The Nature of Human Behaviorism: Phenomenon of Stimuli - Essay Example

Journal EssayQuestion 1: The situation of Pavlovian Stimuli is a common phenomenon in the field of psychology. “While studying digestive reflexes in dogs, Russian scientist, Pavlov, made the discovery that led to the real beginnings of behavioural theory. He could reliably predict that dogs would salivate when food was placed in the mouth through a reflex called the "salivary reflex" in digestion. Yet he soon realized that, after time, the salivary reflex occurred even before the food was offered.

Because the sound of the door and the sight of the attendant carrying the food "had repeatedly and reliably preceded the delivery of food to the mouth in the past," the dogs had transferred the reflex to these events (Schwartz & Lacy, 1982, p. 21).” Therefore, such instances of conditioned responses are visible when dealing with pets. They get accustomed to the stimuli inbred in them over time and respond to factors which are not exactly related to their responses as in the example above. Question 2: This question relates to the concept of the closed box as mentioned by Skinner through his experiments.

The Skinner box was used on rats to check their actions in a closed environment and how they could be moulded in a way that certain stimuli were produced in certain situations. This can be compared to the congress meetings whereby the more bills were pressed and most results were achieved near its adjournment and this was an expected form of behaviour.ReferencesSchwartz, B., & Lacey, H. (1982). Behaviorism, science, and human nature. New York: Norton.