Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov’s story highlights the fact that scientific inquiry can result in unexpected findings. Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was studying the digestive systems of dogs. He was measuring dogs salivation when he noticed that after several trials dogs began to salivate before the food was actually introduced. Thus, what should have only occur in the presence of food happened with only the site of food. Consequently, the dogs had learned that certain environmental clues indicated that food would be forthcoming and they produced a physiological response to these variables. Being a good scientist, Pavlov conducted experiments to try and explain this discrepant event. Through these experiments he demonstrated that he could actually use this classical conditioning process to train dogs to salivate to a variable that had nothing to do with food by pairing it in time with the presentation of food. This process is outlined in the diagram that is linked below. There are also links to other resources that address this process in more detail.
*Classical Conditioning Diagram
http://education.snc.edu/ed120/classical-conditioning.htm
*Pavlov’s Dog- A classical conditioning simulation at the Nobel Prize site
http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/index.html
*Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (1997). An introduction to classical (respondent) conditioning. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [2/20/2011], from
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/behavior/classcnd.html
*History of Psychology Pavlov site
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/pavlov.htm
*Classical Conditioning Diagram
http://education.snc.edu/ed120/classical-conditioning.htm
*Pavlov’s Dog- A classical conditioning simulation at the Nobel Prize site
http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/index.html
*Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (1997). An introduction to classical (respondent) conditioning. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [2/20/2011], from
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/behavior/classcnd.html
*History of Psychology Pavlov site
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/pavlov.htm