Ivan Pavlov: biography of this referent of behaviorism

Pavlov made possible the emergence of behaviorism, an important current in psychology.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian physiologist, well known for his experiments with dogs well known for his experiments with dogs, which gave rise to what is known today as classical conditioning. Classical or Pavlovian conditioning is the most basic type of associative learning, in which an organism responds to an environmental stimulus, originally neutral, with an automatic or reflex response.

Pavlov's findings are studied in all universities of psychology and educational sciences, as it is one of the most important topics in the field.It is one of the most introductory subjects of both careers, and it is one of the basic principles of learning. In this article you will find the biography of this famous historical figure and the explanation of why he is considered one of the most important researchers of all times. He won the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his experiments on dogs.

Who was Ivan Pavlov?

Ivan Pavlov was born in Ryazan, Russia. His father, Peter Dmitrievich Pavlov, was a village priest, and his mother, Varvara Ivanovna, a housewife. As a child, Pavlov was always an active boy who liked to spend hours and hours in the garden or pedaling his bicycle. He always had a curious mind, and liked contact with nature and animals. Pavlov did not mind doing housework and taking care of his siblings. Of 11 siblings he was the eldest.

As he grew older, he seriously considered becoming a priest and training for a career in theology. But during his teenage years, Pavlov became interested in the works of Charles Darwin and Ivan Sechenov.which motivated him to study natural sciences.

In 1870 he enrolled at St. Petersburg University to study physics, mathematics and natural sciences. he enrolled at the University of St. Petersburg to study physics, mathematics and natural sciences.. During his university years, he was influenced by his physiology professor and decided that this was the path he wanted to follow in life. Pavlov was always an exceptional student and in 1875 he graduated. He then continued his doctoral studies at the Academy of Medical Surgery to further his education in physiology.

The dog experiments

Ivan Pavlov is best known for his experiments on dogs. And although he is today one of the celebrated figures in psychology and education, his first intention was not to study learning, but the salivation of dogs..

During his experiments, what struck him was that, after repeated trials, the dogs secreted saliva even in his (Pavlov's) presence, regardless of whether he fed them or not. This was because the animals had learned that when Pavlov came through the door they would receive food at any time.

On the basis of this discovery, the physiologist devised a series of experiments in which he ringing a bell just before handing the food to the dog to measure the production of saliva. to measure saliva production. Pavlov discovered that once the dogs were trained to associate the sound of the bell with food, they would produce saliva even if the food was not present. That is, the bell caused salivation to occur just as it did when food was present. The experiment showed that the dogs' physiological response, salivation, had been associated with the bell stimulus.

Birth of classical conditioning

Pavlov not only used the bell as a stimulus, but later used other stimuli, both auditory and visual. later on he used other stimuli, both auditory and visual, to produce what he called the "salivation".to produce what he called the conditioned response. His experiments are an example of classical conditioning, which is part of the behaviorist theory and, therefore, Pavlov's ideas leave aside mental processes to give special importance to observable and measurable behavior. His experiments are of great importance for the development of the scientific method in psychology, and allowed the development of one of the best known theoretical models of learning.

Classical conditioning is also known as stimulus-response learning (S-R).. For learning by association to occur, initially the unconditioned stimulus (IS) is presented, which is a stimulus that automatically elicits a response from the organism. In the case of Pavlov's experiment, it was food. The response that this stimulus elicits in the organism is called the unconditioned response (IR). The unconditioned response was the amount of saliva that Pavlov's dog secreted.

Next, it is necessary to present a neutral stimulus (EN), i.e. the bell in the bell.i.e., the bell in the case of the experiment, which does not produce any response before learning occurs. Now, when this stimulus is repeatedly presented together with the EI, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), which alone elicits a response similar to that of the unconditioned stimulus. In this case, what happens when the bell is heard is called a conditioned response (CR).

Watson made Pavlov popular in the West.

Pávlov was a pioneer in his discovery of classical conditioning; however, it took some time for his exploits to reach the Western world, as they were performed in the former Soviet Union. It was thanks to John B. Watson that Pavlov's initial ideas became popular in Europe and America, and gave rise to the later development of conditioning. gave rise to the later development of operant or instrumental conditioning..

Both theories form the behaviorist theory, which is considered one of the most outstanding currents in psychology. Watson introduced classical conditioning in the United States where it had great importance in the American educational system and in world psychology.

If you want to know more about this author, you can visit this article: "John B. Watson: life and work of the behaviorist psychologist".

Contributions to behaviorism

Logically, we should not underestimate Watson's work, which was important because it developed Pavlov's initial ideas and applied them to human beings. Among the most important implications of classical conditioning it is possible to highlight:

• Importance in the development and Importance in the development and treatment of some pathologies: phobias, anxiety, etc.
• It helped to understand the processes of associative learning.
• Great influence on the scientific method in psychology.
• Generation of behavioral habits through reinforcement by helping to develop instrumental conditioning.
• Enhancer of the generalization of learning.