Ivan Pavlov
Amin Nehas
(September 14, 1849 – February 27, 1936)
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian Physiologist
Known for
Ivan Pavlov was most famous for his Classical Conditioning theory. Pavlov was studying how dogs saliva helps their digestion. His assistants that feed the dogs wore white lab coats, he noticed that the dogs salivated whenever they saw the lab coats. He learned that the white lab coats caused an unconditional response.
Classical Conditioning within Psychology - "Attack of the Quack"
Contributions to Psychology:
Pavlov's experiment opened the door to the development of Behaviorism. His theory is still taught today to every psychology student.
Contributions to the average person:
Pavlov used his experiment as a model for describing much of the automatic/non conscious learning that occurs in everyday life.
Time Period
The time period was beneficial to Pavlov because if his experiment were tried today it would be considered unethical. What made this experiment unethical was that he surgically modified the dogs to make the saliva easier to measure, this was physically harmful to the dogs. Pavlov also keep the dogs outside of their natural environment which caused psychological damage.