Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with salivation of dogs Flashcards
1
Q
state the 2 investigate aims of pavlov’s study
A
- investigate whether you could condition a dog to salivate at the noise of a bell
- investigate whether changing the noise of a bell to a metronome has the same effect
2
Q
describe the procedure of the study
A
- controlled setting
- chose salivation as it was measurable (drops can be counted or amount can be measured in glass tube)
- collected saliva from salivary glands of immobilised dog
- done in a laboratory so saliva produced could be easily observed and measured
- procedure took place in soundproof chamber in order to minimise effects of EV eg noise
- established baseline by measuring salivation in response to NS eg bell, metronome or buzzer
- then he would pair NS to UCS of food, usually around 20 mins
- UCR = salivation collected via tube in dog’s mouth
3
Q
describe the results
A
- NS eg sound of bell/metronome didn’t initially cause dog to salivate, whereas UCS of food made dog salivate immediately
- after several pairings of NS and UCS the NS could be presented on it’s own and after a few seconds, dog would start to salivate
- 11 drops of saliva were collected in 45 seconds when the bell was presented after association
- noted that salivation reflex only became associated with NS if dog was alert and undistracted
4
Q
describe the conclusions
A
- a link is likely to be made in the brain between UCS (food) and NS (metronome)
- dogs could learn through association (classical conditioning)
5
Q
what is meant by ‘high order conditioning’?
A
- when a new NS is paired with a CS to produce the same CR
6
Q
what is a weakness of the study (PEE)?
- generalisability
A
- a weakness of the study is that it lacks generalisability
- for example, it is done on dogs which have different cerebral cortexes to humans
- therefore, the findings cannot be representative of humans
7
Q
what is a strength of the study (PEEIA)?
- reliability
A
- a strength of the study is that it has high reliability
- for example, standardised procedures were used where the dogs were isolated and the bell was always sounded before the food was presented
- therefore, this makes it easy to replicate and check for consistency
- in addition, pavlov repeated the experiment using a metronome in place of a bell and found no difference making it reliable.
8
Q
what is a strength of the study (PEE)?
- application
A
- a strength of the study is the practical applications
- for example, it is useful in treating phobias through systematic desensitisation where the feared stimulus is paired with something good
- therefore, this suggests that the principles of classical conditioning can help people overcome phobias, leading to a better quality of life
9
Q
what is a weakness of the study (PEECA)?
- validity
A
- a weakness of the study is that it lacks validity
- it was a lab study and the dog was in an unusual condition, being isolated and strapped to a harness
- therefore, the mundane realism and task validity is low as this may not be accurate for how a dog may respond in real life
- however, it is argued that the study has high validity
- for example, the lab environment meant that there was strict control over extraneous variables such as the presence of other dogs or noise
- therefore, it is easy to establish a cause and effect relationship because the results are more likely to be due to the manipulated IV
10
Q
what is a weakness of the study (PEE)?
- ethics
A
- a weakness of the study is that there are ethical issues
- for example, the dog was isolated and they are social animals
- therefore, this breaks the animal ethics guideline of isolation and crowding which is a weakness
11
Q
application - eating problems
A
- study helps understand eating behaviours
- obesity can be partially understood in terms of CRs like those displayed by Pavlov’s dogs
- eg Jansen suggested overweight children have acquired very strong associations between cues that predict arrival of food and salivation response
- overeating follows exposure to those cues
