On 4 Aug 2011 at 22:16, Mike Palij (yada, yada) wrote: > First, according the Wikipedia entry on Pavlov, he used number of > different stimuli as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS); see: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov > > Quoting from the article: > > |It is popularly believed that Pavlov always signaled the occurrence > of food |by ringing a bell. However, his writings record the use of a > wide variety of |stimuli, including electric shocks, whistles, > metronomes, tuning forks, and a |range of visual stimuli, in addition > to ringing a bell. Catania[13] cast doubt |on whether Pavlov ever > actually used a bell in his famous experiments. |Littman[14] > tentatively attributed the popular imagery to Pavlov´s contemporaries > |Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev and John B. Watson, until Thomas[15] > |found several references that unambiguously stated Pavlov did, > indeed, use a bell. > > Thomas' work can be found here: > http://www.cogsci.ecs.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?5.80
Unfortunately, Mike should remember that Wikipedia is not always an accurate and trustworthy source. The Thomas reference does not settle the matter. Thomas himself admits that one of his examples (the "violent ringing of a bell") is problematic, because Pavlov mentions it as an example of relatively unsuccessful conditioning, and thus unlikely to be the source of the legend. Thomas's next example is conditioning to "musical sounds or by noise", rather than to a bell. A third example is to a Time_ magazine article in 1923. Not only is _Time_ itself an unreliable source (see below) but the legend was already well-established by that date. His best example is a claim that Pavlov's dogs "dripped saliva at the sound of a bell" based on a description of a 1926 film (Mekhanika golovnogo mozga) made by the great Russian director Pudovkin. The description appeared in _Time_ in 1928. Not only is the film too late to have started the legend (and few saw it) but the description in _Time_ of the cinematic drooling dogs is fictional. I've viewed the film in all its gripping intensity. A classic handbell is rung in the film, but it is used to demonstrate an orienting reaction by a dog, not conditioning. In the film dogs often drip saliva to the sound of a metronome, but never to a bell. The legend already being well-established, _Time_ just made that up. I've got my own idea how the legend got started, and it had little to do with Pavlov. And it wasn't due to the American Twitmyer either, who actually demonstrated classical conditioning (and using a bell!) ahead of Pavlov. I'd love to tell, but I still have a faint hope (or fat chance) of writing this up, so I won't blab. However, you might like to check out my (ahem) commentary on this issue in _Current Biology_ (2003), and Tim Tully's response, which consists of obfuscation and undocumented claims. The popular legend in America of Pavlov's dogs drooling at the sound of a rung bell (not an electric buzzer) is myth, no more. Pavlov's great work, _Conditioned Reflexes_ does not record it, and the documentary film on his work does not show it. Pavlov's dogs: for whom the bell rarely tolled http://tinyurl.com/3l3463d Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=11787 or send a blank email to leave-11787-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
