Pavlov discovered that the dogs learned to expect food after hearing certain signals; he then realized that there are two kinds of reflexes that can exist. The first is an unconditioned reflex which is inborn and requires no learning. The second are conditioned reflexes, which are learned through experience. Unconditioned reflexes are caused by an unconditioned stimulus which would produce an unconditioned response. In Pavlov’s study the unconditioned stimulus is the food, the unconditioned response is the saliva produced. Since conditioned reflexes are made up of a conditioned stimulus, which in this study are the footsteps when getting ready to present the food, and this produced the conditioned response which was salvation. His neutral stimulus would be the bell in his experiment.
“Pavlov wanted to answer this question: Conditioned reflexes are not inborn, so exactly how are they acquired?” (Hock, 2013 pg. 67). Pavlov theorized that if he introduced a certain stimulus in the environment of the dog when he was getting ready to feed them, the dog would recognize this stimulus and respond with salvation because they knew food was near. While the dogs were in the laboratory they would hear Pavlov’s assistant walking toward them with their food and overtime, just hearing the sound of footsteps would make the dogs salivate. These findings had assured Pavlov that he had proven his theory.
Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning is significant because, “it is used to explain and interpret a wide range of human behavior, including where phobias came from, why you dislike certain foods, the source of your emotion, how advertising works, why you feel anxiety before a job interview of an exam, and what arouses you sexually” (Hock, 2013 pg. 69). Because of classical conditioning we can now better understand humans and how we associate things with sounds, smells, or sights. There are many ways that the psychology textbook relates to Pavlov’s study. One way is by the textbooks definition of learning. They say, “Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice” (Ciccarelli, 2014 pg. 170). This is Pavlov’s theory as well. There are also many ways that this learning, or classical conditioning is being applied in life today. For example, in the 70s there was a study done using Pavlov’s techniques. This studies purpose was to find a way to keep a rancher’s sheep alive without killing the predators, which were wolves and coyotes. The wolves were given mutton which is meat for sheep with lithium chloride inside of it (UCS), this was given to the predators to make them nauseous and dizzy. After these predators recovered they were placed in a pen with live sheep. Of course, they immediately started attacking their prey but as soon as the wolves and coyotes smelled the mutton, they wanted nothing to do with the sheep anymore. They associated the mutton that made them sick with the smell of fresh mutton and were classically conditioned not to eat it. This is better known as a conditioned taste aversion. This is just one way that animals could be classically conditioned. I classically condition my dog every day without even realizing it.
I feel that there are many ways that I can use this knowledge of classical conditioning in my own life. Now that I know all the basic principles of classical conditioning and how it works, I will not give my dog chips right after I open a bag. By this I mean that every time I open a bag of chips my dog will associate the crinkling of the bag with chips. If I repeatedly give her a chip every time I open the bag and she hears the crinkling, she will expect a chip every time I open the bag. Same goes for me at work, if I constantly work as hard as I can, my boss will expect that every day when I come into work I will work just as hard as I did the day before. There are many ways that I can classically condition my pets, and even those around me just by using positive and negative reinforcement. I look forward to using my new knowledge of classical conditioning to better my life in various ways.
Works Cited
Ciccarelli, Saundra K., and Noland J. White. (2014) Psychology. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Print.
Hock, Roger R. (2009) Forty Studies That Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Print.
Ivan began to conduct his laboratory observation with his assistant by introducing various kinds of food/nonfood substances to the dogs in their experiment, so they could then study the amount and rate of saliva that was produced from the various kinds of food. In order to measure the amount of salivation, “minor surgery was performed on the dogs so that a salivary duct was redirected through an incision in the dog’s cheek and connected to a tube that would collect the saliva” (Hock, 2013 pg. 66). Pavlov discovered that there was a significant difference in the amount of saliva that was produced when the dogs were introduced to moist vs. dry food. There was little saliva flow when introduced to the moist food and heavy saliva flow when introduced to dry food. Pavlov regarded this saliva production as a “reflex”. Salvation was an automatic reflex to the food without any conditioning, and required no learning. As research continued Ivan found that the dogs began salivating before they were presented with food, and before the odor of the food was able to be smelled. Shortly after they would start salivating when there was no salivary stimulus whatsoever. “Somehow, the reflexive action of the salivary glands had been altered through the animals’ experience in the lab” (Hock, 2013 pg. 67).
Pavlov discovered that the dogs learned to expect food after hearing certain signals; he then realized that there are two kinds of reflexes that can exist. The first is an unconditioned reflex which is inborn and requires no learning. The second are conditioned reflexes, which are learned through experience. Unconditioned reflexes are caused by an unconditioned stimulus which would produce an unconditioned response. In Pavlov’s study the unconditioned stimulus is the food, the unconditioned response is the saliva produced. Since conditioned reflexes are made up of a conditioned stimulus, which in this study are the footsteps when getting ready to present the food, and this produced the conditioned response which was salvation. His neutral stimulus would be the bell in his experiment.
“Pavlov wanted to answer this question: Conditioned reflexes are not inborn, so exactly how are they acquired?” (Hock, 2013 pg. 67). Pavlov theorized that if he introduced a certain stimulus in the environment of the dog when he was getting ready to feed them, the dog would recognize this stimulus and respond with salvation because they knew food was near. While the dogs were in the laboratory they would hear Pavlov’s assistant walking toward them with their food and overtime, just hearing the sound of footsteps would make the dogs salivate. These findings had assured Pavlov that he had proven his theory.
Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning is significant because, “it is used to explain and interpret a wide range of human behavior, including where phobias came from, why you dislike certain foods, the source of your emotion, how advertising works, why you feel anxiety before a job interview of an exam, and what arouses you sexually” (Hock, 2013 pg. 69). Because of classical conditioning we can now better understand humans and how we associate things with sounds, smells, or sights. There are many ways that the psychology textbook relates to Pavlov’s study. One way is by the textbooks definition of learning. They say, “Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice” (Ciccarelli, 2014 pg. 170). This is Pavlov’s theory as well. There are also many ways that this learning, or classical conditioning is being applied in life today. For example, in the 70s there was a study done using Pavlov’s techniques. This studies purpose was to find a way to keep a rancher’s sheep alive without killing the predators, which were wolves and coyotes. The wolves were given mutton which is meat for sheep with lithium chloride inside of it (UCS), this was given to the predators to make them nauseous and dizzy. After these predators recovered they were placed in a pen with live sheep. Of course, they immediately started attacking their prey but as soon as the wolves and coyotes smelled the mutton, they wanted nothing to do with the sheep anymore. They associated the mutton that made them sick with the smell of fresh mutton and were classically conditioned not to eat it. This is better known as a conditioned taste aversion. This is just one way that animals could be classically conditioned. I classically condition my dog every day without even realizing it.
I feel that there are many ways that I can use this knowledge of classical conditioning in my own life. Now that I know all the basic principles of classical conditioning and how it works, I will not give my dog chips right after I open a bag. By this I mean that every time I open a bag of chips my dog will associate the crinkling of the bag with chips. If I repeatedly give her a chip every time I open the bag and she hears the crinkling, she will expect a chip every time I open the bag. Same goes for me at work, if I constantly work as hard as I can, my boss will expect that every day when I come into work I will work just as hard as I did the day before. There are many ways that I can classically condition my pets, and even those around me just by using positive and negative reinforcement. I look forward to using my new knowledge of classical conditioning to better my life in various ways.
Works Cited
Ciccarelli, Saundra K., and Noland J. White. (2014) Psychology. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Print.
Hock, Roger R. (2009) Forty Studies That Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Print.