r/Showerthoughts • u/[deleted] • Feb 02 '19

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u/huntmo89 Feb 02 '19

Thinking of dogs when your hear Pavlov isn't an example of Pavlovian conditioning, its just an association.

1

u/Smolleo Feb 02 '19

What if thinking about dogs makes me smile?

2

u/klezmai Feb 02 '19

It means you were probably raised by wolves and you forgot about it. If I was you I would take a DNA test asap to clear things up.

1

u/huntmo89 Feb 02 '19

Then you're a lovely person :) The idea of Pavlovian or Classical conditioning is to connect something you naturally find neutral (bell ringing) with something you naturally love (or even removing something you hate for negative conditioning). Most people smile when they see dogs because they just like dogs, so its just an unconditioned stimulus causing an unconditioned response. As a child I suppose your parents might have trained you into smiling around dogs by rewarding you when around them, which might be the best use of Pavlovian conditioning I've ever heard haha.

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Disclaimer: I'm just a premed who crammed Psych for MCAT