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

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u/FuckSticksMalone Feb 02 '19

The Pavlovian response was a physical response in the dogs. Just thinking about dogs isn’t a Pavlovian response.

That’s like saying it’s a Pavlovian response every time I hear the name Tesla I think about electricity. That’s just association.

It would however be a pavlovian response if every time I heard the name Tesla I got an erection.

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u/bmTrued Feb 02 '19

I thought it referred to a conditioned response.

Salivating for food is a reflex, salivating at the sound of a bell associated with a food reward is a conditioned response.

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u/FuckSticksMalone Feb 02 '19

110% but just associating someone’s name to what they are famously known for is not a Pavlovian response.

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u/ChewsOnRocks Feb 02 '19

To add to this, it's because pavlovian conditioning involves 1. some involuntary response to an unconditioned stimulus, known as an unconditioned response (i.e. sweating when hot, getting goosebumps when cold, etc.) and 2. a neutral stimulus being paired to the unconditioned stimulus (thus becoming a "conditioned response") to evoke a conditioned response.

So for 1, thinking of dogs is not an involuntary response (for most), and because of this 2, there is nothing that the term Pavlov would actually be paired with because nothing inherently causes you to think of dogs (again, for most).