Abstract
THOSE who remember the Huxley lecture delivered in 1906 by Prof. Pawlow, in which he complained that the physiology of the sense organs had hitherto suffered from the evil influences of psychology, will turn with interest to a paper entitled “The Method of Pawlow in Animal Psychology,” which is contributed to the August number of the Psychological Bulletin by Messrs. R. M. Ycrkes and S. Morgulis. The method which Prof. Pawlow introduced consists in studying the modifications of the salivary reflex under various mental conditions. By a simple operation a salivary fistula is formed on the outer surface of the cheek of a healthy dog; the wound quickly heals, and the animal suffers no further inconvenience. The flow of saliva under different conditions is studied by collecting it from the fistula and observing its volume and viscidity in given intervals of time. Pawlow calls the salivary reflex “unconditioned” when (as, for instance, on the introduction of food into the mouth) the stimulus naturally and directly calls forth the reflex. On the other hand, a “conditioned” reflex occurs through artificial and indirect causes. Thus, if a sound of constant pitch is produced near the dog on every occasion when food is given, this particular sound (after adequate practice) is sufficient to cause a secretion of saliva in the absence of food. According to Nicolai, the “reflex” thus obtained is a complicated process, the secretion being connected only indirectly with the sound-stimulus by the mediation of the “idea of eating.” When once such a conditioned “reflex” has been established, the interest of the experiment consists in seeing to what extent, if at all, the “reflex” is evoked by modifying the stimulus, e.g. by varying its pitch, timbre, or loudness, or by including the tone in a chord.
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A New Method in Animal Psychology . Nature 82, 203 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/082203a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/082203a0