Pavlov and associationism

Span J Psychol. 2003 Nov;6(2):177-84. doi: 10.1017/s1138741600005321.

Abstract

Pavlov's contribution to experimental psychology was to invent a technique that allowed him to undertake a prolonged and systematic series of well-controlled experiments that, astonishingly enough, uncovered many if not most of the phenomena of what is rightly called pavlovian conditioning. It was not for another 30 years or more that English-speaking psychologists began to match that achievement. Of course there have been new developments and discoveries since his time. Two examples are discussed: the important role of variable associability or attention even in simple conditioning, and the rigorous application of associative learning theory to the behavior of adult humans.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Association Learning*
  • Conditioning, Classical*
  • History, 19th Century
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Psychology, Experimental / history*
  • Russia

Personal name as subject

  • Ivan Petrovich Pavlov