Pavlov's Dogs
Bells, dogs and ... saliva. (The Bus 5.6)
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THURSDAY ARCHIVE EDITION - FIRST PUBLISHED (1.5) 21 APRIL 2022
The Stop
Pavlov’s Dogs1 is the name given to one of the earliest examples of classical conditioning2- the process in which an automatic, conditioned response is paired with a specific stimulus. Named after Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), the Russian physiologist who discovered it,3 the term has become short-hand for describing the ability of the brain to learn by association.4
While researching the physiology of digestion in dogs, Pavlov noted changes to the animals’ physical reactions. Initially, the dogs only salivated when their food was placed in front of them. However, after some time Pavlov noticed the dogs began salivating before their food arrived. In a flash of insight, he realised they were no longer salivating at the food - but at the noises (the assistants’ footsteps and the sound of the food cart) present just before the food arrived. Testing his theory, Pavlov discovered the dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a metronome or bell - if the sound was repeatedly presented at the same time they were given food.
Pavlov’s experiment ran like this:
The dogs were given food which caused them to salivate. Pavlov called the food the unconditioned stimulus, the salivation the unconditioned response.
Independently of any food, a bell (in Pavlovian terms the neutral stimulus) was rung, eliciting no physical reaction from the dogs.
Next the bell was rung at the same time as the food was offered. The dogs would salivate when given the food, but
After several pairings of their food with the bell, the dogs began salivating when hearing the bell alone.
In Pavlovian terms, the bell had become the conditioned stimulus and the salivation the conditioned response. In other words, the sound of the bell was now associated with the food and salivation was triggered by the sound alone.5
The implications of Pavlov’s experiments permanently changed the early field of psychology, with numerous experiments and schools of research built off of his initial one.6 There have also been numerous applications of Pavlovian principles to influence human health, emotion, motivation and to aid with psychological disorders including bed-wetting, phobias and addiction.
For a quick but thorough run-through of Pavlov and his experiment, this YouTube clip is right to the point: Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to an article from another Substack newsletter, Mind the Moss. It will change your perspective on mud. Which can only be a good thing.
The Recommendation
One of my favourite books of last year (and my go-to book for Christmas presents) is George Markari’s Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia. Though the word appears ancient in origin, Makari7 shows that xenophobia (or ‘fear of strangers’) was actually coined in the early 20th Century - a period convulsed by ‘heated and formative debates over nationalism, globalisation, race and immigration.’ It is an eye-opening, very readable account of how these debates continue to inform today.
For a review, see: New York Times Review
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a collection of five great tracks, completely unrelated to the Stop: ‘Borderline’ (Tame Impala, 2020), ‘Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth’ (The Dandy Warhols, 1997), ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ (Garbage, 1995), ‘Westcoast Collective’ (Dominic Fike, 2018) and ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ (LCD Soundsystem, 2005). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Thomas Pynchon8 in response to a reviewer’s comment about the complexity of his first novel, V. (1963):
“Why should things be easy to understand?”
And that’s the end of this stop! I hope you enjoyed the diversion from your regular journey.
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Until the next stop …
A (very) few of you might be disappointed to learn this is not about the band Pavlov’s Dogs that played two brief gigs - one opening for the Wake Forest band Easily Suede, the other as the featured act - at Davidson College, NC in 1989. Consisting of guitarists/vocalists Croft and Julian, drummer/vocalist Michael, bassist Marc and me - I ‘played’ keyboard and ‘sang’ three songs - it was an unfortunately short-lived endeavour. Here’s a picture - the only one I can find - from the 1990 Quips and Cranks. Croft’s on the left, Julian on the right and that’s my elbow at the far left. Rock on.
Even more of you might be disappointed to learn this is also not about the 70’s prog rock outfit (still going on, by the way), but I only became aware of them while researching this topic. I’ve not listened closely, yet - but check out ‘Valkyrie’ from their second album At the Ringing of the Bell (I kid you not). It’s definitely worth a listen.
One year earlier the brilliantly named American psychologist Edwin Twitmyer published similar findings as part of his doctoral dissertation, but the auditors of his paper evidently found it of little interest. For a brief run-through of Twitmyer’s career: Twitmyer (U Penn)
Dogs notwithstanding, this is a regular occurrence with our guinea pigs as we unintentionally conditioned them so that at the sound of crinkling plastic wrap they begin squeaking in the frantic hope of getting a piece of carrot. I was surprised this could happen, as before I’d only thought of them as being not the … sharpest of creatures.
My personal favourite is the ethically dubious Little Albert Experiment in which a 9-month-old-boy - with his mother’s permission - was conditioned to fear a white rat by associating it with loud noises: Little Albert Experiment
Since his debut novel, Pynchon has written some of most important literature to date, including Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), Vineland (1990) and Mason & Dixon (1997). A few of the Stops along our way will definitely engage with him, but in the meantime if you’d like to know more: Thomas Pynchon.