Pavlov (1927) Salivation in Dogs Flashcards
What is the aim of Pavlovs 1927 study?
To investigate if a reflexive behaviour can be produced in new situations through classical conditioning- to see if associating an unconditioned stimulus (food) with a neutral stimulus (noise) causes a conditioned response (salivation).
What is the procedure of Pavlovs 1927 study?
- Animal study
- 35 dogs pps (a variety of breeds) and raised in lab kennels.
- Pavlov places each dog in a sealed soundproof chamber away from other stimuli that might cause salivation and strapped them into a harness facing forward with a tube attached to the mouth to drain and measure saliva.
- Dogs were presented with food (UCS) and salivated (UCR). Dogs heard the sound (NS) and didn’t salivate.
- Pavlov paired the sound (a tuning fork) with the food around 20 times.
- After conditioning, Pavlov presented the sound without the food.
What are the results of Pavlovs 1927 study?
Conditioned dogs started to salivate (CR) 9 seconds after hearing the sound (CS), and by 45 seconds, had produced 11 drops of saliva.
What is the conclusion of Pavlovs 1927 study?
Pavlov discovered classical conditioning and concluded that after a neutral stimulus is paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus will turn into a conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response.
Describe the weakness of the generalisability of Pavlovs study.
Animals: learning in dogs can’t generalise to learning in humans which is more complex due to advanced cognitive processes with thoughts and motives. CC is a shallow form of reflex learning. This study doesn’t consider how learning also occurs through imitation or consequence.
Describe the strength of the generalisability of Pavlovs study.
A researcher replicated the procedure with orphaned children. The NS was a squeeze on the wrist and the UCS was a cookie. Over time, salivation occurred when their wrists were squeezed.
Describe the strength of the reliability of Pavlovs study.
Standardised: controls such as use of a harness to make the dog face forward made the procedure somewhat standardised and Pavlov repeated the study many times over 25 years finding the same results- test-retest reliability.
Describe the strength of the applicability of Pavlovs study.
Theory and therapy- the experiment sparked further research into classical conditioning and later the behaviourism approach within psychology. From this, therapies such as aversion therapy have been introduced to help treat addictions, where stimuli such as alcohol are paired with stimuli that induce nausea. Systematic desensitisation also involved pairing previously feared stimuli with feelings of relaxation.
Describe the strength of the validity of Pavlovs study.
Controls were used such as a sealed soundproof booth and a harness to reduce the impact of extraneous variables and establish cause and effect that the noise is what causes the salivation once the dogs are conditioned.
Describe the weakness of the validity of Pavlovs study.
Low ecological validity as the harness boxes do not reflect usual conditions for the dogs, and learning may occur differently in other more realistic settings.
Describe the weakness of the ethicality of Pavlovs study.
Unethical as it can be argued that the use of dogs is unethical as the situation was potentially distressing for the dogs to be tied up in a harness in an unusual environment. There was an unnecessary number of dogs used over the 25 year span of research.
Describe the strength of the ethicality of Pavlovs study.
It can be argued the harm is no Al and the benefits for society outweigh such issues.
