Ivan Pavlov Is One of the Greatest Scientists - Essay Example

Psychology 13 December, Ivan Pavlov Introduction Ivan Pavlov is one of the greatest scientists who contributed to health and psychology of both past times and the present day. He is attributed to have built the foundation of most research in the body organs of people and conducted several investigative research studies to ascertain his work. Ivan Pavlov was born in Russia in a humble town called Ryazan on September 14, 1849, and died in Leningrad on February 27, 1936. His middle name was Petrovich, and he was the eldest in a family of seven kids, born in a religious family with his father serving as a priest and his mother being a daughter of a priest. Pavlov started his education quite late at the age of eleven years in Ryazan Ecclesiastical high school and was lucky enough to be approved as an organizer in 1890; he would also assist in directing the physiology department in the institute of experimental medicine (Peterson). His official identity in research, experiments, and proving his theories began in the institute, where his main interest seemed to be within human organs body functions. Although he met several challenges in his research, he was convinced there was a solution to the problem he was looking at, rather than wasting all the time he spent investigating only to leave it unhandled and rush into another quite simpler problem. Pavlov began his career by examining the circulatory system before settling on physiology of digestion (Chance 60). Just like Sir Richard Branson, the famous entrepreneur, Ivan Petrovich’s educational performance was mediocre, and no one could tell the future success in his careers as a medical research and hero. According to Finger (340), Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel Prize in 1904 based on a class of theories in drainage and irradiation, where he had developed a theory in digestive secretion. In his study in digestion, he dealt with the salivary glands, intestines, pancreas, stomach, and liver functions for efficient digestion of the food substances and how the body responded. 2. Classical Conditioning It exists as a behavioral theory which gave Pavlov fame in his career. He had been conducting research of the purpose of gastric juice for digestion, in which he pursued logical experiments using dogs to facilitate early stimulus response concept. The concept was built on existence of a stimulus, which could cause an excitement resulting into a spontaneous effect in the body of an organism. The tendency to change the behavior went in line with the affected body organs reflexes, which caused them to act the way they do. Classical conditioning theory contributes to the broader aspect of behaviorism; it is considered as an accidental discovery, while working on the roles of digestion juices. However, it employs the use of a neutral signal or stimulus before a naturally occurring reaction, hence intensifying the behaviorism concept, which holds that learning is an interaction with the environment (Cherry). From his work, he made two distinctions: between reactions before and after introduction of a stimulus. Ivan Pavlov’s fame in classical conditioning seemed to have overtaken other earlier observations in psychic secretions. The beginning of such work could be associated with William Beaumont, who lived between 1785 and 1853 and who was a United States army surgeon who earlier carried out psychic secretions (Finger 340). For Pavlov, experiments were his passion and the only way to prove his theory. It is believed that his philosophical roots may have been empowered by other existing theories, by individuals like William James, who put forth the impact of two elementary brain processes, either being active together or in instantaneous succession, where one of the processes was repetitive; it would definitely cause an excitement of the other (Finger 340). However, Pavlov’s work stood out since the results of the experiment in relation to behaviorism were believed to be significant. 3. Information on Development and Behaviorism in Pavlov’s View In his study of purpose of gastric juice for digestion, he used dogs to carry out his research before relating to human beings. Even though, his physiological thoughts later came to be challenged on the basis of the conditioning occurring in fetuses without functional cortices (Finger 342). Pavlov had come a long way in his study, making use of his developed surgical procedures to study animals’ digestive systems. In researching the salivary gland, he used a rather simpler operation with a dog while observing the reactions of the glands under different conditions. According to Chance (60), Pavlov detached the salivary duct of the dog from its usual location inside the mouth and directed it through an incision in the cheek, collecting the saliva in a certain intended glass tube. Through Pavlov’s work, one can understand how the saliva functions in softening, diluting, and producing enzymes through the saliva that assist to break down the food chemically. Basically, he differentiates between unconditional and conditional reflexes since one is natural by birth while the other has to be acquired by experience (see fig.1). Before conditioning, when food as an unconditional stimulus was introduced in the dog’s mouth, it would salivate; the response was referred to unconditional reflex, which was more of an inborn character (“Classical conditioning”). Almost all members of a species portray this, though there may be slight variations depending on an individual. If the bell was rung as a conditioned stimulus before conditioning, the dog could not salivate. Here conditioning refers to the process of salivation as a learned response. It was fully demonstrated after the dogs association of the bell sound after receiving unconditional stimulus. After learning, the ringing of the bell before the dog had taken a meal would lead to salivation. It takes the form of a preprogrammed biological behavior of the dog, which could take two forms after conditioning. At introducing food and ringing the bell, salivation was unconditional response but afterwards, before introducing food, the bell sound led to salivation as a conditioned response. Responses before and after conditioning Fig. 1. “Classical conditioning.” 2012. Web. 13 December, 2012. The same way, human beings react in a certain way naturally, which is a response initiating from the brain, and relating to the nervous systems. Consider situations like eye blinking and knee jerking at any obstruction. Ivan Pavlov laid the foundation of behavioral psychology, which most scholars have used as a basis of their experiments in health and social and brain behaviors. It also introduces the learning behavior of young children in response to the environment in which they are brought up. However, John B. Watson, another psychologist from America, worked in Pavlov’s times and focused on children’s behavior more than Pavlov. Works Cited “Classical conditioning.” open.ac.uk. 2012. Web. 13 December, 2012.  Chance, Paul. Learning and Behavior: Active Learning Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Cherry, Kendra. “Introduction to Classical Conditioning.”about.com. n.d. web. 13 December, 2012. Finger, Stanley. Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations into Brain Function. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Print. Peterson, Ed. “Psyography: Ivan Pavlov.” frostburg.edu. 2002. Web. 13 December, 2012. Read More