Early Life:

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was born in a small Russian village in 1849. His father was a priest and an educated man. Pavlov began formal schooling at 11. He sustained an injury as a child and had trouble concentrating on academic matters. Pavlov acquired substantial knowledge on natural history and a good range of manual skills from helping his father in the garden and his mother around the house. Pavlov later put down his enthusiasm for the experimental aspect of physiology to the chores he did as a child (Harre, 2006).

Influences & Pursuits:

Pavlov’s interest in natural science was encouraged by his teachers at the Ryaxan Theological seminary. He began to immerse himself in the writings of progressive thinkers including the radical Russian author, Dmitrij Ivanovich Pisarev (1840 – 1868), whose political vision was dominated by the idea of using science to free society of its ills; and the Englishman Samuel Smiles (1812 – 1904), who supported a disciplined approach to science.

Pavlov was influenced by Ivan Sechenov (1829 – 1905), the founder of modern physiology who believed that psychology could become scientific by embracing objective methods and avoiding references to the mind (Pickren & Rutherford, 2010).

After starting work in the field of science, a series of events followed leading Pavlov to a period of extreme poverty. Pavlov was unable to afford an apartment and at one time could only manage enough money to transport his sickly son to relatives living in the south.

Following these events, Pavlov became indifferent to the political tides of the time, including the revolution of 1917. However, his love for laboratory research did not diminish. Cuny (as cited in Harre, 2006, p.5) stated ‘’once, when Pavlov was utterly destitute, his students collected a fund for his everyday needs, but he spent the money on experimental animals’’.

Contribution to Psychology:

Pavlov conducted a series of experiments on dogs. Through this, he demonstrated how the manipulation of environmental variables could control behaviour. The dogs began salivating when a bell rang, even without food being presented. Pavlov concluded that dogs could be conditioned to unconsciously associate neutral, unrelated events with being fed. This is termed classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning formed the basis of the behaviourist approach, leading to a new way of studying human behaviour. Pavlov’s work influenced that of notable behaviourists such as John Watson and B.F Skinner.

Watson’s study on Albert, an 11-month-old infant child, concluded that humans could be conditioned to fear. Skinner introduced the idea of operant conditioning where aspects of behaviour can be influenced by reward.

Behaviourism’s theoretical goal is the prediction and influence of behaviour, introspection does not form an essential part (Watson, 1931). Mary Whiton Calkins (1863 – 1930) echoed the thoughts of many of her colleagues by suggesting that psychologists should not totally discard of introspection, but rather study the conscious self in relation to its environment (Pickren & Rutherford, 2010).

 

References

Harre, R. (2006). Key thinkers in psychology. London, UK: Sage Publications. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.rgu.ac.uk/10.4135/9781446211977.n1

Pickren, W. & Rutherford, A. (2010). A History of Modern Psychology in Context: Incorporating Social, Political, and Economic Factors into the Story. New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Watson, J. B. (1931). Psychology as the behaviourist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158-177.