Pavlov's Theories

Ivan Pavlov was an eminent researcher in the fields of physiology and psychology. Born in 1849, Pavlov was studying during the height of the development of psychological theory and played a pivotal role in establishing the groundwork upon which many theories are placed today. Because Pavlov's theories all relate to behavior, they are highly applicable to real-life situations, making him a man who is still widely influential, even though nearly 100 years have passed since his death.

Behaviorism

• All of Pavlov's work falls under the general heading of behaviorist theory. Behaviorism is the study of observable phenomenon and human behavior. This field was popular during the height of Pavlov's career due, at least in part, to the fact that science had yet to advance to allow scientists to look inside the human mind to the degree that they can with the aid of more contemporary technology. The work of behaviorists, including Pavlov, laid the groundwork for contemporary study, making possible some studies conducted today.

Conditioned Reflexes

• Pavlov's greatest contributions to psychology came about largely by mistake, reports the Noble Prize Committee. When Pavlov began his work in the field of medicine, he started by studying the process of digestion. As he was studying this process, he discovered useful truths about conditioned reflexes. Pavlov will forever be tied to man's best friend, the dog, as his most famous contribution to psychology originated from an experiment involving these creatures. When studying the digestive habits of dogs, Pavlov discovered that a stimuli completely unrelated to eating, in this case a bell, could elicit salivation if a dog came to see this as tied to consuming a meal. With this discovery, Pavlov realized that reflexes can be conditioned.

Classical Conditioning

• In a continuation of his salivation discovery, Pavlov developed the theory of classical conditioning. This theory argues that animals of all species, including humans, can be conditioned in the same way his dogs had. This theory, the one for which Pavlov is known, is often applied in educational settings with teachers using the information condition students and ensure classroom control. This theory also has applications in general child rearing as parents can also apply it, as well as in the workplace where managers can condition their employees to perform desired tasks.

High Nervous Activity

• Pavlov spent the majority of his remaining years of study honing the theory of classical conditioning. Working with students, Pavlov discovered that reflexes come from the cerebral cortex, leading to the development of a theory on higher nervous activity. This theory, that contends that much of the inner-workings of the human mind are subconscious, albeit controllable with conditioning, was one of the precursors to modern neuroscience, making it of great importance, even if it is lesser known than his predominant theory of classical conditioning.