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Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849-1936), was a Russian physiologist and Nobel prize winner, best known for his studies of reflex behaviour in dogs. He conducted this hallmark study during the twentieth century; the interesting thing about this study was the fact that Pavlov was not even studying the effects of conditioning when he launched the study.
I have heard about Pavlov's dogs! What did he do with them?
Pavlov began studying the physiological effects of eating in the dogs. He began by studying digestion, but noticed that the saliva excretions of the dogs were very curious. He would place meat powder or some other food morsel on the dog's tongue, waiting for the dog to start dribbling.
He began to see that the dogs were salivating as soon as he entered the room - before any food was even in sight. Since saliva production in any animal is a reflex, Pavlov decided to probe deeper into the conditioning of the dogs. This later became known as classical conditioning, also known more famously as Pavlovian conditioning. Anyone who had a reaction that was beyond their control is said to have had a Pavlovian response.
Why the big deal about drooling dogs?
Conditioning is a type of learning. Basically, what this study proved was that the dogs became conditioned by Pavlov to have expectations. When he entered the room, the dogs expected food; therefore, they began salivating in expectation. After he noticed that the meat powder had this effect, he decided to try a different neutral stimulus.
What is a neutral stimulus then!
A neutral stimulus is something that normally would not produce any saliva. Pavlov chose to ring a bell, since ringing a bell would not normally start saliva production in the dogs.
Pavlov began ringing a bell before placing the meat powder or food on the dog's tongue. Each and every time that the bell was rung, meat powder or food was given to the dog. Pavlov repeated these experiments many, many times. Eventually, the bell alone was enough to make the dogs salivate. This proved that a neutral stimulus that elicited no response whatsoever from the dogs before was now causing a response- saliva production.
What did this prove?
Pavlov's experiment proved that all animals (including humans) can be trained or conditioned to expect a consequence on the results of previous experience. For example, a child that is always given a cookie by a particular teacher will begin to expect that cookie every single time that they see the teacher. If the teacher always says the word 'yummy' before giving the cookie, the child will become conditioned to expect the cookie after hearing the word. The children would even begin to salivate at the appearance of the teacher or the word yummy after repeated conditioning.
Pavlov's Bio
Ivan Pavlov was born in Ryazan in Russa and was educated at the University of Saint Petersburg and at the Military Medical Academy. From 1884 to 1886 he studied in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and Leipzig, Germany. Before the Russian Revolution he served as director of the department of physiology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine (part of the present Academy of Medical Sciences), Saint Petersburg, and professor of medicine at the Military Medical Academy.
In spite of his opposition to Communism, Pavlov was allowed to continue his research in a laboratory built by the Soviet Government in 1935. Pavlov is noted for his pioneer work in the physiology of the heart, nervous system, and digestive system. His most famous experiments, begun in 1889, demonstrated the conditioned and unconditioned reflexes (see above) in dogs, and they had an influence on the development of physiologically oriented behaviorist theories of psychology during the early years of the 20th century .
His work on the physiology of the digestive glands won him the 1904 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. His major work is in the book Conditioned Reflexes (1926; trans. 1927).
Due to the kindness of Microsoft, Miranda has been furnished with her very own copy of Microsoft® Encarta® Premium Suite 2003. This means that her research on topics of quirky interest will be vast and far reaching. For more information on Encarta or to experience it for yourself, visit: 
Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849-1936), was a Russian physiologist and Nobel prize winner, best known for his studies of reflex behaviour in dogs. He conducted this hallmark study during the twentieth century; the interesting thing about this study was the fact that Pavlov was not even studying the effects of conditioning when he launched the study.
He began to see that the dogs were salivating as soon as he entered the room - before any food was even in sight. Since saliva production in any animal is a reflex, Pavlov decided to probe deeper into the conditioning of the dogs. This later became known as classical conditioning, also known more famously as Pavlovian conditioning. Anyone who had a reaction that was beyond their control is said to have had a Pavlovian response.
Pavlov began ringing a bell before placing the meat powder or food on the dog's tongue. Each and every time that the bell was rung, meat powder or food was given to the dog. Pavlov repeated these experiments many, many times. Eventually, the bell alone was enough to make the dogs salivate. This proved that a neutral stimulus that elicited no response whatsoever from the dogs before was now causing a response- saliva production. 
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