LEARNING THEORIES Pavlov 1927

Question 1

what was Pavlov wanting to do

Answer 1

investigate gastric function of dogs

Question 2

aim

Answer 2

to explore how salivation becomes associated with novel stimuli unrelated to food

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

• conducted invasive procedure to re-route saliva ducts
• conducted in soundproof chamber to minimise noise and view with dogs immobilised (harnessed)
• established baseline with amount of salivation to NS (metronome)
• paired NS with UCS of food around 20 times
• varied the presentation of NS so it was presented before (forward conditioning) or after UCS (backward conditioning)
• further variation to investigate extinction and spontaneous recovery

Question 4

results

Answer 4

• after 9s of metronome, dogs= salivated
• after 45s, 11 drops of salivation collected
• only occurred with forward conditioning

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

• link made in the brain between unconditioned stimulus and NS that occurs just before the unconditioned stimulus
• signalisation = link made has a survival value

Question 6

A03 positive points

Answer 6

• controls used (screens to prevent dogs seeing food, only exposing one stimulus at a time - minimises extraneous variables)
• standardised procedure (NS paired 20 times with UCS) so can replicate with 35 dogs
• led to developments of aversion therapy and systematic desensitisation (helped people overcome phobias)

Question 7

A03 negative

Answer 7

• highly unnatural setting (immobilised, unable to see food arriving) so results not generalised to RL settings
• conducted in laboratory setting with dogs (not generalisable to humans - brain structures differ)
• tested an excessive number of dogs, live with wounds, invasive surgery, tested for long periods = ethical concerns