PAVLOVS CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY

Late 1800s and early 1900s

Pavlov and his colleagues studied the digestive process in

dogs.

-They noticed the timing and rate of salivation of these animals

*According to Pavlov, if meat powder was placed in or near the mouth of a hungry
dog the dog would salivate.
CS

Conditioned Stimulus

Bell

US

Unconditioned Stimulus

Meat Powder

CR

Conditioned Response

Salivation

UR

Unconditioned Response

Response of Salivation

Pavlov observed that if meat powder was placed or near the mouth fo a hungry dog the dog
would salivate. Because the meat powder provoked this response automatically without any prior
training or conditioning the meat powder is referred to an unconditioned stimulus. Similarly,
because salivation occurred automatically, in the presence of meat, also without the need for any
training or experience, this response of salivating is referred to as an unconditioned response.
Pavlovs experiments showed that if a previously neutral stimulus (ringing of the bell) is paired with
an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and gains the
power to prompt a response similar to that produced by the unconditioned stimulus. In other words,
after the bell and the meat are presented together, the ringing of the bell alone causes the dog to
salivate. (Facilitating Learning by Vega & Prieto)
Example: Suppose that a child experiences pain and fear as a result of having his teeth
filled. The fear becomes conditioned to various cues such as the sight of the drill or the dentist. In
this example, drilling sensations are the US, pain-fear is the UR, sight of the drill and dentist is a
complex CS, and fear is the CR. (General Psychology by Sevilla et.al)
Another child may have learned to fear closed, dark places because he was once
frightened by the doors slamming shut and confining him inside the dark room. This habit of
fearing closed, dark places continued to exist long after the child had forgotten the original
circumstance. Such a child could possibly carry this conditioned fear of closed places (also called a
phobia) for the rest of his life. Many of our fears have been acquired by similar conditioning
procedures. (General Psychology by Sevilla et.al)