Pavlov's Dogs

564 Words2 Pages

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

Open Document