pavlov Flashcards
flow chart of pavlovs study before, during and after
before:metronome (NS) no response
food (UCS)-salivation (UCR)
during:bell (NS)+food (UCS)=salivation (UCR)
after conditioning: bell (CS)=salivation (CR)
who was pavlov ?
a russian physiologist who developed the classical conditioning after studying secretion in dogs
what was pavlovs aim!
study how the cerebral cortex works in making associations and to look for a mechanism linking reflexes to cerebral cortex
what did pavlov already know about the dogs salivation?
when he put food in a dogs mouth they would salivate and when he worked with the same dog repeatedly the dogs began to salivate to stimuli associated with food (the dish,person bringing food)
he notices some things dogs don’t need to learn as it’s a reflex (UCR)
what was the procedure of pavlovas study?
He used a variety of neutral stimuli including metronome, bell and buzzers as it does not produce a specific behavioural response in dogs.
He then paired a neutral stimulus with food (UCS) to condition this new stimulus to produce the same response.
The dogs were in a small room secured in a harness and were represented food from a room adjacent to their room with a device attached to their cheek to collect saliva into a measuring instrument.
Just before placing food in the dogs mouth to produce salivation, Pavlov sounded a metronome.
After several pairings of the metronome and food, the dog started to salivate to the metronome alone.
how did pavlov eliminate possible influence of extraneous variables?
Isolated dogs in a small room so footsteps outside could not be heard.
Secured in a harness and attached to a device that diverts its saliva to a measuring instrument.
Represented food from a room adjacent- they slid in a mood bowl, later blowing meat powder into the dog’s mount at a precise moment.
results of the study
Salivation started after 9 seconds and by 45 seconds, 11 drops had been collected.
The dog would only salivate when the NS/CS was presented before the UCS, NOT if it came AFTER (Metronome before food not food before metronome)
The dog had to be alert and no other stimuli present to distract or affect the acquired learning.
The findings were reliable across various stimuli like odours and visual cues.
conclusions
he concluded that there is a signalisation in the brain that links the metronome to food and this gives the reflex response of salivation.
conditioning was found to be sensitive to many extraneous variables and to individual differences.
how is pavlovs study low in generalisability?
The research was conducted using dogs rather than humans.
When the findings demonstrate basic principles of learning, human behaviour is more complex due to cognitive and emotional factors, meaning results nay not fully apply to human learning and conditioning.
how is pavlovs study high in reliability?
procedures were tightly controlled and replicated such as isolating the dogs and using precise timings for presenting the stimuli.
these standardised methods ensure the associations can be consistently reproduced making the finding about the CS and CR more reliable and credible.
where can pavlovs study be applied?
real life application.
as this prompted further research which lead to an explanation of phobias that led to development of an appropriate treatment
eg: systematic desensitisation
why is pavlovs study high in validity?
it was highly specific.
pavlov used objective methods such as measuring salivation with instruments and controlled extraneous variables like social interaction and distraction.
these controls reduce the risk of confounding variables ensuring the results accurately reflect the process of classical conditioning.
why do ethics raise concern in pavlovs study?
dogs were isolated, restrained and exposed to repeated procedures which could have caused distress.
whikst ethical guidelines were less developed as the time. modern standards would question the treatment of animals. which may limit the ethical acceptability of the study.
