Pavlov's dogs are a term that refers to the famous experiment conducted by
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov demonstrating classical conditioning. In this
experiment, dogs learned to associate a neutral stimulus (like a bell) with the
unconditioned stimulus (food), eventually salivating in response to the bell
alone. This learning process, where a neutral stimulus becomes associated
with a meaningful stimulus, is known as classical conditioning.
Explanation:
The Setup:
Pavlov initially observed that dogs would salivate when they saw food. He then
began to ring a bell shortly before giving the dogs food.
The Conditioning:
Initially, the bell was a neutral stimulus that didn't elicit salivation. However, after
repeatedly pairing the bell with food, the dogs began to associate the bell with food
and started salivating even when the bell was rung alone, without food being
present.
Classical Conditioning:
This demonstrates classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus (the bell)
becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (food), eventually eliciting a
conditioned response (salivation).
Pavlovian Response:
The salivation in response to the bell alone is known as a Pavlovian response or a
conditioned response.
In essence, Pavlov's dogs showed that animals, and by extension humans,
can learn to associate stimuli and develop conditioned responses to them.
The Little Albert experiment, conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner
in 1920, was a study that demonstrated classical conditioning in humans. It
involved conditioning an 9-month-old infant, later known as "Little Albert," to
fear a white rat by repeatedly pairing the rat with a loud, startling noise.
Initially, Albert showed no fear of the rat, but after repeated pairings with the
loud noise, he began to cry and exhibit signs of fear when he saw the rat,
even without the noise. This demonstrated that a fear response could be
learned through classical conditioning, where a previously neutral stimulus
(the rat) becomes associated with a negative stimulus (the loud noise).
Elaboration:
The Goal:
Watson and Rayner aimed to show that fear responses could be learned through
classical conditioning, just as Pavlov had demonstrated in his experiments with
dogs.
The Setup:
Little Albert was initially exposed to various stimuli, including a white rat, rabbit,
monkey, and masks, without any fear responses.
The Conditioning:
The researchers then repeatedly paired the white rat with a loud, frightening noise
(created by hitting a metal bar with a hammer).
The Result:
After these pairings, Little Albert began to cry and exhibit distress not only at the
sight of the rat but also at the sight of other furry or white objects, demonstrating the
generalization of the conditioned fear.
Ethical Concerns:
The experiment has been heavily criticized for its ethical issues, including the lack of
informed consent from the infant, the induction of fear, and the lack of
deconditioning after the experiment concluded.
Key Concepts:
● Classical Conditioning: A learning process where a neutral stimulus (the rat)
becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response (the loud
noise), eventually causing the neutral stimulus to elicit the same response.
●
● Neutral Stimulus: The white rat, which initially did not elicit any fear response.
●
● Unconditioned Stimulus: The loud noise, which naturally elicits fear (crying).
●
● Unconditioned Response: Albert's natural fear response to the loud noise.
●
● Conditioned Stimulus: The white rat, which becomes associated with the loud
noise and elicits fear after conditioning.
●
● Conditioned Response: Albert's fear response to the white rat after it has been
paired with the loud noise.
●
● Stimulus Generalization: The tendency for the conditioned response (fear) to
be elicited by stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus (the white rat).
