Lectures on Conditioned Reflexes: Twenty-Five Years of Objective Study of the Higher Nervous Activity Behavior of Animals

by Ivan Pavlov

The Nobel Prize-winning scientist offers a precise, full, and accessible exposition of his landmark work in experimental psychology. Pavlov details the technical means by which he established experiments and controls, the experiments, observations on formation of conditioned reflexes, external and internal reflex inhibitions, the function of cerebral hemispheres and cortex, and more. 18 figures.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Classics, Russia, Medicine, Historical

458 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian physiologist, psychologist, and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904 for research pertaining to the digestive system. Pavlov is widely known for first describing the phenomenon of classical conditioning.

Reviews

[Donnally Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his discussions of his experiments, Pavlov mentions primarily using a bright light, a tone played on an organ, or a metronome set to a certain pulse to instill conditioned reflexes. Given the established story about using a bell while dogs were feeding I was bemused to read the following in Lecture IV: "In contradistinction to this we must state with regard to acoustic stimuli that very loud sounds such as the violent ringing of a bell did not, in comparison with weaker stimuli, quickly establish a conditioned reflex. It can be assumed that powerful acoustic stimuli call out some other important reaction in the body (e.g., motor), which hinders the development of the salivary response."

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Pavlov anticipated so much of what we now know to be true of the brain and behaviour.

[Julia Lich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting tidbit of history. Reading this book made me realize how little is remembered of his famous experiments - there are some fascinating and odd records in here. I did find the writing to often be a bit dull, but the content and the significance of this book really made up for it.