Study: Pavlov’s dogs (1902)

• Aim

  • Pavlov’s study with dogs aimed to study and demonstrate the concept of classical conditioning. Pavlov aimed to show that dogs could be conditioned to associate a neutral stimulus (such as a bell) with a reflexive response (such as salivation) by repeatedly pairing the two stimuli together.
• Pavlov's experiment


  1. Dogs situated in secluded environments, secured within harnesses

  2. Food bowl positioned before them

  3. Device employed to gauge frequency of salivary gland secretions

  4. Data systematically recorded onto a rotating drum

  5. Pavlov meticulously monitored rates of salivation
• Conditioning procedure


  1. Bell introduced just before giving food to dogs

  2. Repeated several times (trials)

  3. Bell presented on its own
• Conditioned response


  Dog had learned association between bell and food, new behaviour learned
• Conditioned stimulus


  Neutral stimulus (bell) has become conditioned
• Findings

  Pavlov found that for associations to be made, the two stimuli had to be presented close together in time (such as a bell). He called this the law on contiguity. if the time between the conditioned stimulus (bell) and the UCS (food) is too great, then the learning will not occur.
• Criticism of Pavlov's research

  • Use of animals
  • Human behaviour is driven by complex emotions and thought processes, impossible to observe all these processes
• Generalising and applying findings of dogs to humans

  Very difficult
• Generalisations between humans and animals must be made with caution
• Conditioning may be useful in explaining animal behaviour, but may not be very useful in explaining learning in humans
• Limitations of classical conditioning

  • Only explains how reflex responses become associated with new stimuli
  • Much human behaviour is voluntary and therefore cannot be explained by classical conditioning
  • Other learning processes must be involved
• Classical conditioning ignores the role of cognitive and biological factors which have also been shown to play a role in learning
• Pavlov's key contribution to psychology

  Discovery of classical conditioning, demonstrating how learned associations between stimuli can influence behaviour
• Pavlov's work


  • Laid the foundation for behaviourism
  • Influenced therapeutic techniques
  • Informed our understanding of learning and memory processes
• Behaviourism


  A major school of thought in psychology, based on Pavlov's principles of classical conditioning
• Behaviours explained by classical conditioning

  • Phobias
  • Food aversions
• Therapy techniques based on classical conditioning

  • Systematic desensitisation
  • Exposure therapy
• Purpose of these therapies

  To 'unlearn' a conditioned response (such as fear) by changing the association between a specific stimulus and its response
• Little Albert experiment


  Demonstrated that emotional responses could be classically conditioned to fear a white rat, which generalised to similar objects
• Educational strategies


  Repetitive learning and rote memorisation, applications of the principles of classical conditioning
• Purpose of educational strategies

  The repeated association between stimulus and response can help to reinforce learning
• Use of Pavlov's conditioning in marketing and advertising


  To build brand recognition and positive associations by pairing a product with appealing stimuli