The conditioned reflex, which significantly influenced psychology in the years to follow, was discovered by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. In fact, a metro station in Prague is named after him – I.P. Pavlova.
The method of shaping behavior through the creation of conditioned reflexes is known as classical conditioning. Essentially, it is a form of learning used in dog training, alcoholism treatment, and the formation of both healthy and unhealthy habits on both conscious and unconscious levels.
Treatment of Alcoholism
Regarding alcoholism treatment, individuals addicted to alcohol are given a pill that induces vomiting when alcohol is consumed. You might have heard of Antabuse, the most well-known medication for this purpose. The aim is to associate alcohol with the sensation of nausea, creating a negative association that naturally prevents the person from drinking again. If every time you drink a beer you feel nauseous, you will develop an aversion to alcohol. Unfortunately, the problem with this method is that unlike dogs, humans possess insight learning, meaning they can deduce that if they don’t take the pill, they won’t feel sick. Many addicts simply stop taking the pill and continue drinking.
The Case of the Amnesiac Patient
One intriguing example of classical conditioning is an experiment by neuropsychiatrist Édouard Claparède. He worked with a patient suffering from a form of amnesia that prevented her from storing new information. One day, Claparède shook her hand with a pin hidden in his palm, pricking her lightly. Although the patient couldn’t remember the unpleasant event the next day, she hesitated to shake Claparède’s hand again. This indicated that the part of her brain processing emotions remembered the situation. She associated handshaking with pain, and even though she couldn’t recall the specific event, the emotion resurfaced. The brain had created a conditioned response to handshaking.
Experiments on Homosexuals
Classical conditioning was also used in attempts to “cure” homosexuality. The most intense efforts were recorded after World War II. As you might know, homosexuality was historically considered utterly unacceptable, and in some countries, it is still punishable by death, such as in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia. According to information I found online, there are about ten such countries, primarily in Africa and South Asia.
When homosexual fantasies were noted in individuals, they were given emetics or subjected to electric shocks. Unsurprisingly, while these methods did create conditioned reflexes, they did not cure the patient but rather prevented them from being themselves. Interestingly, even Freud dealt with treating homosexuality, and it is known that he often caused more harm than good to his patients.
Pavlov’s Experiments on Dogs
Pavlov discovered the conditioned reflex quite by accident. Initially, he was interested in human digestive processes. Since he couldn’t experiment on humans, he decided to use dogs. He first surgically moved their salivary glands to the skin and then observed their reactions to various stimuli. Initially, he noticed that saliva formed when the dogs ate. He then observed that saliva formed even before their bowls were filled – when they heard the sound of the bowls or the approaching food cart. This fascinated Pavlov, so he began experimenting with other stimuli like bells, metronomes, and lights, finding that the dogs’ salivary glands reacted similarly. The dogs associated the sound of the bell with food, and their bodies began reacting as if they were already eating.
But this wasn’t enough for Pavlov; he also studied what happened when, for example, the bell rang, but no food followed. The dogs gradually stopped reacting. Pavlov was thrilled with his discovery, documented it, and named it the conditioned reflex. In 1904, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in physiology and research on digestive processes.
Sometimes, I think people view Pavlov very positively, but it’s important to mention that some of his experiments were quite cruel. For instance, he showed dogs a drawn circle or ellipse. When it was a circle, the dogs received food. When it was an ellipse, they received an electric shock. The dogs could indeed distinguish between the geometric shapes, responding accordingly. They salivated when seeing the circle and tucked their tails between their legs when seeing the ellipse. However, this wasn’t the worst part. Pavlov gradually altered the shapes, making the circle look more like an ellipse and vice versa. The dogs eventually couldn’t distinguish between the shapes, leading to complete panic. Pavlov described this phenomenon as the breakdown of the nervous system.
Nikolai Krasnogorsky’s Experiments on Children
Pavlov had a student and colleague, Nikolai Krasnogorsky, who ambitiously decided to test classical conditioning on humans. Knowing his experiments would be unethical, Krasnogorsky chose orphaned children for his work, whom he then confined to his lab, tied to their beds. He studied the amount of saliva the children produced when given a cookie. He then paired the cookie with pressure on the wrist and observed if the children produced the same amount of saliva as when given the cookie alone and how they reacted. His experiment, due to his methods, sparked significant controversy, but it indeed made history. He found that the human mind could discern more nuances in stimuli than dogs but fundamentally functioned the same way. Pavlov was fascinated by this discovery. The fate of the children used in these experiments remains unknown.
The Commercial World and Classical Conditioning
The marketing industry uses classical conditioning daily. Associating products with colors, jingles, or the number of times an ad is viewed is carefully planned and based on knowledge of classical conditioning.
My Observations
I sometimes observe classical conditioning in myself. For instance, when I worked in an office at the municipal district, I would get a static shock every time I touched the doorknob to leave the office. It reached a point where I was afraid to touch the doorknob. Eventually, it stopped, and my conditioned reflex faded.
Similarly, when the lightbulb in my bathroom broke and I couldn’t replace it for about a month, I still instinctively reached for the switch every time I entered the bathroom, even though I knew the bulb was broken. My conditioned reflex was to reach for the switch as soon as I entered the bathroom. I could provide many more examples like this.
Dog Training
Classical conditioning is extensively used in dog training, and understanding it is crucial for correctly pairing verbal commands with behavior. It is also used when dealing with fear, rewarding, where a clicker or verbal signal is paired with a reward, or when working with corrective tools like an electronic collar or long leash. I personally use or have used an electronic collar with some clients, and it is very important that the dog owner understands what information they want to convey to the dog and that the dog knows why the correction occurred and how to stop it. As I mentioned in Pavlov’s experiments with the ellipse and the circle, what caused the dogs’ panic was uncertainty.
A Gift from Heaven
While the discovery of classical conditioning is surrounded by many unethical experiments, some of which were quite cruel, it is an undeniable fact that in psychology and medicine, it has helped many people and animals.