The Pavlov Dog Experiment (Classic Conditioning)

He Pavlov's experiment Is one of the most famous of psychology. The Russian physiologist Iván Petróvich Pávlov used Dogs that sounded before the meal. After several repetitions, the sound alone caused salivation of the dogs.

Pavlov's experiments led him to discover a form of learning that has been termed classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning. This learning is observed in most organisms to adapt to their environment.

The Pavlov Dog Experiment (Classic Conditioning)

Classical conditioning has been fundamental for History of Psychology Because Pavlov showed that the learning process could be studied objectively. This allowed for the scientific method To psychology, separating complex blocks of behavior to be able to study them objectively.

Pavlov's conclusions are fundamental and many of his premises continue to be applied in behavior modification techniques and psychological treatments. Classical conditioning is used to treat phobias, anxiety, panic disorder and addictions, among others.

Brief history

Before Pavlov's famous experiment, research on the operant behavior of cats had already been carried out. Thorndike Designed a device that he called"problem box".

In this box placed hungry cats, who had to find a way out to reach the food that was outside.

When the cats, by accident at first, were brushed with a rope, the door opened. Little by little, and after several repetitions, the animals managed to learn the association between brushing the rope and escaping from the box to eat. In this way, each time they went faster out of it.

Thorndike interpreted this fact as a test of learning, serving as inspiration to Pavlov to develop his studies.

Pavlov was born in 1849, at first his father wanted him to become a priest. However, he turned away from this plan and graduated in medicine at age 33.

His first investigations were focused on the digestive system, gaining in 1904 the Nobel Prize of Physiology or Medicine.

Although his experiments on the conditioned reflex and the learning to which he dedicated the last 30 years of his life, were those that really made him famous.

Pavlov's studies were further developed by the American psychologist John B. Watson . He applied Pavlov's findings to humans. In 1921, Watson conducted an experiment with an 11-month-old boy known as" Little Albert ".

The aim was to demonstrate how specific fears could be conditioned. In principle Albert was afraid of loud noises (unconditioned stimulus), but not of rats. The researchers showed the baby a rat, and when he stroked it, they made a loud noise behind him with an iron bar.

After several repetitions in which the noise was made to see the rat, little Albert cried only when he saw the rat. Days later, he generalized his response by showing himself frightened to see a rabbit, a dog or a fur coat.

Description of Pavlov's experiment

Pavlov's experiment Stuffed Pavlov's dogs. Museum of Hygiene, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Pavlov changed the course of his investigations from a fortuitous discovery. During his studies on the digestive system, he focused on the secretion of saliva in dogs.

He observed that when food was put into a dog's mouth, it began to salivate automatically.

Also, I can verify that he also salivaba if he saw the food or smelled it. What's more, he made the same response when he saw his plate of food or the person giving it to him. He even salivated at the footsteps of that person.

In principle Pavlov thought that these responses of the dog interfered in his experiments, but later discovered that this demonstrated a Way of learning . From this moment, he directed his investigations to understand this phenomenon.

Pavlov and his collaborators began by trying to understand what he thought and felt when the dog salivated when he saw the food. However, this did not lead to any results.

They then began experiments to get a more objective view of the dog's reaction.

So that there were no other stimuli that could affect the experiment, he put the dog in an isolated room, tied it with straps and placed a device to collect and measure the saliva.

The researchers were placed in another room from which they could feed the dog into a bowl.

They wanted to find out if a neutral stimulus (which has no meaning for the dog or food relation) could become a sign that food would appear. Thus, they wanted to see if the dog learned to associate that stimulus with food.

They decided to use as a neutral stimulus the sound of a bell. In this way, they would ring the bell just before giving the meat the powder to the dog.

After several bell-food repetitions, they discovered that the animal began to salivate only with the sound of the bell, even if food did not appear.

Thus, they made a neutral stimulus, which had no meaning, provoke the same response as food: salivation.

From the experiment, Pavlov trained other dogs to salivate at other stimuli such as a light, a buzz, when they touched his paw or even when he taught him a circle drawn. He found that the dog learned to associate any of these stimuli with the appearance of food, causing them themselves to salivate.

There are several fundamental elements in Pavlov's experiment that you must know:

- Neutral stimulation (EN): As explained, is a meaningless stimulus that can consist of a light, a sound, an image, and so on.

- Unconditioned Stimulus (ENC): It is a stimulus that causes a natural and innate reaction of the organism automatically. In this case, an unconditioned stimulus is food.

- Conditioned Stimulus (EC): Is thus called the neutral stimulus when one learns to associate with another element that causes an automatic response. For example, the sound of the bell at first was a neutral stimulus and thanks to learning, it was related to food. It becomes a conditioned stimulus, causing salivation by itself.

- Unconditioned Reflection or Unconditioned Response (RNC): Is the one that is produced by the appearance of an unconditioned stimulus. The example is salivation as the innate response of the dog to the food in his mouth.

- Conditional Response (RC): Is the response provoked by a conditioned stimulus. This occurred with the sound of the bell, which was able to trigger salivation (conditioned response) as if it were a non-conditioned stimulus (food).

All this process was called classical conditioning, being an essential element of the Behavioral psychology . It is still used today to explain why certain behaviors are associated with Phobias T the Addictions .

Conditioning Processes

From these experiments, Pavlov and his colleagues focused on the study of classical conditioning. They identified five conditioning processes:

- The acquisition: This concept is related to the initial learning of the relationship between the stimulus and the response. Pavlov wondered how much time had to pass between the neutral stimulus (bell) and the unconditioned stimulus (food) so that they could be associated.

He discovered that this period of time had to be very short. In some species half a second was sufficient.

He also wondered what would happen if the food appeared before the sound. He concluded that conditioning rarely occurred in this way. The sound had to be given before the meal so that the association could be learned.

This demonstrated that conditioning is biologically adaptive, that is, it helps us to prepare ourselves for good or bad situations. For example, for a deer, the crunching of some branches may be related to the arrival of a predator.

In humans, odors, objects or images that are associated with sexual pleasure, could become conditioned stimuli for sexual arousal. Some experiments demonstrated that a geometric figure could generate sexual excitation if it appeared several times next to an erotic stimulus.

- The extinction: Pavlov wondered what would happen if, after conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (sound) was introduced without the unconditioned stimulus (food). He checked that if the dog heard the sound several times without giving him food, he would salivate less.

This is known as extinction, as the response is reduced when the conditioned stimulus stops announcing the onset of the unconditioned stimulus.

- Spontaneous recovery: Pavlov discovered that, after the extinction of the response, it could be activated again if it allowed time to rest. After that period, the salivation reappeared spontaneously after the sound.

This led him to conclude that extinction weakened or repressed the conditioned response, but did not eliminate it.

- Generalization: Pavlov could also observe that a dog conditioned to respond to a particular sound may also respond to other similar sounds.

Generalization is adaptive. For example, there were people who were anxious when they saw planes similar to those with the September 11 attacks. They did not have to be the same planes that triggered the unconditioned response of anxiety.

Generalization also causes stimuli similar to objects that by nature are unpleasant or pleasant, lead us to feel pleasure or rejection.

Some experiments are curious. In one of them, presented a very attractive meal: the cream of a chocolate. But it was served in the form of dog excrement, which generated rejection in the subjects.

Other tests have shown that we generally see adults who have infantile features as affectionate and obedient.

- The discrimination: Pavlov also taught dogs to respond to a specific stimulus rather than others. This is what is known as discrimination, that is, the ability to distinguish a conditioned stimulus (bell sound) from a neutral stimulus (song of a bird).

Discrimination is very important for survival, since different stimuli can have very different consequences.

Applications of classical conditioning

The discovery of classical conditioning remains one of the most important in the history of psychology. Pavlov's postulates are the basis of behavioral psychology and today they continue to be applied.

Classical conditioning is a form of learning that most organisms use to adapt to their environment. This has been demonstrated in numerous studies that have been able to condition the response of different organisms. From fish, birds, monkeys, to humans.

Some of the applications of classical conditioning are:

- To treat alcoholism and other addictions. Some treatments relate the vision, taste and smell of alcohol with a drug that causes vomiting. After repeating this several times, a nausea response to alcohol develops. This treatment is called aversive therapy and may also be useful with other addictions.

- Explanation of addictions. The People addicted to drugs Feel the need to re-consume when they are in places and with people with whom they have consumed. Above all, if they had felt pleasant effects.

In the treatment of addictions, one of the first measures is that the addict is away from everything related to the sensations that produced the consumption.

- Classical conditioning has also been used to treat fear or phobias. For example, certain insects harmless.

In one study, patients were asked to think about bugs, which produced a fear response. This response was soon eliminated because it was not associated with a bite or bite.

After the extinction of the response, pictures of bugs were presented to the patients little by little until in the end the fear was lost, even managing to touch them.

This procedure is known as systematic desensitization therapy, and has been applied to overcome the afraid of water , To injections , to fly , etc.

References

  1. Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning: Theory, Experiments & Contributions to Psychology. (S.f.). Retrieved on March 3, 2017, from Study.com: study.com.
  2. Myers, D. G. (2005). Psychology (7th ed.). Buenos Aires; Madrid: Medical Editorial Panamericana.
  3. Pavlov's Dogs. (S.f.). Retrieved on March 3, 2017, from Verywell: verywell.com.
  4. Pavlov's Dogs. (S.f.). Retrieved on March 3, 2017, from Simply Psychology: simplypsychology.org.
  5. Pavlov's Dogs and Classical Conditioning. (S.f.). Retrieved on March 3, 2017, from Psychologist world: psychologistworld.com.
  6. Worchel, S. & Shebilske, W. (1998). Psychology: fundamentals and applications. Fifth edition. Madrid: Prentice Hall.


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