Sociology Today - Pavlov and classical conditioning - Spoof

[theme song] >> JUDY WINWORTH: Classical conditioning, one of the most fascinating topics in sociology today. I'm Judy Winworth...and this is Sociology Today! Do you like chocolate pudding? I know that I do! But that's not what we're here to talk about today! Classical conditioning... ...is the kind of learning in which a stimulus becomes linked with a response with which it was not previously linked. Our friend Mary-Anne has compiled a video for us back at the studio to give us an example of classical condition within society today. Meep! Meep! >> MAN: The practical application of classical conditioning is the work of Dr. John Garcia who confronted the problem of coyotes who attacked farmers' livestock. WOMAN: Destroying these predators upsets the delicate ecological balance, but how else could these animals be controlled? Psychologists John Garcia and Karl Gustavason developed a new strategy based on the concepts of classical conditioning. Lamb meat is laced with lithium chloride, a chemical that produces nausea when eaten. The treated meat is then wrapped in sheep hide and put out as bait near grazing flocks. When the coytotes eat the meat they immedaitely become sick and vomit. The predators quickly learn to associate sheep with nausea and actively avoid the animals. More and more ranchers are using this approach to protect their flocks while preserving the delicate ecology of the range lands. Classical conditioning also applies to the human animal. >> JUDY WINWORTH: Do you remember little Albert and his fuzzy white phobia? I know that I do! Unfortunately little Albert is 65 years old now and a little senile. So today we have little Angela and her doctor to give us an example of classical conditioning... Hello there! >> DOCTOR: Hi Judy Winworth. Today I'm going to demonstrate to you classical conditioning. I have here Angela, a brave young volunteer who is going to be a guinea pig to my theory. What I'm going to show you is... >> ANGELA: Goo goo, ga ga. >> DOCTOR: That's good, that's good. What I'm going to show you is that a stimulus, which previously did not elicit a conditioned response, can be made to evoke a specific reaction when paired with a conditioned stimulus. I know that might sound quite confusing to the average Joe Schmo, so I'll use simple language as we demonstrate... Hello baby Angela. I brought a little fuzzy bear along for you. Yes I have. This bear is the unconditioned stimulus. Baby Angela will naturally react with interest and excitement when it's presented to her, see? [In a baby-talk voice] Look at the bear! Look at the -- This is the unconditioned response. Now what I can do is make Angela's reaction to the bear change by making a loud sound -- which is the conditioned stimulus. When I present her with the bear, the unconditioned stimulus, we can elicit a conditioned response. Observe. Look baby Angela, I've got a bear for you. Isn't he cute? BAH!!!!! [Angela screams in terror] DOCTOR: As you can see, she is now afraid of the bear. After this is done repeated times she will start to connect the bear with being scared. Observe. Angela look, I brought a little bear for you. Come here. Hello. BAH!!!!! [Angela screams in terror] Angela look, I brought a bear for you. It's a cute bear. BAH!!!! [Angela Screams in terror] >> DOCTOR: As you can see, she is now becoming scared once again. Once I do this maybe once or twice more, she will develop our theory of classical conditioning. Angela, I'm sorry. The bear is sorry. See, 'Sorry Angela.' Come and kiss the bear... BAH!!!!! [Angela screams in terror] >> DOCTOR: Stay! Angela's screaming becomes the conditioned response. Once this process has been repeated multiple times, eventually the sight of the unconditioned stimulus -- the bear -- alone, will cause her to scream. Observe. Angela. Angela c'mere. Angela. [Angela screams] >>DOCTOR: Oh look, look at the bear! Oh, run away. You're scared! It's attacking you! As you can see, the theory is demonstrated. >> JUDY WINWORTH: Fascinating. Such experiments can be amazing and educational -- all at the same time! [Angela screams] Rarely does such an opportunity come along! [Angela screams] Some people like Pavlov. Others don't. But either way, there is no arguing that Pavlov was a man... ...and hung like a horse, I hear. With more on who Pavlov was, here's our correspondent, Mandy Bougois. MANDY BOUGOIS: Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who lived from 1849 until 1939. His most famous work involved conditioned salavary responses in dogs. His procedures deomonstrated the basic methodology of the classical conditioning experiment. The experiments fascinated the public and brought about many theories. He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1904 for his work with digestive secretions. In the modern times many psychiatrists consider his explanations too limited and some neurophisiologists have taken a greater interest in other developments such as electrophysiology and biochemistry. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. A man of slobber. A man of dogs. A man of science. >> JUDY WINWORTH: I like dogs, and dogs like food. Which brings us to our next topic... Dogs, and food! Pavlov's most famous experiment involved salivary responses, which he called "psychic secretions." His theory was that if you rang a bell and fed a dog at the same time, the dog would eventually connect the bell and the food. Here to explain is Peduvovich Pavlov, grandson of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Welcome kind sir... >>PEDUVOVICH PAVLOV: Hello Judy! When I was just a young boy my grandpa placed me on his lap and said... "Listen boy, before you die, I must pass my thoughts onto you." This is when I learned exactly who my daddy's daddy was. I brought along my dog Muffin to show you exactly how his most famous experiment works. Bring him down on the lift boys... [Lift sound descending] This is my doggie, Muffin. Come over here boy, sit! I brought him along and he's going to show us a little experiment, now aren't you, yes you are. You're a good doggie! I brought along a bell, from home. I also brought some delicious doggie snacks, from home. When I ring the bell we're going to show you a little trick. When I ring the bell and feed the dog multiple times, he begins to connect the bell with being fed. Now I have paired a conditioned stimulus -- the bell -- with an unconditioned stimulus -- the doggie bones, which are so delicious... And really hard. Now whenever I ring the bell the dog's going to connect it with being fed, and begin to drool. This starts to happen after we repeat it a few times. And soon he will be ready when he listens and hears the bell, he will begin to drool. [rings bell furiously] Watch closely, we're going to repeat this a few times. Be back in just a second. No more, you pig! That's enough. We've now conditioned our doggie and everytime he hears the bell he is going to drool. We'll demonstrate in a minute, we're just going to put him back up there so you can get a perfect view of exactly what happens when I ring the bell. Bring him up boys! Bye bye doggie! Now that we've got the dog back up there I'll show you exactly what happens. I've got my little bell here and we'll ring it. Hey poochy! [rings bell repeatedly] As you can see, Muffin has ingeniously demonstrated classical conditioning. When we rang that bell he automatically connected that bell with being fed and began to drool. It's amazing! You're such a good boy, I'm so proud of him! This concludes our demonstration of classical conditioning. You're such a good boy, Muffin. [rings bell] [sound of dog drool splashing] >> JUDY WINWORTH: Thank You! This concludes our program on classical conditioning. I'm Judy Winworth, and this...is Sociology Today!