The debate about whether Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a great scientist of his time, or whether it gave him real pleasure to see the torment of his “wards” still does not subside. Let's try to put emotions aside and look at everything impartially.
The essence of the experiments
I. P. Pavlov in his laboratory, located not far from St. Petersburg, in Koltushi, set up experiments, studying the mechanisms of the formation of a conditioned reflex. The scientist conducted his research on dogs. All work was carried out in a kind of "Tower of Silence" - a special isolated soundproof chamber, in which there were no external stimuli that could affect the purity of the experiment. At the same time, the scientist observed the animal through a system of special glasses, through which he himself remained invisible to the dog. The dog was also fixed on a special machine, which limited his movements.
In his experiments, Pavlov focused on how the dog's salivary glands react to various external stimuli. To do this, the animal underwent an operation, bringing the duct of the salivary gland outward in order to fix the presence of salivation in time, its beginning,abundance and quality of saliva. Then Pavlov tried to evoke a conditioned reaction in the animal to a previously neutral stimulus - sound, light. In addition, the ends of the esophagus were also brought out to monitor the production of gastric juice in the dog.
Pavlov's classic experiment on dogs is the one when the animal was immediately given food after the beats of the metronome. After several such attempts, the dog began to salivate at the sounds of the metronome. Pavlov's experiment with a light bulb operated on the same principle, but instead of a metronome, an ordinary lamp was used, after turning on which the dog received food. Thus, a source previously foreign to the animal became the external stimulus that began to evoke a conditioned reflex in it. Unfortunately, not all irritants were so harmless. In his experiments, Pavlov used electric current, various punishments.
Practical application
One of the most interesting examples of the application of Pavlov's experiments is the development of conditioned reflexes in coyotes to the taste of lamb. For the emergence of this reflex, poisoned sheep meat was thrown to coyotes. Surprisingly, after the first time they stopped hunting sheep, linking the meat with the malaise that occurs after eating it. Many farmers immediately adopted it.
The role of experiments
The theory of the emergence of conditioned reflexes, made more than a hundred years ago, and to this day remains one of the fundamental in the history of psychology. Even modern psychologists are guided by the resultsPavlov's experiments in the treatment of certain mental disorders, as well as in the formation of behavioral responses.
Pavlov's Dogs
Many operations performed by the scientist ended badly for the animal. As Pavlov himself said, when he cuts and destroys a living animal, he suppresses a caustic reproach in himself that he breaks the artistic mechanism. But he does this only in the interests of truth and for the benefit of people. When conducting his experiments, Pavlov performed all surgical interventions only under anesthesia, so as not to cause additional suffering to the animal. The attitude of the scientist to his wards is also evidenced by the monument to the dog he erected in St. Petersburg.
Now Pavlov's dog is not just a dumb guinea pig. This is a real martyr, a patient hero who suffered for the sake of helping science and the whole person. Many films have been made about it, a large number of books have been written, monuments have been erected. Despite his death, the memory of this animal is still alive. The very name of Pavlov is immediately associated with a dog for any of us, so we can safely say that this is the rare case when memories of an experimental animal survived the memory of the greatest scientist.
Conclusion
So was Pavlov a great scientist? This question can only be answered in the affirmative. But were his methods justified? There is no clear answer here.
Undoubtedly, his contribution to psychology is invaluable, but, unfortunately, sometimes it is necessary for the sake of sciencesacrifice some ethical standards. Let's not forget that all the surviving animals were with the scientist on a lifelong pension. I would like to think that not only for the sake of further observations.
