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Applications of Pavlovs Work to Human Health and Well-Being


Pavlovs principles of classical conditioning have been applied in various ways to improve human health and well-being:

Drug Cravings:

People who formerly abused drugs often feel a craving when they are again in the drug-using context, because their brain has become conditioned to associate that context with a drugs reward (Wilar et al., 2019)

Breaking this association can reduce cravings (Ananth et al., 2019; Martínez-Rivera et al., 2019).

Many drug counselors advise clients to steer clear of the people and settings associated with previous highs (NIDA, 2017; Siegel, 2005).

Food Cravings:

Classical conditioning makes avoiding sweets difficult.

Researchers have conditioned healthy volunteers to experience cravings after only one instance of eating a sweet food (Blechert et al., 2016).

Immune Responses:

When a particular taste accompanies a drug that influences immune responses, the taste by itself may come to produce an immune response (Ader & Cohen, 1985).


Watsons Application of Pavlovs Principles to Learned Fears


John B. Watson extended Pavlovs work by demonstrating that emotions and fears could also be conditioned:

Little Albert Experiment:

Watson and his graduate student Rosalie Rayner (1920; Harris, 1979) studied an 11-month-old infant to show how specific fears might be conditioned.

Little Albert feared loud noises but not white rats.

Watson and Rayner presented a white rat and, as Little Albert reached to touch it, struck a hammer against a steel bar just behind his head.

After seven repeats of seeing the rat and hearing the frightening noise, Albert burst into tears at the mere sight of the rat.

Five days later, he reportedly generalized this startled fear reaction to the sight of a rabbit, a dog, and even a furry coat.

A modern reanalysis questioned Watsons evidence for Alberts conditioning, but the case remains legendary (Powell & Schmaltz, 2020).

Impact on Therapy:

Psychologist Mary Cover Jones (1924) was the first to extend Watson and Rayners results by showing how conditioning can also reduce childrens fear.

Therapists began using conditioning to reduce their clients fears.

For example, one person treated a longtime fear of entering an elevator alone by riding 20 elevators a day for 10 days, nearly eliminating the fear (Ellis & Becker, 1982).

Mark Malkoff overcame his fear of flying by taking 135 flights in 30 days (NPR, 2009).


Watsons work showed that fears can be learned through association and later reduced using conditioning techniques.

Applications of Pavlov’s Work to Human Health and Well-Being:

  • Drug Cravings: People who previously abused drugs may experience cravings when in drug-related contexts due to conditioned associations. Breaking these associations can help reduce cravings.

  • Food Cravings: Classical conditioning can make it challenging to resist sweets; individuals can develop cravings after limited exposure to sweet foods.

  • Immune Responses: A specific taste linked to a drug may eventually trigger an immune response on its own, illustrating the power of conditioned responses.

Watson’s Applications of Pavlov’s Principles to Learned Fears:

  • Little Albert Experiment: Watson demonstrated fear conditioning by associating a loud noise with a white rat, leading to Albert developing a fear of rats and other furry objects.

  • Impact on Therapy: Conditioning techniques have been utilized to help individuals reduce their fears, exemplified by cases where patients faced their fears through repeated exposure.

Watson’s findings show how emotions can be conditioned and later alleviated using similar techniques.