Pavlov's experiment

Pavlov's experiment involved studying how dogs learn to associate stimuli. He observed that dogs salivate not only when they tasted food but also at the sound of a bell if it was repeatedly rung before presenting the food. Pavlov rang the bell (a neutral stimulus), then gave the dogs food (an unconditioned stimulus), causing salivation (an unconditioned response). After several repetitions, the dogs began to salivate simply in response to the bell alone—the conditioned stimulus—demonstrating classical conditioning. This showed how associative learning occurs through repeated pairing of stimuli, forming new learned responses.