Chapter 1. Classical Conditioning: Pavlov and His Legacy

Short Description

Have you ever noticed that certain stimuli, such as the smell of perfume or a certain song, trigger intense emotions?

Long Description

It is not the smell or the song itself, but rather what that smell or song has been paired with, that causes the emotion. These pairings shape our behavior and are the premise of classical conditioning.

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov accidently discovered this learning phenomenon while doing research on the digestion patterns in dogs. During his experiments, he would put meat powder into the dogs' mouths and measure their bodily responses. What he discovered was that the dogs would salivate before the meat powder was presented to them. Then, the dogs began salivating as soon as the lab assistant entered the room. Pavlov's experiments support the idea that we have the tendency to develop responses to stimuli that are not naturally occurring.

This program describes the four basic elements of classical conditioning identified by Pavlov. The meat powder was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the salivation was the unconditioned response (UCR). The bell and salivation are not naturally occurring because the dog was conditioned to respond to the bell. Therefore, the bell is considered the conditioned stimulus (CS), and the salivation upon hearing the bell, the conditioned response (CR).

Pavlov's studies inspired behaviorist John B. Watson to determine if classical conditioning could be used to condition the fear of a rat on a nine-month old boy called "Little Albert." This controversial study showed how emotions can become conditioned responses.

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