pavlov classical conditioning in dogs

what is the aim of pavlovs research?

to investigate if dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus of a metronome with receding food, producing a salivation response.

what is the sample of pavlova study?

35 different breeds of dogs that were raised in lab conditions.

what was the procedure?

Dogs were presented with a metronome followed by food, and their salivation was measured.

how was it broken down?

before learning- food leads to salivation, the sound of a metronome produced no response. During learning - metronome followed by food leads to salivation, and after learning - metronome alone triggers salivation response.

what were the results of pavlova study?

the dogs learnt to salivate at the sound of a metronome even if there was no food present. the dogs started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing metronome, and by 45 seconds produced 11 drops of saliva.

what was the conclusion of his study?

Pavlov concluded that the dogs could be conditioned to associate a neutral stimulus, like the metronome, with an unconditioned stimulus, such as food, leading to a conditioned response of salivation.

one weakness of pavlov? (generalisability)

Pavlovs results may not be representative of how humans learn as he used a restricted sample 35 different breeds of dogs. this is a weakness as results may not be generalised to how humans may learn associations due to physiological differences between dogs and humans.

a strength of pavlovs study ? (reliability)

he used a standardised procedure in that all dogs were tested before learning to see the metronome produced no response. this was repeatedly paired with the food which lead to salvation. this is a strength as it is high in reliability as it is easy to replicate the study into association to check if learning occurs consistently.

another strength ? (data)

pavlov collected quantitative data as he found that the conditioned dogs stated salivate 9 seconds after hearing the metronome. this is objective and allows for clear measurement of the conditioned response, increasing the validity of his findings.

another weakness ?(ethics)

this restricted social environment could have caused severe distress to pavlov’s dogs as he had the tubes attached to their salivary glands and each dog was placed in an isolated, sound proof room and restricted in a harness during the series of trials. this is a weakness as it brakes the caging guideline for dogs who are not usually kept in such confined environment

balanced conclusion of pavlov’s study

pavlovs research is useful as treatment programmes for phobias to improve human lives such as systematic desensitisation have been developed real the negative association through pairing the conditioned stimulus to a relaxation response. however, it is less useful in explaining complex human behaviors and emotions, as it primarily focuses on observable responses in dogs.