5. Yummy yummy, Mr. Pavlov, yummy yummy

January 16, 2018 Sticky Thoughts No Comments

Pavlov took a dog and gave him food (unconditioned stimulus = UCS) paired with the sound of a bell. After a while, the sound of the bell (conditioned stimulus = CS) gave the same response as the UCS, namely: drooling. Pavlov considered his dog conditioned very well. He and others showed again and again this ‘classical conditioning reflex’ to be real and powerful.

◊◊◊

However, at the same time the poor (or quite content and well-fed) dog was thinking. Yes. He was thinking. Very important. He was expecting the food when the bell tolled. Without this expectation, the bell did nothing. The bell and the food meant something to the dog. The bell had meaning.

◊◊◊

More so: unconditioned and conditioned stimuli in Pavlov’s paradigm are themselves in fact ‘meanings’. Put yourself in place of the dog:

  • Now ‘food’ means ‘yummy yummy’. Saliva flows.
  • Then by association the bell comes to mean ‘food will come’, thus: ‘yummy yummy’. Saliva flows.

In the end, nor food, nor bell make saliva flow. ‘Yummy yummy’ does. This is therefore the real stimulus. Namely: ‘food-yummy yummy’ is the real UCS, while ‘bell-yummy yummy’ is the real CS.

◊◊◊

Thanks. You may take your place as observer again.

◊◊◊

If the dog becomes deaf or brain-damaged in a specific way, the bell doesn’t mean anything anymore and there’s no flow of saliva. Of course, this is just a playing with words, but it makes the consequence clear, namely: there is no classical conditioning without meaning.

◊◊◊

If classical conditioning is looked upon, rather narrowly, as showing that the importance of ‘meaning’ can be put aside and that mental responses (of dogs or humans) can be seen as instances of ‘just being conditioned’, then that is clearly, utterly, plainly wrong.

◊◊◊

Meaning is there. Meaning is important. Meaning is a profound way to change many things, to grow as a person. Talking about ‘mere reflexes’ is a way to deny this huge human potential.

◊◊◊

I keep having the impression that this denial is born out of fear.

It’s not even justified fear.

◊◊◊

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

17. Antidepressants: doors wide shut

Antidepressants have not been invented. They have been discovered. It happened through people taking drugs for another purpose. Some of these reported a diminishment in feelings of depression. ◊◊◊ As one says, the rest is history. ◊◊◊ Looking closer at it, the aim of that what has been discovered, is to indiscriminately diminish the suffering. Read the full article…

29. PTSD: a groovy kind of stress

In a traumatic situation, people are more vulnerable to ‘suggestion’ (that is: to be touched in one’s deeper self by the meaning of things) for two reasons. First, the very deep meaning of what happens, has in itself as a matter of fact a huge impact. Second, the power of the trauma shakes and cuts Read the full article…

58. Has anything meaning but meaning itself?

People are in search of ‘meaning’. It’s an age-old story. Males use to be more in search of the ‘meaning of life’. Females use to be more in search of the ‘meaning of living’. The latter being: the meaningfulness of everyday circumstances. ◊◊◊ Is one more real than the other? No. ◊◊◊ No, because actually Read the full article…

Translate »