By: Sudev Raj
If you’ve been in an AP Psychology class before you might remember learning about the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov and his famous experiment, Pavlov’s Dogs. But what does this experiment teach us about classical conditioning and why was it so groundbreaking?
Surprisingly, Pavlov discovered classical conditioning by accident - he was originally studying digestion, but noticed that the dogs he was testing started salivating not only when they were presented food but also when they saw the lab assistant that fed them. This observation would lead to one of the most groundbreaking experiments in the history of psychology.
In the experiment, Pavlov paired a bell - a neutral stimulus - with food, an unconditioned stimulus. Initially, the dogs didn’t react to the bell and only salivated to the food. After several pairings with the stimuli, however, the dogs would begin salivating to the sound of the bell. Once the dogs started reacting to the bell, it became a conditioned stimulus as it would produce a response that wasn’t naturally occurring.
Classical conditioning can explain how we form associations between stimuli in our everyday lives. For example, you may recall certain memories when you listen to a song or look at a picture, since the song/picture and the memory were paired in the past. Classical conditioning can also help explain the psychology behind phobias, anxiety treatments, and even improve advertising strategies.
In short, Pavlov paved the way of behavioral psychology with his experiment, showing how our environment conditions our responses. It’s a prime example of how small observations can reveal the truth about something so much greater.
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