Pavlov

• aim?

  investigate if a reflexive behaviour can be produced in new situations through learning and associating a rexlex with a NS
• hypothesis?

  presentation of precise stimuli would evoke salivation response (dogs salivate when they see the food)
• procedure of preparing dog?

  used 35 dogs with variety of breeds raised in Kennels in Lab.

  • dog placed in sealed room that dog cannot see smell or hear anything outside. also strapped to harness to stop moving and mouth linked to tube that drains saliva
• procedure after preparing dog?

  before conditioning:

  • UCS (food) -> UCR (salivate)

  before conditioning:

  • NS (sound) -> NS (no salivation)

  during conditioning:

  • UCS + NS -> UCR

  after conditioning:

  • CS (sound) -> CR (salivation)
• results?

  • after repeated pairings dog had learned to associate sound with food.
  • example for above, using metronome salivation started 9 seconds after hearing sound and by 45 seconds produced 11 drops.
  • secondary conditioning was possible due to seeing other results, dog salivated to sound of buzzer
  • not all dogs were same
• conclusion?

  • environmental stimuli that had no relation to reflex action (automatic and involuntary) can trigger a response through repeated pairings
  • brain learns to perceive new sounds as signal that connects to meat
  • applications, animals apply reflexes to new situations based on experiences before so new neural pathways formed in brain.