Pavlov's Dogs
We have all heard of Pavlov's Dogs, the experiment where the dogs "drooled" at the sounding of a bell. But, do we know of the details of this infamous experiment? What do we know of the man, beyond that he could ring bells? It is my intention, in this brief dissertation, to shed more light on his life and his experiments.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov's life was one of triumph in spite of tragedy; nevertheless he lived life on his on terms. While a child, he was involved in an accident that prevented him from beginning school until he was 11 years old. Yet, still had the wherewithal to abandon theological seminary at the age of 21 to pursue physiology. The son of an Orthodox priest, he was ironically diverted from becoming a second-generation clergy, by the works of Charles Darwin and Russian physiologist Ivan Sechenov, which he read while in seminary. Even his marriage was not spared the cyclic heartbreak then elation pattern that appeared to prevail in his life. He married Seraphima Karchevskaya, with whom he had six children. Of their six children, two died prematurely, the first of a miscarriage, the second while as a young child. Yet, despite the odds to the contrary, one of the surviving children followed their father's career path and made his own reputation in physics. Pavlov's love of physiology apparently made a lasting impression.
Pavlov's legendary experiments made more of an impression on the general public, than did his other contributions. For in the public domain he He is widely thought of as a psychologist, while his life's work was physiology. Pavlov's first independent experiments were pioneering studies which lead to the understanding of how nerves regulate the force of a heart beats contr...
... middle of paper ...
...e a man who had much suffering in his life whether inflicted by him or to him. Whether it was his early trauma in life or the grief that comes with the death of a child; he lived with much mental anguish. Then, on the other hand, I feel revulsion toward a person who could inflict such cruelty on domesticated animals. Ultimately I end up wondering whether this illumination was worth the minor irritation that resulted in me needing to pop a Zantac ™.
Bibliography:
Bibliography
"Ivan Petrovich Pavlov," Nobel e-Museum
http://www.nobel.semedicinelaureates1904pavlov-bio.html
"Uh-uh, buddy," Discovery™ online Way Back Machine
http://www.discovery.com/stories/wayback/990118/wayback.html
"Ivan Petrovich Pavlov," Colorado State University Website
http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/misc/pavlov.html
Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditional reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex. Oxford, England: Oxford Univ. Press. Retrieved from www.csa.com
Readers are informed that the research was never in the intentions of psychology but through Pavlov 's curiosity on the dog’s digestive system. By sham feeding, which actually means the removing of the esophagus to make an opening, the dog would eat but the food would never reach its stomach. According to Todes, the creation of more fistulas, the aberrant connections of organs, allowed Pavlov to obtain various secretions which helped him “measure their quantity and chemical properties in great detail,” With all honesty, the method that was used to obtain such facts was undoubtedly disturbing. However, the contributions that came along with it truly changed the way we study the mind, learning and human
The study by Watson and Rayner was to further the research of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was a Russian physiologist whose most famous experiments involved that of animals, specifically the unconditioned and conditioned reflexes of canines, in reference to salivation and conditioned emotional response. Pavlov demonstrated that if a bell was rang each time a dog was fed; ultimately the animal would befall conditioned to salivate at just the sound of the bell, even where food is was no longer present (The Salivation reflex). Watson and Rayner set out to further the research of conditioned stimulus response, with little Albert. ‘These authors without adequate experimental evidence advanced the view that this range was increased by means of conditioned reflex factors.’ (B.Watson, R Rayner , 1920).
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Man is the cruelest animal.” Not only does he call us animals, suggesting we are incapable of controlling our cruelty, as animals aren’t, but he calls us the cruelest of them all. Examples of this cruelty date back to the beginning of the human race itself. In Frankenstein, Mary W. Shelley uses the cruelty of her characters to develop relationships between characters and the story itself. Shelley uses acts of cruelty to characterize Frankenstein, those who come into contact with the monster, and the monster himself, proving that cruelty is woven into the fabric of humanity.
Ivan Pavlov developed a theory called classical conditioning which proposes that learning process occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex like associating the food with the bell in Pavlov experiment. In classical conditioning, behavior is learnt by association where a stimulus that was originally neutral can become a trigger for substance use or cravings due to repeated associations between those stimuli and substance use (Pavlov, 1927).
As the owner of three unique pups, I know that dogs’ variances are numerous. Any one who owns a dog knows that it has a mind of its own, and therefore a unique personality. Having had many dogs throughout my life, I have found that dogs fit into three classifications.
...I can strongly relate his concept because it applies to us internally, rather than just animals alone. Thus, I feel closer to his concept more than other theories. For example, positive reinforcement is a psychology key word that means to input a factor that would increase behavior of an individual, but not many people understand what exactly does that mean. This would be the right time to point out a practical real life situation that best fit an example of positive reinforcement. Whereas the Pavlov's concept of respondent conditioning is still much more difficulty to comprehend, when the concept does not apply internally to you, then it would be harder to grasp the idea. Dog's owner may be interested in respondent conditioning since they love dog in generally; however, if you cannot apply the concept to yourself, it would harder to see the big picture of reality.
The Little Albert experiment has become a widely known case study that is continuously discussed by a large number of psychology professionals. In 1920, behaviorist John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner began to conduct one of the first experiments done with a child. Stability played a major factor in choosing Albert for this case study, as Watson wanted to ensure that they would do as little harm as possible during the experiment. Watson’s method of choice for this experiment was to use principles of classic conditioning to create a stimulus in children that would result in fear. Since Watson wanted to condition Albert, a variety of objects were used that would otherwise not scare him. These objects included a white rat, blocks, a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, wool, and a Santa Claus mask. Albert’s conditioning began with a series of emotional tests that became part of a routine in which Watson and Rayner were determining whether other stimuli’s could cause fear.
Pavlovian Conditioning can be used to treat and explain addiction. We must first discuss Pavlovian conditioning and addiction before we can even begin to talk of the two together. Pavlovian Conditioning is better known as Classical Conditioning, which was created by Ivan Pavlov and later used by John Watson to explain human psychology. Classical conditioning is defined by Meriam-Webster dictionary (2016) as a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired; a response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone. For example, with Pavlov’s dogs, the unconditioned stimulus is food, the conditioned stimulus is the bell and the response is salivation, which we will discuss
Ivan’s relationship with Praskovya is a sad one. At the beginning of the novella, where Ivan has died, the sorrow she displays while speaking to Peter Ivanovich appears not to be sincere. She is only worried about how much money she will get from his pension. However, when Ivan and Praskovya are first married, she is clearly in love with him. Sadly, when Praskovya becomes pregnant soon after the wedding she suddenly becomes “jealous without any cause, expected him to devote his whole attention to her, found fault with everything, and made course and ill-mannered scenes” (Tolstoy 749). This attitude only worsens as time goes on. Towards the end of the novella, Ivan is near death and she begins to show some signs of sympathy to her husband, giving Ivan kind looks, plenty of kisses, and comfort (Tolstoy 762-63). These actions are largely in vain, as she has clearly shown Ivan that she cares more for herself than for him. Ivan remains loathsome of Praskovya for much of the remainder of the novella.
After a number of repeated this procedures, Pavlov tried to ring his bell by its own... ... middle of paper ... ... classical conditioning, and conditioned emotional responses, 2014. http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/pavlov.html 8. Strengths and weakness, 2014.
The writings and findings of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner have done much for the advancement of modern psychology. Many of the important findings in psychology from their theory of behaviorism, later evolving into the social-learning theory or cognitive social-learning theory. Proponents of the learning perspective think that mentalism should be abandoned for behaviorism. Psychologists should concentrate on observation and direct measurement rather focusing on introspection.
Jhon B Watson, a behaviorist, conducted an experiment inspired by the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov to determinate the classical condition in humans. Little Albert experiment was conducted in a 9 month old baby whom a rat is showed to see his r...
During the Crimean War, Tolstoy commanded a battery, and was at the siege of Sebastopol . In 1857 he visited France, Switzerland, and Germany to learn more about society and how to improve it. After traveling for a time, Tolstoy settled in Yasnaja Polyana, where he started a school for poor children. He saw that the secret of changing the world was in education. He investigated during his travels to Europe educational theory and practice, and published magazines and textbooks on the subject. In 1862 he married Sonya Andreyevna Behrs, and they had 13 children. Sonya also acted as Tolstoy’s secretary.
There are five main contributors to behaviorism. They are Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, and Joseph Wolpe. The beh...