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May 8, 20204 min read

What is Pavlovian Response? | 300 Seconds of Science

General Manager: Juan Contreras

Producer: Nicole Maxhimer

Author: Collin Long

 

Have you ever bumped your foot against something and said “ouch,” even if it didn’t hurt? Do you always check your pockets for your phone, wallet, and keys before checking the house? Do you ever close your laptop and then look up the exact same things on your phone? If you haven’t, it is likely that a lot of other people have.


These are forms of classical conditioning that occur whenever two stimuli are paired together so often that it produces an automatic response to the first naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning can also be referred to as a Pavlovian response, named after Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. This is Collin Long from 300 Seconds of Science, and today’s blog entry will cover Pavlovian responses and how they form.


While studying the gastric functions of dogs, Ivan Pavlov began examining their salivary glands and how they responded to different types of foods. Eventually, he hypothesized that dogs begin to salivate in response to different foods being placed in front of them, but then he discovered that dogs actually began to salivate in response to hearing the footsteps of whoever it was that usually fed them. Ivan Pavlov had an epiphany and began to dedicate his studies almost entirely to classical conditioning.


To confirm his suspicion that the dog would begin to salivate as a response to any stimuli that would occur just before it was given food, Pavlov began playing the metronome. By playing the metronome by itself without also introducing the food, it, of course, registered no response from the dog. But when playing the metronome just before giving the dog food, the dog began associating the sound of the metronome with the food. Lastly, Ivan Pavlov began playing the metronome by itself again without giving the dog food. Then, the dog began salivating as a response to the sound of the metronome regardless of whether-or-not it was given food. Thus, the metronome became a conditioned stimulus and the saliva the conditioned response.


Later, Pavlov would conclude that in order for any learned response to occur, the two stimuli had to be introduced in a close matter of time, otherwise, no natural associations would be made between the two stimuli. Ivan Pavlov would call this the law of temporal contiguity. To summarize, any neutral stimulus (such as a bell or a metronome) introduced by itself will result in zero conditioned responses. But, when paired with a second stimulus rather quickly, this allows for associations to be made between the two. Eventually, the neutral stimulus will become a conditioned stimulus and it will activate an automatic response by itself without the second stimulus, making the response itself conditioned.

Ivan Pavlov would publish his findings on involuntary reflex actions called The Work of the Digestive Glands in 1897 and he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1904. Ivan Pavlov’s work was largely unknown in the west until John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, both American physiologists, began citing him in their writings about classical conditioning, comparative psychology, and behaviorism.


Let’s look at other examples. Say you work at a fast-food restaurant, and you know a customer has arrived whenever you hear a ding noise or you see a car arriving at the drive-thru. Obviously, as more-and-more customers arrive, your restaurant becomes much busier and your work becomes harder. Eventually, the sound of the ding noise or the glance at a car driving by may trigger a sense of dread that the restaurant might become busy. This means that the sense of dread has become a pavlovian response, and the ding noise and the cars have become conditioned stimuli after starting off as neutral stimuli.


Let’s make up another example. You might have just gotten done reading about Ivan Pavlov and his classical conditioning tests on dogs, so if I always brought up dogs whenever I talked about Ivan Pavlov, you’ll probably make the association between Ivan Pavlov and his dogs. At this point, you’ll probably think about dogs whenever Ivan Pavlov’s name is brought up. So, if I say “Ivan Pavlov,” and your first automatic thought is about his experiments with dogs, then you have just developed a Pavlovian response to Ivan Pavlov’s name. In this experiment, Ivan Pavlov started off as neutral stimuli and then evolved into a conditioned stimulus, and the thought about dogs has become a conditioned response since you have made the connection between Ivan Pavlov and his dogs.


As you can see, Ivan Pavlov’s theories on involuntary reactions are arguably largely foundational to how we behave to certain stimuli. If you have any questions about Ivan Pavlov and classical conditioning, feel free to tweet us at @300SecOfScience on Twitter. While You're at it don't forget to subscribe to our youtube channel, give us a like on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and send us some love on Instagram. This was Collin Long reminding you to stay in, enjoy life, and stay curious!

 

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Author:

Collin Long

Communications: Media Studies Major

 

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