03. Pavlov 1927 Flashcards
What was Pavlov’s aim?
Pavlov’s initial aim was to learn about the salivation reflex, however he noted that salivation in dogs occurred not only in response to food but to stimuli that typically occurred close in time to the presentation of food. Pavlov’s broad aim then shifted towards exploring conditioned reflexes (classically conditioned responses).
- Explaining the role of conditioned reflexes in the eating behaviour of dogs.
- Exploring how salivation becomes associated with new stimuli apparently unrelated to food and the properties of this association.
What was Pavlov’s method?
-Pavlov used a repeated measures design and studied the same dogs before and after conditioning.
-Lab experiment in controlled conditions of soundproof room to minimise the effects of extraneous variables like noise.
Describe Pavlov’s sample.
35 dogs of a variety of breeds, raised in kennels in the lab.
How did Pavlov established a baseline?
-The procedure involved measuring a baseline of their salvation when they ate the meat powder, then conditioning the dogs to associate a neutral stimulus with the food and remeasuring their salivation. –Dogs were conditioned by pairing the neutral stimulus sound with the presentation of meat powder about 20 times depending on attentiveness of dog.
Describe the apparatus Pavlov used to measure saliva.
DV= Saliva measured
The dog was strapped into a harness to stop it moving about and its mouth was linked to a tube that drained saliva away into a measuring bottle/cannula.
Describe Pavlov’s procedure.
- Pavlov established a baseline by measuring salivation in response to the neutral stimulus (NS), eg a metronome or buzzer. Then he would pair the NS with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) of food, usually around 20 times.
- Pavlov varied the presentation so that the NS was presented before (forward conditioning) or after the UCS (backward conditioning).
- Further variations in the procedure were used to investigate extinction and spontaneous recovery of salivation, for example the NS (eg metronome), now a conditioned stimulus (CS), was presented several times without the UCS which produced extinction.
Describe the results of conditioning.
Pavlov found that conditioned dog started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing the CS sound, and by 45 seconds had produced 11 drops of saliva.
Describe the results of extinction.
-Extinction occurred if the CS was presented several times without the UCS of food and salivation reduced.
-There was some spontaneous recovery of salivation after extinction had happened, when some dogs spontaneously salivated at the sound of the stimulus which had previously been extinct.
What did Pavlov conclude?
-A link is likely to be made in the brain between a UCS and an NS that occurs just before the UCS.
-Pavlov called this signalisation, which has survival value in preparing an organism for events.
-For example, a dog can learn to salivate when it hears a buzzer so that it is prepared to eat by the time food is presented.
What can we conclude from Pavlov’s classic study?
-Pavlov deserves credit for documenting the discovery of classical conditioning and for systematically exploring it, uncovering phenomena like extinction and spontaneous recovery.
-His procedures were well controlled, and his conclusions largely supported by later research.
-His work has important implications and has benefitted society through the development of treatment for phobias, however there are controversial uses, and it should be remembered that it only explains one aspect of learning which only applies to reflex responses.
