Classical Conditioning: A Brief Summary

There are many recent empirical examples, knowledge acquired by observation and experiment, that support Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory. An experiment completed by a gentleman by the name of Simon in May of 2014, demonstrates that not only dogs possess the capability of being classically conditioned. Simon constructed a simple yet effective experiment on the fish in his aquarium. Simon posted a short video on his website that showed how his aquarium fish learned to associate food with the sound of a feeder through classical conditioning, a term coined by Ivan Pavlov. Simon says that “there is a brief delay from the moment I hit the button on the feeder to the moment the food enters the water, and the fish search for food as soon

Suitable research was composed in March of 2013 by Dr. Amy Reichelt, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neuroscience at the University of New South Wales. Reichelt’s research proves that an individual can become classically conditioned in a variety of ways. Reichelt stated that classical conditioning “doesn’t just apply to drooling dogs but has formed an important rationale for the development, maintenance, and relapse of drug-taking behaviours”. Dr. Reichelt uses nicotine as an example, stating that the “stimulation of nicotinic receptors affects functions…and triggers the release of dopamine. So the rewarding effects of smoking are very rapid”. Individuals that pick up the habit of smoking, quickly “form an association between smoking and the pleasurable feeling it brings” (Reichelt). Ivan Pavlov’s theory predicts that drug-related stimuli, such as a cigarette package, a bong, and other objects associated with smoking, are coupled with the rewarding aspects of using a particular drug (Reichelt). Depending on how severe an addiction is, an individual that sees a certain object (acting as a stimuli) can crave the

Amy Reichelt says that the reason that smokers have such a difficult time quitting the habit is the result of classical conditioning. “The environment is full of signals associated with smoking cigarettes” (Reichelt). One last experiment that supports Ivan Pavlov’s theory was one done by Lowell Nicolaus from Northern Illinois University and Dan Moriarty from the University of San Diego. These two gentlemen experimented on a wolf pack of nine gray wolves, six males and three females, in the month of September in 2008 at the California Wolf Center in Julian, California. The purpose of Nicolaus and Moriarty’s experiment was to “develop a clinical protocol that safely and effectively produces aversion among predators due for release where they are likely to conflict with livestock” (Moriarty and Nicolaus). Nicolaus and Moriarty used Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory to create a taste aversion so the wolves would not be interested in attacking livestock, specifically sheep. The two men called the taste aversion “Conditioned Disgust”. In this experiment, the nine wolves were deprived of food for three consecutive days. After the third day, the wolves were deprived for twenty hours every other day for four